Breifne O'Brien

4 days ago | agriland.ie | Breifne O'Brien

There was a smaller sale of cattle at Balla Mart in Co. Mayo on Saturday, June 21, with the good weather attributing to the reduced numbers of cattle in the sale as farmers availed of the sunshine to get fieldwork completed. Commenting on the trade in the sale, Balla Mart manager Michael Nolan said store bullock prices were up by approximately 20c/kg on the previous sale, with heavier cattle types “holding their own” on price.

5 days ago | agriland.ie | Breifne O'Brien

This week’s sheep trade sees lamb and cull ewe prices remain steady at some sites, with other outlets moving to reduce offers again for the week. Prices have been in decline across the board for the past several weeks, and the move by some outlets to hold their price offers for this week has been seen as a positive development with farmers hoping the price cuts have stalled for the short term at least.

5 days ago | agriland.ie | Breifne O'Brien

This week’s factory quotes for beef cattle sees most processors move to reduce beef price by a further 10c/kg while a few outlets are holding their prices at the same level as last week. In cases, over 70c/kg has now been cut from the peak beef price offers tabled in early April this year. Prime cattle beef price offers are still approximately €1.95/kg above where opening quotes were at this time last year.

5 days ago | agriland.ie | Breifne O'Brien

Calf export numbers have surpassed 200,000 head to date this year, which is an increase of over 25,000 head or 14% on the same time last year. As of Saturday, June 7, a total of just over 266,000 cattle had been exported this year, which is an increase of almost 17% or over 38,000 head on the same time period of last year.

6 days ago | agriland.ie | Breifne O'Brien

On a recent visit to the University College Dublin (UCD) dairy calf education and research facility located at UCD Lyons Farm, Co. Kildare, Agriland caught up with PhD student Ciaran McGee from Trim, Co. Meath. McGee graduated from Animal and Crop Production (ACP) in UCD in September 2024 and started his PhD in October. When speaking to Agriland late last month (May 28), the core focus of McGee’s research was on the early life nutrition of the dairy heifer and dairy-beef calves.