Swatragh venue for Charolais sale

A total of 19 pedigree Charolais bulls’ entries have been received from vendors across Northern Ireland.

View the catalogue at www.charolais.co.uk. The May Sale is kindly sponsored by Northern Counties Co-Operative Enterprises Ltd. All animals will be veterinary inspected on the evening of the sale and sold under the National Beef Association Warranty.

The NICCS is inviting customers to invest in a Charolais, introducing a new incentive for buyers. The Northern Ireland Charolais Club will give £200 back to the purchasers of the first four bulls to sell for over £3500.

Hugh O’Hagan from Desertmartin runs two Charolais bulls, Granaghan Masterpiece and Granaghan Oran, on his herd of 50 continental crossbred cows, which calf in the springtime. The Charolais sire can be crossed on a wide range of different cow types, reiterating the fact Charolais are ‘the breed to improve all breeds.’ Alongside breeding strong Charolais crossbred calves, Hugh farms 90 acres of land and lambs 100 sheep every year.

Charolais cattle command top prices for weanling calves, with Mr O’Hagan selling majority of his top-quality calves at the Northern Ireland Charolais Club Autumn Calf Sale in Draperstown and sells the remaining calves the following spring/summer at local markets. Commercial producers are clearly seeing the advantage of purchasing Charolais bulls for top prices for calves and easy calving genetics that the sire offers.

Sale sponsor Northern Counties Co-Operative Enterprises Ltd is a farmer owned co-operative which currently has over 1200 shareholders.

Paul Coyle, NCCE manager stated: “The business is most known for the livestock market, however NCCE are an extremely entrepreneurial business who have expanded into a range of other industries. On site the NCCE have the livestock market, newly developed country store, training and information conference centre and Ulster Ceramics Ltd. Helping the local economy and a further extension of services are key for the organisation.”

The Northern Ireland Charolais Club advise customers to contact the mart office to register as a ringside buyer or to register for online bidding, as buyer’s capacity is limited to adhere with current COVID-19 restrictions. Further details are available from the mart office Tel 028 7940 1335.

A huge thank you must go to event sponsor Northern Counties Co-Operative Enterprises Ltd, who very kindly sponsored the May Sale held in Swatragh Livestock Market.