A total of 2,545 calves made their way through the ring in Bandon Mart on Monday in one of the largest sales the mart has ever held.

The sale kicked off at 10:00a.m yesterday (March 9) and lasted for 11 hours straight, with the last of the calves heading through the ring at 9:00p.m.

Speaking to Agriland, Bandon Mart manager, Sean Dennehy, said the trade kept strong throughout the day, with calves still making up to €600 towards the end of the sale.

Dennehy said that the trade is currently being driven by a 50/50 split of domestic buyers and exporters.

There was 48 buyers on the day from a number of different counties, creating strong competition which in turn drove prices, he explained.

The majority of stock on offer were Friesians, Angus, and Herefords. However, there were Belgian Blues, Charolais, Simmentals, and Limousins up for grabs too.

Calf trade

The top price on the day was seen when a lot of six Belgian Blue-cross bulls made their way into the ring.

The bulls, aged between three and four weeks-of-age and averaging 90kg, sold for an astonishing €1,150/head.

Belgian Blue bulls went on to average €740/head at the sale, while heifers averaged €651 and topped out €890.

The next best sellers were a group of two Charolais-cross bulls, going under the hammer for €950/head. The two bulls averaged a weight of 99kg at one month-of-age.

Meanwhile, two Charolais-cross heifers sold for €910/head, weighing in at 91kg at one month-of-age.

Angus calves were hitting €10/kg at the mart, with a lot of seven Angus-cross bulls making €800.

Angus bulls ended the day averaging €561, while heifers averaged €448 and topped out at €755.

Dennehy said there was a big demand for Friesian bulls, with a strong competition evident for stronger Friesian bulls.

Friesian bulls topped at €560, and averaged €319 throughout the sale, while Friesian heifers averaged €340, with the top seller making €460.

A Simmental heifer weighing 77kg made €940, while a Hereford-cross bull at 91kg went under the hammer for €800.

With the sheer amount of calves been sold in the mart, Bandon has moved to holding two calf sales a week to accommodate the volume.

Dennehy expressed his thanks to all the Bandon Mart customers, hauliers and staff following the sale.