The beef market, like the weather, is heating up. Beef prices have risen across the board, with strong demand for finished and store cattle.

A day’s less processing due to Good Friday had little impact on the weekly kill, with plants very active in the preceding days to source higher numbers. Over 30,000 cattle were killed, with prices up by between 3c/kg and 5c/kg. This week’s kill is also likely to be relatively high, but there are clear signs numbers are starting to tighten with weather allowing farmers to turn more stock outdoors. Steers are currently making €4.20-€4.25/kg, with heifers at a base of €4.30/kg. Factory-fit stock in marts are scarce and being fought for by agents.

Factories spoken to by the Irish Farmers Journal confirmed that there could be a scarcity of supply in the weeks ahead but that any improvement in farmgate prices will be driven by scarcity of supply rather than returns from the market.

With the arrival of warmer weather in Britain and much of Europe this week, the seasonal switch away from forequarter beef has been particularly sharp and not fully offset by an increase in the value of steak meat, although ribs and rib-eyes, small volume cuts, are trading strongly in the UK and France.

The other big driver for Irish beef prices has been the weakening of the euro against sterling and the major international currencies in the first quarter of 2014. This makes Irish beef particularly good value in the UK, even with prices increasing to Irish farmers.

In the marts, cattle to go to grass are in demand. Prices for store cattle are €100-€140/head above this time last spring. With a surge in grass growth predicted, and good ground conditions finally widespread, this demand is likely to stay strong.

IFA Livestock Committee chair Henry Burns has warned that the support the beef sector needs from the new Beef Genomic Scheme will be restricted and diluted by what he described as “excessive criteria”.

“It is essential that both costs and bureaucracy under the scheme are kept to an absolute minimum for it to deliver maximum results for farmers and the beef sector,” he said.