It seems that factories are in a race as to who can hit €4.50/kg the quickest, with further pressure being applied to the beef trade by factories this week.

Most factories are buying bullocks at €4.60/kg to €4.65/kg base price this week, with heifers generally working off €4.65/kg to €4.70/kg.

Regular customers, larger suppliers and producer groups will be working off quotes 10c to 20c/kg higher than these.

Hereford and Aberdeen Angus cattle are also attracting bonuses of between 10c and 30c/kg at the moment for in-spec cattle.

There doesn’t seem to be any light at the end of the tunnel, with some agents pointing to further cuts being applied next week.

Farmer frustration is building and there is also some unrest starting to bubble up in farm organisations about the lack of action being taken after a 51c/kg collapse in Irish prices in the last 11 weeks.

The UK beef price has seen a 26c/kg reduction during the same 11 weeks.

Questions are also being asked as to how the UK, our largest and nearest market, continues to be over 60c/kg ahead of the Irish price.

Cow trade

P+3+ cows are being quoted at €3.70/kg to €3.80/kg this week. R grading cows are being quoted from €4.00/kg to €4.10/kg, depending on the factory, while O grading cows are working off quotes of €3.90/kg to €4.00/kg. U grading cows are being quoted at €4.20/kg to €4.30/kg.

Bulls

Base prices for under-16-month bulls are coming in at €4.65/kg to €4.75/kg.

Under-24-month bull quotes are also under pressure, with U grading bulls now back at €4.85/kg to €4.90/kg.

R grading under-24-month bulls are being quoted at €4.70/kg to €4.80/kg, with O grading bulls back at €4.50/kg to €4.60/kg. P grading under-24-month bulls are working off €4.20/kg to €4.40/kg this week.

Last week’s kill came in at 33,881, an increase of just over 800 head on the previous week. Bullocks saw the largest increase, coming in at just under 900 head more than the previous week’s kill.

The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) - the British meat marketing and development body - is projecting a pretty downbeat picture for the beef trade for the back end of the year.

Ironically, it points to cheaper Irish product as being a real threat to UK prices in the coming months.

Irish beef has been used to undercut British suppliers in recent weeks and this has led to a drop in UK beef prices.

The AHDB also points to domestic demand being under pressure for the remainder of 2023 due to inflationary pressures and reduced spend on more expensive meats.

Across Europe, beef prices also remain under pressure, with the latest R3 European young bull price coming in 3c/kg below the Irish R3 bullock price.

The Bord Bia beef market tracker is showing the Irish composite price 19c/kg behind the export benchmark price.

This week’s beef price is 7c/kg behind last year’s price at the end of July.

The Irish beef price slipped 35c/kg between the end of July and beginning of November last year.

IFA livestock chair Brendan Golden said: “Farmers should resist the lower quotes that factories are coming with this week. Factories must reflect the higher costs farmers are enduring in their quotes. The advice is to sell hard in the coming weeks.”

NI comment

NI factories have moved to cut prices again this week, wiping another 2p to 4p/kg off the value of prime steers and heifers.

Official quotes for U-3 grading animals have seen another 4p/kg cut at a number of plants and now range from 434p/kg to 448p/kg (€5.32-€5.50/kg) for U-3 grading cattle.

Prices for young bulls are pinned much closer to official quotes, with U grading animals moving between 450p/kg and 454p/kg (€5.52-€5.57/kg).