Prices to €2,530 at Raphoe’s first cattle sale of 2023

Raphoe Mart – Cattle Prices – 05-01-2023

According to Ann Harkin, trade was “lively” around the ring at Raphoe Mart’s opening cattle sale of 2023 on Thursday, January 5^th.

The mart manager reported that “there was a great entry for the first sale of 2023”.

“The sale drew plenty of quality, strong, forward cattle,” she remarked following yesterday’s cattle sale.

According to Harkin, forward Friesian cattle made from €2.20/kg to €2.50/kg, while continental cattle changed hands from €2.80/kg to €3.30/kg.

Aberdeen Angus cattle ranged from €2.40/kg to €3.20/kg, with a top price of €2,530 for an 885kgs AA bullock.

She reported that lighter cattle also met a “great trade” as they sold from €2.80/kg to €3.60/kg.

Raphoe Mart 05-01-2023

• Bulls over 600kgs – €1050 to €1070 over the weight;
• Beef Bullocks – €820 to €1645 over the weight;
• Store Bullocks – €565 to €1225 over the weight;
• Beef Heifers – €675 to €1180 over the weight;
• Store Heifers – €350 to €800 over the weight.

Summary:

• Bulls/bullocks fetched from €2.20/kg to €3.30/kg.
• Heifers made from €2.30/kg to €3.40/kg.
• Fat cows ranged from €800/head to €1990/head.

Interview with Ann Harkin

Previously, we interviewed Ann Harkin, who is at the helm of the Donegal-based mart as its manager.

Ann Harkin from Convoy, County Donegal, never envisioned a career in agriculture with no farming background until the late 1980s.

In 1989, she applied for Raphoe Livestock Mart’s secretary job and became manager in 2001 due to the late John Witherow’s tendering.

“I never was in a mart until the day I did the interview; it was a secretary and financial controller position, which I applied for as my career; it was not because of a love of farming,” she told That’s Farming.

“I never thought I would become a manager; it was the trust of the committee and the mart shareholders who had confidence in me. It was never a job in my wildest dreams did I think I would get because I was not from a farming background.”

Established in 1959, Raphoe Livestock Mart began with a committee and 270 shareholders, holding their first sale in July 1961.

Each shareholder bought five pounds of shares and generated funds from their locality to construct the livestock mart premises.

Read her piece.