Sheep take off; little stir on beef

In spite of several favourable indicators, factory beef prices remain on the floor this week. While supplies remain strong, there is no pressure to lift prices despite the generous margins being earned by beef plants.

However the hogget prices have jumped by as much as £10 a head over the last two weeks.

Factors favouring the beef trade and giving scope for price lifts include;

A 4% strengthening of the US dollar since the euro began.

Stronger beef markets over most of the EU and especially in Britain.

A postponing of the Food Aid programme to Russia for at least a month, thus opening more scope there for Irish beef.

A fourth factor over the coming of weeks is that no new bullocks will come out of retention due to the lack of applications between Dec 4 1998 and early January 1999.

The more serious yard feeders are holding out for a base price of 80p a lb for quality R grade bullocks. (This looks modest enough given that similar cattle in the UK this week are making the equivalent of 92 Irish pence per lb.)

Beef finishers are shocked when they see 600 kg Friesian bullocks realising less than £500 a head.

Factory agents report tighter supplies of bullocks, but cows and heifers, especially light heifers, are plentiful and in places hard to even sell. Apart from the special niche outlets, 78p a lb is hard to beat for heifers.

On the cow front, France remains dull and only the best cows are getting into 60p a lb.

The factory kills continue to break new records. Last week's 44,000 head was 3,700 higher than the same week in 1998, and included 26,416 steers.

How long can such heavy disposals continue?

This is the key to a lift in the beef price.

Everywhere I hear farmers being most bitter over the enforced clipping of cattle by over-zealous Department vets who refuse to put responsibility for the clean cattle onto the factory line.

But there is movement. ICM Ballyhaunis have now joined Duffy's of Gort in clipping the animals post slaughter. There is a charge of £3 a beast in ICM.

Marts

Cattle numbers in marts remain small, except for the showsales. Carnew and Baltinglass had very big showsales with a lot of heavy show cattle. The big turnout was attributed to the fact that Euromeats Hacketstown remained closed in recent weeks.

The heavy show bullocks and heifers made to within £30 of the £ a kg with the exceptional ones making well over the £ a kg.

Generally in marts heavy

bullocks with no premiums left are selling from £90 to £60 under the £ a kg.

There are more customers for the small supply of quality store cattle with one premium. More of these are passing the £ a kg.

Trade in weanlings and calves remain steady with up to 5,000 a week being shipped live. With more calves coming out, average prices slipped by about £10 a head over the week.

Skins and hides

Prices all round would be a lot better were it not for the depressed markets for hides and skins. The export plants claim that cattle hides have fallen from £35 to £24 a head and that lamb skins are making less than 50p each.

Intervention

The big gap that has opened between beef prices North and South is starkly seen in this weeks intervention tenders. While Northern plants have tendered for 240 tonnes at 251 euros per 100 kg, the Southern plants are still languishing at 230 euros for 2290 tonnes; - a difference of 7p a lb.

Indeed Northern beef prices are now levelling out. The plants report being undercut on the UK market by 4p a lb by their Southern counterparts.

Sheep

The recovery in the sheep price has been remarkable. When the mart price was reaching £2 over the £ a kg, the lamb plants quoted bigger feeders up to 103 p a lb. But with Wednesday marts reporting as high as £5 over the £ a kg for factory and butchers hoggets, this is the equivalent of closer to 110p a lb at the top.

UK sheep prices have taken a similar lift. Indeed marts on Tuesday saw top UK hoggets making £1 sterling per kg liveweight. The price lift is being attributed to lower than expected supplies coupled with a major switch from new Zealand to UK hoggets by the supermarkets.

The French market has also strengthened on the back of smaller supplies. All that is needed now is a recovery in the price of skins.

There is little sign of this. Exporters trying to forward sell new season's lamb report than New Zealand chilled legs are on offer for about 27 Francs per kg, or about 133p a lb.

It looks as if the early lamb will again be dependent on the home market.

Market summaries - Bullocks

Stronger demand for stores with one premium left and more farmers willing to pay over the £1/kg for them. Heavy bullocks held about the same, but the trade remains difficult for plainer stock.

From £80 to £60 under at Mallow was paid for beef bullocks at Mallow and from £60 under to the £1/kg at Maynooth. Forward stores with one sub left sold from £50 under to £30 over and from £80 to £20 under for those with no premia remaining.

In Athenry beef bullocks made from £80 to £40 under the £1/kg, while stores made from £50 under to £40 over.

Heifers

The trade for heifers remains dull and difficult. In Maynooth beef heifers made from £50 to £80 under the £1/kg, while stores sold from £60 to £100 below their weight. In Athenry store heifers sold from £30 to £100 under, while butchrs heifers made from £50 to £80 below the £1/kg. There were very few heifers on offer at Mallow Mart. Prices ranged from £120 to £80 under the £1/kg.

Weanlings

Heifer weanling prices were back £20 a head in Castleisland. Continental heifers sold for £20 to £60 under and British breeds for £80 to £100 under the £1/kg. Continental bull weanlings ranged from £1/kg to £50 over and Herefords from £50 under to the £1/kg.

Calves

Calf prices remain firm for most types. At Castleisland, Friesian bulls sold for £80 to £130/head; Continental bulls, £170-£230; Hereford bulls, £130-£180. Continental heifers made from £140 to £180 and Hereford heifers from £30 to £80.

At Midleton Hereford and Angus bulls sold from £110 to £170; Friesians £90 to £150 and Continentals £170 to £230

Sheep

There was farmers smiling that hadn't been seen smiling for months around the sheep rings this week as lamb prices rose £3-5 head. A much improved trade saw butchers lambs sell from £/kg to £5 over at Roscrea yesterday (Wednesday).

In Enniscorthy most lots sold between £2 under and £2 over the £/kg with butchers lambs making £46 to £53 per head, factory lambs making £40 to £45 and stores selling for £34 to £39 per head.

In Kilkenny butchers lambs made £4 under to £1/kg and factory and store hoggets making £3 under to £1 over the £/kg.