At the mart we sold our cattle and resisted the temptation to purchase

It is well known in the farming circles that current prices being paid for store cattle in marts are red-hot. When this situation arises, a decision has to be made by the farmer whether to keep cattle and finish them himself, or sell the animals in the mart and let another producer pick up the finishing costs.

Every farm business is unique and the decisions should be made to suit the system each individual is operating and give the best margin return. With this in mind, discussions took place between my father and I on what would be the best option for our heifers.

Following a negative result from our TB test, we opted to sell in the mart, once we received an adequate price. In order to break even the price we required was €2.30/kg.

My father and I loaded the heifers and of course this wasn’t as straightforward as one would like. A few sprints were required to keep the heifers in the direction of the loading pen. I’d say it brought back memories of his footballing days!

Once the heifers were loaded, we set off for the mart. With two heifers over 24 months, they require a blood sample for brucellosis testing and weren’t sold that day. In the past animals would be blood sampled while the TB test was being carried out, but that practice is to cease later this year.

There was a strong demand for all store cattle on the day. I was in the sellers’ booth as the heifers came in one by one. As the auctioneer was doing his rap, I was doing my sums on the €/kg the heifer was making. The price required to break even was achieved along with some c/kg for luck. Our best heifer fetched the highest price on the day so we were happy with that. One or two didn’t weigh well but overall we were satisfied.

One of our heifers that entered the ring didn’t fetch the price I thought she deserved so I didn’t sell.

When the dust had settled and the rap was over, a call came over the intercom. My name was broadcast through the mart so I made my way to the office. The last time I heard my name on the intercom was in secondary school, I was called from religion class to discuss tactics for our next championship game.

This was something different. I was worried there was a problem with one of the heifers sold; thankfully the call was regarding the unsold heifer. The man that had the final bid for her questioned me about the price wanted for the heifer. He felt he was offering enough for her. While I didn’t use my Father Ted quote about the ‘lovely bottoms’ on this occasion, we met half way and struck a deal.

A successful trip, our cattle were sold and we resisted temptation to purchase.