International bidders competed with home breeders for bulls at the first Irish pedigree breeders' online auction of bulls under the Covid-19 restrictions.
arving a niche in the history of Irish pedigree breeding, the Irish Aberdeen-Angus Cattle Association recorded an excellent clearance and a good average price at the sale, which was deemed "a great success".
Breaking new ground in a 20-year career in which he has conducted auctions as far afield as Kuwait and the Philippines, Cork-based Denis Barrett oversaw a smooth online sale.
"We had 104 registered bidders, with 80 of those active. We had a record number of 300 people watching the auction online. It was great to see registrations come in from all 32 counties in Ireland, along with some international bidders logging on," he said.
Forty-four bulls from herds in eight counties, and a small entry from Northern Ireland, were catalogued for the sale, of which nearly a third were sold off the catalogue before the sale, with the balance going under the hammer to record an average price of €2,850.
This was regarded as very satisfactory in the current circumstances.
Two bulls shared the headline bid of €3,200: Drumcrow Proud Display U737 from the herd of Frank and Margaret McKiernan, of Drumcrow, Corlismore, Co Cavan, sold for export to Northern Ireland; and Liss Mandrin V847 from John and Sean McEnroe's herd at Liss, Oldcastle, Co Meath, which found a new home in Co Limerick.
Proud Display, a 750kg 20-month-old, carries a four-star replacement index for the breed and across all beef breeds as well as three star on the Terminal Index.
He was bred from the herd's Princess Zola cow family with a calving figure of just 0.9pc for beef cows.
His sire is the home-bred Drumcrow Joker by the sire Cartron-Roe Ansley. Liss Mandrin was the reserve junior male champion at last year's Tullamore Show; he was sired by the herd stock sire, Mogeely Lord Harrow M191 and is out of a cow from the Miylo cow line at Liss.
The 15-month-old is a three-star replacement and four-star terminal bull within the breed and four-star replacement across all beef breeds. The McEnroes sold another three bulls at the auction, with Liss Manly V862 changing hands for €3,000, Liss Dulbo V853 trading at €2,800 and Liss Mint V854 knocked down at €2,100.
It was an exceptional day for the Oldcastle breeders, who realised a healthy average of €2,775, which was close to the overall sale average on the day. Amanda Bogan and Conor Craig sold Millbawn Luigi V253, from their herd at Coolarty, Edgeworthstown, Co Longford, for €2,850. Sired by noted easy-calving bull Netherton Americano, this 14-month-old bull is out of the home-bred Millbawn Laura R218.
Five stars on both the terminal and replacement indexes, Luigi was secured by a buyer from Kells, Co Meath.
