Prices for West Cork cattle are hitting record highs as export demands grow, but it’s also costing more to replace stock.
WITH calving season now well underway for farmers across West Cork, many have been making their way to the marts in Skibbereen, Bandon and Macroom.
Demand for Irish cattle has never been so high, with marts across the country reporting record prices in 2025, following on from a strong end to 2024.
Data from Bord Bia, which compiles Irish cattle prices, shows that the average price increase for all types of cattle from 2024 to 2025 is between 15.5% and 25.7%.
It means that, on average, marts are seeing cow prices now at about €6 per kg, while beef prices can fetch €7 per kg. Business is booming.
Belgian Blue calves sold for €700 at a recent sale in Bandon Mart.
‘Export demand as well as more confidence in the market is driving it,’ said Sean Dennehy, manager of Bandon Mart.
‘So there’s export demand and very high prices being gotten abroad for the calves and that’s putting a floor on them. As well as that, we’re seeing bigger demand from Northern Ireland and even domestically there’s bigger demand.’
That demand comes amidst the continued spread of the bluetongue virus across Europe and the UK.
The Welsh government approved the licensing of three vaccines last week in an attempt to slow the spread, but for now the Irish cattle market is benefitting from a drop in numbers, as producers look to capitalise on increased market share for exports.
‘We’re open for business, we’re bluetongue free, so it’s attractive for people to buy from us as opposed to other countries that they can’t buy from,’ Sean said.
At a recent sale in Bandon Mart, trade was at a ‘new level’, according to Sean, with some Belgian Blue calves going for €700.
‘They’re very strong prices but the one thing I would say is that the farmers that are feeding their calves and looking after them properly and putting a bit of weight on their calves – they are being well rewarded,’ he said. ‘There is a huge discount on calves that are coming out too light or not well presented or unhealthy. Healthy calves that are well done are being rewarded and underweight calves are not. Anything under 50 kilos is being sold at a huge discount and it would pay farmers well to hang on to those calves just that week longer to get them into that 50kg or 55kg range.’
High prices mean high returns, but for farmers looking to replace their stock, the cost has also never been higher.
‘Famers are going into the marts trying to replace that stock then and they’re paying through the roof for it. It’s even affecting young calves,’ said Ronald Shorten, the pro of the IFA’s West Cork executive.
Cattle being moved by beef farmer George Wilson and his son Jamie to be weighed at the local co-op. (Photo: Andy Gibson)
‘It’s big money starting off for those beef farmers again. You’d be wondering if there was going to be a crash then, what profit are they going to make?’
While a fall-off in prices can be expected at some stage, the Bandon Mart manager doesn’t expect a crash: ‘I can only be wrong, but I think the trade is after reaching a new level and if it does come back, it won’t come back to what it was previously. I think there seems to be a huge switch this year into rearing calves from people around the place. And part of that is they can see the prices on the other side and if you’ve fallen out of stock there’s a danger that you wouldn’t be able to get back in with the high prices of stores.
‘If you fall out of stock it’s very hard to get back in and people are very conscious of that. I can see the trade might come back a small little bit but I don’t see it coming back to the levels it was at previously for heavier beef animals.’
