Limousin bull tops at £28k at Jalex Beauty and Beasts sale

The event, staged at the family’s farm outside Randalstown, Co Antrim, Northern Ireland, saw more than a dozen sell for between £8000 and £28,000, with the entry of 162 in-calf heifers, heifer calves, and bulls averaging £5266.

In total, 41 entries crossed the Irish Sea, with 23 heading to Scotland and 14 going south.

Just Do It also made £18,000 catching the eye of Hillside Commercials (Image: N/A)

Sale leader was the two-year-old Limousin bull Jalex Valiant, sired by Knockgrochery Scatdaddy and bred from Haltcliffe Hesta, which was also the dam of Jalex Notorious – the male and reserve overall champion at Balmoral in 2018 and Jalex Resta, the NI Limousin Anniversary sale champion in 2022. Valiant was one of several purchases made by John Kingham on behalf of Tateetra Farms, Dundalk, Eire.

The Southern Irish outfit also secured the all-white British Blue heifer Bluestar Queenie, at £11,000. Sired by Strawberry Field, the three-year-old sold due in August with a heifer calf by the Limousin sire, Sliabh Felim Sterling.

Bluestar Queenie also joins the Tateetra Herd in Dundalk for a £15,000 price tag (Image: N/A)

Two in-calf heifers sold for £18,000 each. Gordon Cameron travelled from Acharacle to buy The Real Deal.

This British Blue cross is sired by the Germinal De Fooz son, Garracloonag H Ohgerm, and bred from a pure-bred Limousin cow by Carmorn CoPilot. She sold due in September with a heifer calf by Sliabh Felim Sterling.

Joint top heifer price of £18,000 was paid out by Gordon Cameron, Argyll for The Real Deal (Image: N/A)

Mr Cameron also bought two other British Blue cross heifer purchases, at £7500 and £7200. The Mistress, a three-year-old by Amor, sold four months in calf to Sliabh Felim Sterling, while the other sold in calf to Corcamore Romeo and due in October. Matching the £18,000 second top price was Just Do It, a Ballinloan Jagerbomb daughter out of a Seu cross Dafydd British Blue cow.

She changed hands carrying a Powerful Proper Limousin heifer calf and was knocked down to suckler producers Ivan Lynn and Sons of Hillside Commercials, Ballymoney, who also went to £15,000 for Next Level. This three-year-old by Bistouri De Tohogne is in calf to a Grove Farm Limousin bull purchased at Roscrea in 2020.

Topping the sale at £28,000 was Jalex Valiant, purchased by John Kingham for Tateetra Farms, Dundalk (Image: N/A)

Hugh Dunlop, Holehouse, Ayrshire, bought two British Blue cross heifers in calf to Corcamore Romeo at £5800 and £5300. Beautiful Blue, a two-year-old by Bistouri De Tohogne, is due with a heifer calf in October, while the other sold carrying a bull for September.

Also heading across the Irish Sea to Scotland, Andrew Ewing from Annan bought three heifers for an undisclosed buyer in Orkney. The purchases included a three-year-old British Blue cross by Nox De L’Orgelot at £5100 which sold in calf to Sliabh Felim Sterling. The others were a three-year-old Limousin cross by Brooklands carrying a Corcamore Romeo-sired calf at £4500, and a similarly aged British Blue in calf to Powerful Proper.

Auctioneers: Beatties Livestock Sales and Marteye