Carmarthen livestock market is the first in the UK to be granted a licence to auction calves for the export market.

Auctioneer Bob Jones-Prytherch & Co is currently the only auctioneer to have applied for a licence to hold such sales.

Chris Dodds, secretary of the Livestock Auctioneers’ Association said DEFRA regulations meant that dedicated days had to be found for calf export sales.

Another requirement of the licence is that calves must be segregated from other stock from when they leave the farm to boarding the export ferry, making it awkward for many auctioneers.

However, this could change if greater numbers of calves became available, Mr Dodds said.

Calf entries for the sales have been averaging 100, mainly black-and-white bull calves, but BJP livestock director Huw Evans expected numbers to swell this month when calves from the region’s spring calving dairy herds entered the system.

At Carmarthen on Monday prices averaged £65, topping at £186 for a Belgian Blue beef calf. There were five main buyers looking for calves for export.