Auctioneer’s report

a phenomenal trade in the dairy market this year

Auctioneers overview of 2022: Denis Barrett in his own words

The last number of years buyers were seeking large batches for rapid expansion, this year those buyers were back but this time selectively looking for a small number of quality replacements to improve their herds. The uptake in the use of sexed semen the last couple of years meant a flood of youngstock to the market, however quality still attracted a premium even with this oversupply as our Pedigree youngstock sales achieved great clearances and averages higher than previous years. One example of this is the Lisduff YoungStock Sale, with 100% clearance and a €1,200 average and a top price of €5,300. Another example of the youngstock trade was the April Grangecon Youngstock Online Only Auction. The Top price was €2,250 with a 70% clearance of calves and an overall average of €759. Average for age categories as follows: Sept/Oct 21 Calves averaged €942. Nov/ Dec 21 calves averaged €773. Jan plus 22 calves averaged €475. Increasing efficiency has been a buyers concern this year due to rising costs and changing legislation which in turn strengthened the trade for heifers with proven production from predominantly grass based systems. An example this trend was seen at our 2nd Proven Protein Sale which saw a 100% Clearance and a top price of €4,400 with an average of €2,140 achieved for 81 Holstein/Friesian in calf heifers. The demand for strong Holstein/Friesian heifers was clear when we held a High EBI Batch Heifer sale, where Holstein/Friesian heifers with production to match their EBI’s and tight calving dates claimed the top prices. There was less or no trade for crossbreds and any animal running late calving. The sale had a top price of €1,900 and 78% clearance with an AVG of €1,630 for 98 head Dairy Spring Calving heifers. Of course, fresh milk has been a phenomenal trade this year in part due to high milk prices, however there were other influencing factors such as strong cull cow prices and demand from the Northern buyer seeking only calved stock as replacements.