Carnew Mart conducted the production sale of Hughes family’s Tomacork herd on Wednesday (May 17), with 96 lots on offer on the day.
The sale contained 60 spring-calved heifers and young cows, 25 autumn-calving cows, 25 bulling heifers and 10 heifer calves.
The Tomacork herd has been artificial insemination (AI)-bred for over 40 years and has an average production of 7,200kg of milk and 556kg of milk solids, with a somatic cell count (SCC) of 134,000cells/ml.
Tomacork dairy sale
The sale had a somewhat unusual start, with the Hughes deciding that they would walk around 100 head to the mart.
Overall, the distance was about 500m from the field to the mart, and the walk went off without a hitch on the day.
Spring calving
The Tomacork production sale started with 60 spring-calving heifers and young cows, with calving dates from the end on January up to just days before Wednesday’s sale.
The top price of this section and the overall top price of the sale was for Lot 4, a Oldcastletown Ronaldo-sired second calver that sold for €2,260.
Calved since May 7, with an economic breeding index (EBI) of €168, she produced 6,405L of milk and 444kg of milk solids in her first lactation.
The next highest price of the sale went to Lot 18, Evergreen Aladdin, a fourth calver with an EBI of €164.
Calved since March 11, and milking 46L/day, she produced 7,733L and 672kg of milk solids in her third lactation.
Served on May 8, to Monavrin Eli SRM, she sold for €1,960.
The first of the join third-highest price went to Lot 7, a Clorane Dandyman-sired first calver, which sold milking 26.2L/day and 1.85kg of milk solids and has an EBI of €227.
Calved since February 2, she was served to sexed semen from Glenaboy Special One on May 10, and sold for €1,740.
Also selling for €1,740 was Lot 11, a Cherryhill Seacht-sired first calver, which sold milking 28.2L/day and 2.13kg of milk solids and has an EBI of €140.
Calved since March 11, she was was served to Oldcastletown Tiernan on May 9.
Selling for €1,700 was Lot 31, a fourth calver with an EBI of €88, freshly calved just a couple of days and produced 9,412L of milk in her third lactation and 676kg of milk solids.
Also selling for €1,700 was Lot 19, a Waterwheel Royal-sired fourth calver with an EBI of €180.
Calved since February 18, she produced 9,870L of milk and 806kg of milk solids in her third lactation. She was served to Monavrin Eli SRM on May 14.
Some more sample prices from the sale can be seen in the gallery below:
Autumn calvers
The second group of cows on offer comprised autumn calved cows all scanned in calf.
The top price from the autumn-calving section of the herd went to Lot 59, a Diamond Anton-sired second calver.
In her first lactation she produced 7,120L of milk and 612kg of milk solids, and is due on November 8, to the Hereford or Simmental stockbull; she sold for €1,640.
Equally, the highest price for this section of the sale was Lot 53, a Kilfeacle Pivotal-sired first calver.
Calved since October 23, in her first lactation she is predicted to produce 6,506L of milk and 463kg of milk solids.
Scanned back in calf she is due to the Simmental bull SI4250 on October 30.
Three lots in the sale sold for €1,620, and they are pictured in the gallery below.
Selling for €1,600 was Lot 65, a Meenascorthy Galtee-sired third calver.
Calved since October 10, she produced 7,925L of milk and 587kg of milk solids in her second lactation. She sold scanned in calf to the Hereford or Simmental stockbull.
Heifers
The final section of the Tomacork sale kicked off with the bulling heifers that had been running with the Aubrac stockbull for the last 14 days.
The prices here ranged from €540 to a top call of €850, with the majority of the lots selling from €700-750.
Sold in pairs or threes, the top price was achieved by Lot 83. The first of these heifers had an EBI of €227 and was sired by Ronnoco Milan.
The second heifer had an EBI of €162 and was sired by Faha Andrew.
The next highest price went to Lot 84. The first of these heifers had an EBI of €176 and was sired by Cherryhill Seacht.
The second heifer had an EBI of €241 and was sired by Kilfeacle Pivotal.
This Ballydunne Olaf-sired red heifer sold for €700 and had an EBI of €165.
The heifer calf section had a total of five lots on offer, and they ranged from €250 to €380.
The top-priced pair was Lot 81. The first of these calves had an EBI of €236 and was sired by Bawngarra Brod.
The second calf had an EBI of €194 and was sired by Bridepark Magic 0984 SRM.
Next up was a bundle of Friesian heifer calves. Just off milk, they sold from €250 to €390.
The next highest price of €370 went to Lot 80. The first of these calves was sired by Stamullen Mozart SRM and had an EBI of €294.
The second calf, also sired by Stamullen Mozart SRM, has an EBI of €225.
