At the first March calf sale in Bandon Mart last year, there were just shy of 1,700 calves on offer.

Shipping calves made from €5 to €40, Friesian bulls for the home market were making over €100 and a top price of €180 was paid for a group of them weighing 80kg.

Fast forward to the first Monday in March 2025 and 2,024 calves went, shipping-type Friesian bulls made from €100 to €220, with a top price of €330 was paid out for a bunch of 10 Friesians weighing 59kg.

Those calves sold after 5pm too, proving there was no dip in demand, despite the sale concluding just before 7pm.

They weren’t the only group of Friesian bull calves that made over €300 either, with a good share of stronger calves making over €250.

Those prices were paid on calves under six weeks of age and it wasn’t all big money for Friesians, with lighter calves still making around €10 to €20 on occasion too.

Lighter calves

Most Angus- and Hereford-crosses from Friesian dams and weighing over 60kg were making from €300 to a top price of €485.

Lighter calves around 50kg sold along similar lines to Friesian bulls, with lighter calves or those from a herd with Jersey genetics tending to be closer to €100 than €200.

There was a nice sprinkling of continental-crosses on offer and up to €500 was available on calves up to 70kg and for those pushing on for 80kg or 90kg, there was a strong chance of them exceeding €600.

A pair of Charolais-cross bulls weighing 96kg topped the sale, selling for €710.

Split categories

You could almost split this week’s Bandon calf sale into a few categories. Light calves under 50kg - especially, but not solely confined to, those with Jersey genetics in their background breeding - could be purchased for under €100.

Friesian heifer calves that are half twins and bull calves nearer 40kg fall into that bracket too and on occasion struggled to get into double figures.

Traditional beef breed-crosses, with Jersey-cross of Friesian-cross dams mainly made up to €150.

Continental-crosses from that type of cow made a share more and on occasion broke €500 proving buyers focus on the calf in the ring and not always what’s on the board.

The bulk of Angus-cross, Hereford-cross and Friesians over 60kg had the best chances of making over €250, with the traditional beef-crosses nearer or over 70kg generally making from €300 to €400 and a few exceeding it. Heavy calves were the ones mostly pushing for €500.