Friesian bull calves peaked at roughly €400 at Delvin Mart's first calf sale of the year, as prices held firm despite concerns over the potential impact of new bluetongue cases on the cattle trade.

Speaking to Agriland at the sale, mart manager Elliot Potterton said that calf prices are shaping up to be similar to - and in some cases slightly ahead of - 2025 levels.

He said: "Calf prices seem to be sort of similar enough, if not a little bit higher, than last year.

Potterton also outlined that the ongoing wet weather since the new year has slowed the numbers coming forward, with many farmers only beginning to calve.

"The wet weather has certaintly slowed things down and hampered the trade a little bit so far," he said.

Strong demand for store cattle has raised their prices significantly, which is pushing some farmers towards buying calves instead, according to the mart manager.

He acknowledged: "I think that a lot of farmers are turning to buying the calves as the stores are simply too dear.

"It doesn't seem to add up in the end as the fat cattle are not making a whole lot more than stores, so it seems it's a slightly more viable option than to buy these calves."

Bluetongue

With a total of nine herds being infected with bluetongue in Ireland so far this year, Potterton said that the disease has not yet had much of an impact on trade.

However following the sale last Thursday (February 19), he said that could change in the event of a local case or movement restrictions being put in place.

"I don't think the fear factor has reached this part of the country yet.

"And if were we to have restrictions, it would obviously hamper the trades here in the mart and the factories," he commented.

However, Potterton also highlighted that there is a sense of reassurance among farmers regarding the disease due to the fact that it does not prevent an infected animal from being sent to the abattoir.

He said: "A lot of people garner a lot of confidence from the fact that [bluetongue] is not actually harmful to humans and the consumption of food, so there is some security there in that regard."

Cattle prices

While there has been "a lot of talk about bluetongue" around the ring, Potterton said the disease has not affected the cattle prices coming from exporters and factories so far.

"We were worried initially that maybe the factories or the exporters would try and use bluetongue as a little bit of a negotiation tool, but that certainly does not seem to have come into play yet.

"I know that beef trade is relatively steady there at the minute," he added.

Movement restrictions

The most recent cases of bluetongue were detected among two herds last week, one in Co. Louth and one in Co. Wicklow.

Current bluetongue restrictions banning the movement of cattle and sheep to Northern Ireland and other third countries are also expected to be "resolved" very soon, according to Thomas Burke from the Irish Farmers' Association's (IFA) livestock committee.

Burke told a farmers' meeting in Co. Leitrim earlier this week that "most of the [export] certs for the third countries at this stage have been resolved or are in the process" of being resolved.