The new year has brought some positive life into the beef trade, with heifer quotes seeing a lift at the beginning of this week’s trading.

Heifers have moved to €5.20/kg in some locations, with demand outstripping supply in some factories.

There are still some factories managing to buy heifers at €5.05/kg to €5.15/kg, but farmers are being advised to bargain hard, as numbers of finished cattle coming on stream remain very tight.

Bullocks are working off €5.00/kg to €5.05/kg in most factories, with a little more going to bigger suppliers.

With very good sales in the run-up to Christmas many factories are anxious to replenish stocks and are actively sourcing stock for the next few weeks.

Demand

Traditional breeds are still in demand, with some factories now paying up to 30c/kg bonus for in-spec Aberdeen Angus bullocks and heifers.

Some factories are working off a bonus of 25c/kg for Aberdeen Angus cattle, while Hereford cattle are working off a 10c to 16c/kg bonus depending on the grade.

Members of the ABP advantage beef programme are currently getting paid a bonus of 20c/kg above the average quoted price of the seven ABP/Slaney Meats factories, while members of the Glanbia/Kepak 2020 programme are currently getting paid a bonus of the average quoted price on a weekly basis.

These bonuses are on top of the breed bonuses and 20c/kg in-spec bonus.

Cow bonus

Cows always see a seasonal jump in January and factories are hungry for cows this week, with up to €4.30/kg being paid for P+3 cows.

R grading cows are working off €4.60/kg to €4.70/kg, with €4.80/kg being paid by some specialist cow operators for U grading cows this week. O grading cows are working off €4.40/kg to €4.50/kg, depending on flesh cover and weight.

Under-20-month bulls are being quoted at €5.10/kg to €5.15/kg, with U grades generally working off €5.20/kg to €5.30/kg. Under-16-month bulls are being quoted at €5.05/kg to €5.15/kg base price.

Kill figures

Last week’s kill came in at 19,800 for a three-day week, which brought the total kill of prime cattle in 2022 to 1,790,321 head of cattle, an increase of 125,895 on the 2021 figure of 1,664,426 head.

The biggest increase was seen in the cow kill, with an extra 59,294 cows killed in 2022, over 1,000 cows per week extra. This brought the cow kill up by almost 17% in 2022.

Young bulls saw a 3% increase and older bulls saw a 5% increase. The bullock kill was up 6% or 38,678 head, while the heifer kill was up 23,025 head or just under 5%.

Present indications are that next year’s kill will be back up by 80,000 head.