Mart Price Tracker

Is that a 5 star heifer sale? Otherwise you usually arrange a time when you book them in or maybe they have changed that?

Yeah last time I sold there u ring to book in and they ask you what time you'll be there

@jfh the price of store cattle is fairly strong at the minute, January can be a quite enough month for cattle as lads have their stock in and tend not to move things to much. Depending where you are, if you are down south where spring is earlier I would tend to keep them until mid February when lads would be looking for stock for grass but if further north that mid March into April

Well done.... what did their comrades make again?....you have to spend money to make money in this business. I would have finished them but not sure if I was in your system I'd have any more money out of them at the end of the day. If beef price increases a bit more I probably would.

what kinda price would you expect for a ch bullock on 3 legs? Good shape and colour. Would be 380-400kg at least.

What about straight to a chap ex mart who would finish him himself? Would you get 2 euro/kg? He can’t put full weight on 4th leg but does walk on it. The vet told me what it was, maybe nerve damage. So he doesn’t look awful but he’s not 100% fit either.

i agree, he would be no good at the mart

i had one with a broken hip last autumn I was being given 300 for him and was taking it but got restricted so I had to keep him and started feeding him . He killed into something around 1800 in august he had company with a lad who had recurring joint ail, he went at 16 months and came into 2200 so sometimes it can pay to hold onto them.

Was in the Mart tonight for the first time since the start of December. I thought plain cattle like what I would be interested in very expensive (can't see them been any more in April) Hex, Shx, Lmx, BBx all out of dairy in around 500 kgs making €1,300 -€1,400. Yet good continental cattle suckler bred similar weights making a little along with €1,500.

@Bass Reeves you could be right, for the few I want over the next few weeks its hard to know, I will pick them up 2 - 3 at a time, but going on the mart last night I think I could be buying CHx or LMx stores instead of AAx and HEx, 2% better kill out on your R+ 350 bullock would be nearly the €100 difference in the mart price.

With the cost of meal and fertilizer you need to be getting €2K a head for every animal, never mind the fact that any bit of land that is up for rent around here is make over €400 / acre.

1 thing I did notice last night was most of the lads buying were agents for farmers, so they had their hands in some else pocket, this too helps distort the price a bit.

Totally agree. The difference between the middle of the road CH/LM & the middle of the road AA/HE is far too narrow on current prices. All stock are dear at the moment but AA/HE are ridiculous prices down around the midlands. There should be €300 / €350 a head difference but I'm seeing €100/€150 difference which is nonsense. Maybe lads trying to finish the AA/HE at low cost quickly and off grass with a shake of meal before the price drops after June?

It's all relative. The Charlois off Friesians will tend to be quieter than suckler bred ones. Older farmers that summer graze often perfer them to suckler bred cattle. As well they can perform very well if they have entry of grass in a low set stocking situation. Over a long grazing season they will often outperform suckler bred stock

You really have a very limited understanding of the system. Feedlots and selected finishers are working to contrated prices often.

In late June when the processors pull the price to you and me they will hold the a price for them that could be up to 50c/kg more than you or I will get. These guys get paid to feed ration.

I am not having a go but your understanding of the beef business and the way it works is really limited.

Is there any better value buying lighter cattle that could be finished in summer 24 even if they were over 30 months ? Cannot justify giving € 3.30 a kg for 550 kg stores that wont be fir for slaughter until Sept / October.