There was more of an interest in getting cattle from the factories this week and where the official quotes of €3.85/kg base for steers and €3.95/kg base for heifers wasn’t tempting sellers, 5c/kg more was usually available.
This was particularly so where there were good numbers of suitable cattle – there was an anxiety by factory buyers not to leave them behind.
Stability will be welcome for farmers who, in many parts of the country, are still suffering from feed shortages as rain amounts have been variable.
This means that cull cows are still a problem, with numbers of poorly finished cows still coming into factories where they are not really wanted and being processed accordingly.
Farmers have little say in negotiating a price for these and with scanning under way in the dairy herd, it is unlikely there will be a meaningful reduction of these plain cows anytime soon.
The kill is down slightly this week at 35,664, compared with 36,371 the previous week, but still well ahead of the corresponding week in 2017 when the kill was 32,338. The drop in kill this week is spread across all categories.
For next week, there is slightly more interest from factories for all categories of stock, apart from plain cows.
While official quotes may be €3.85/kg for steers and €3.95/kg for heifers, it is likely that €3.90/kg for steers and €4.00/kg for heifers will be paid.
In cases where there are a batch of heifers in particular, more still may be available and reports of special deals have surfaced this week for the first time in a while.
Factories are also keen to get cattle delivered, which is also a positive sign for farmers with cattle to sell. IFA livestock chair Angus Woods reported that numbers were tightening and €3.90/kg and €4.00/kg were freely available.
Young bulls are also of interest to factories, with the price quoted for bulls under 16 months on the grid at €3.85/kg, but more usually paid with negotiation and, in one case, we heard of up to €4.00/kg paid for a batch of good young bulls. For bulls up to 24 months, the going rate is €3.80/kg for Rs and €3.90/kg for Us.
Cows
The cow trade has continued the trend from the beginning of the week, with plenty of interest in good well-fleshed cows.
The quote on R grading cows is €3.30/kg, but specialist cow finishers are getting anything from 5c/kg 10c/kg more.
The quote for O grading cows is €3.10/kg and P grading cows with flesh are being quoted at €3.00/kg.
Again, plenty more can be negotiated and we were told of one factory paying €3.20/kg for a mix of O and P grading cows.
Northern trade
There are signs in the North that trade is beginning to tighten. With shed cattle dried up, factories are starting to chase cattle more.
Official quotes are £3.50/kg (€4.14/kg) to £3.52/kg (€4.16/kg), but prices as high as £3.58/kg have been paid.
There is a strong emphasis on being in-spec. Interest in cattle out of spec is low. Good cows are trading up to £3.00/kg (€3.55/kg), while plainer cows are trading between £2.70/kg (€3.19/kg) and £3.00/kg €3.43/kg).
In Britain, prices have slipped this week, with the average steer price back 4p/kg (5c/kg), heifers back 3p/kg (4c/kg) and cows have taken another heavy fall with average price back 11p/kg (13c/kg).
Prices in Britain and Northern Ireland are converted at €1 = 89p, and VAT at 5.3% is added.
Read more
Northern beef: cattle prices steady but supplies remain strong
There was more of an interest in getting cattle from the factories this week and where the official quotes of €3.85/kg base for steers and €3.95/kg base for heifers wasn’t tempting sellers, 5c/kg more was usually available.
This was particularly so where there were good numbers of suitable cattle – there was an anxiety by factory buyers not to leave them behind.
Stability will be welcome for farmers who, in many parts of the country, are still suffering from feed shortages as rain amounts have been variable.
This means that cull cows are still a problem, with numbers of poorly finished cows still coming into factories where they are not really wanted and being processed accordingly.
Farmers have little say in negotiating a price for these and with scanning under way in the dairy herd, it is unlikely there will be a meaningful reduction of these plain cows anytime soon.
The kill is down slightly this week at 35,664, compared with 36,371 the previous week, but still well ahead of the corresponding week in 2017 when the kill was 32,338. The drop in kill this week is spread across all categories.
For next week, there is slightly more interest from factories for all categories of stock, apart from plain cows.
While official quotes may be €3.85/kg for steers and €3.95/kg for heifers, it is likely that €3.90/kg for steers and €4.00/kg for heifers will be paid.
In cases where there are a batch of heifers in particular, more still may be available and reports of special deals have surfaced this week for the first time in a while.
Factories are also keen to get cattle delivered, which is also a positive sign for farmers with cattle to sell. IFA livestock chair Angus Woods reported that numbers were tightening and €3.90/kg and €4.00/kg were freely available.
Young bulls are also of interest to factories, with the price quoted for bulls under 16 months on the grid at €3.85/kg, but more usually paid with negotiation and, in one case, we heard of up to €4.00/kg paid for a batch of good young bulls. For bulls up to 24 months, the going rate is €3.80/kg for Rs and €3.90/kg for Us.
Cows
The cow trade has continued the trend from the beginning of the week, with plenty of interest in good well-fleshed cows.
The quote on R grading cows is €3.30/kg, but specialist cow finishers are getting anything from 5c/kg 10c/kg more.
The quote for O grading cows is €3.10/kg and P grading cows with flesh are being quoted at €3.00/kg.
Again, plenty more can be negotiated and we were told of one factory paying €3.20/kg for a mix of O and P grading cows.
Northern trade
There are signs in the North that trade is beginning to tighten. With shed cattle dried up, factories are starting to chase cattle more.
Official quotes are £3.50/kg (€4.14/kg) to £3.52/kg (€4.16/kg), but prices as high as £3.58/kg have been paid.
There is a strong emphasis on being in-spec. Interest in cattle out of spec is low. Good cows are trading up to £3.00/kg (€3.55/kg), while plainer cows are trading between £2.70/kg (€3.19/kg) and £3.00/kg €3.43/kg).
In Britain, prices have slipped this week, with the average steer price back 4p/kg (5c/kg), heifers back 3p/kg (4c/kg) and cows have taken another heavy fall with average price back 11p/kg (13c/kg).
Prices in Britain and Northern Ireland are converted at €1 = 89p, and VAT at 5.3% is added.
Read more
Northern beef: cattle prices steady but supplies remain strong
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