The beef trade has kicked on again this week, with some factories increasing quotes by 10c/kg over the weekend for cattle slaughtered on Monday morning.

Donegal remains out in front, with its base price quote of €4.75/kg for heifers and €4.70/kg for bullocks. This includes the 10c/kg bonus for cattle killing out between 300kg and 400kg.

As the saying goes, a rising tide lifts all boats and over the last couple of weeks, the tide has risen faster in the northern half of the country, with Donegal setting the pace.

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Further south, cattle can be bought a little easier, but, in the main, bullocks are being quoted at a €4.50/kg to €4.60/kg, with heifers ranging from €4.60/kg to €4.65/kg base price.

Big demand

Aberdeen Angus cattle are in big demand, with as high as €5.15/kg being quoted as a flat price for R grading Aberdeen Angus heifers.

Mixes of R and O grading Aberdeen Angus heifers are being bought at €5/kg flat in the west. Most factories are now working off 25c to 30c/kg for Aberdeen Angus in-spec bonuses.

Monday is the last day to book cattle in the certified Angus programme. The group will guarantee a 30c/kg bonus for cattle slaughtered between mid-March and mid-May 2022. Cattle need to be booked in beforehand.

Bull quotes

Bulls continue to be sought after, with a top of €4.75/kg being quoted for under-24-month U grading bulls. R grades are being bought at €4.60/kg to €4.65/kg. Under-16-month bulls are working off €4.60/kg in some locations.

I’m running out of words to describe the cow trade, with unbelievable demand for cow beef in the manufacturing trade at the moment.

In some marts over the weekend, cows were dearer than under-30-month heifers in some cases, such is the demand from factory agents. Cow prices

Good-quality R and U grading cows are now hitting as high as €4.45/kg in factories, with some specialised operators very active for cows this week.

R grading cows are generally moving from €4.30/kg to €4.40/kg, with O grading cows back at €4.20/kg. P grading cows are also in demand, with as high as €4/kg to €4.10/kg being paid in some locations.

The trade is really heating up across the water, with the average cull cow price up 8c/kg last week. Numbers of cows being slaughtered continues to contract, back almost 10% in 2022 compared with 2021 according to the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB).

Prime beef price is also improving, with R4L heifers now up to €5.28/kg incl VAT.