The Irish beef industry, and especially the suckler sector, is facing into one of the biggest unknowns it has ever witnessed.

Predictions can be made, but nobody knows what Brexit will mean for the Irish beef sector. However, one thing looks certain – farmers will continue to dig in deep to buy quality suckler cows.

This was particularly evident at a number of recent clearance sales, where cows with calves at foot edged toward and passed the €2,000 mark on many occasions.

A local farmer told me of a visit to a clearance sale of cows and calves in recent days.

The farmer had every intention of securing a number of herd replacements, only to find he had underestimated their worth by about €500-600/head.

Given the costs of keeping a suckler cow for a year, the farmer was forced to question ‘would they ever pay me back for buying them?’.

His answer was a definite no, but there were still plenty of other buyers who thought they could justify the outlay.

Balla Mart

Balla Mart held its weekly cattle sale on Saturday and light heifer prices climbed by €20-40/head due to export demand.

Store steers (up to 400kg) made an average price of €2.87/kg, steers weighing 400-500kg averaged €2.36/kg and the heavier lots (500kg+) sold for €2.24/kg.