While the weather may not be bringing good vibes to the October bank holiday weekend, the beef trade isn’t showing any signs of negativity and most factories have held quotes steady for this week.

Deals were struck for a lot of this week’s kill last week, with quotes ranging from €4.55-€4.60/kg for bullocks, while heifers are trading.

The bull trade remains pretty stable, with €4.80/kg being paid for U-grading under-24-month bulls this week.

R-grading bulls are being quoted at €4.70/kg to €4.80/kg, with a little more going to regular suppliers and those with numbers.

O- and P-grading bulls are trading at 5c/kg to 10c/kg less than this. Under-16-month bulls are in short supply and are generally working off a base price of €4.60/kg to €4.65/kg.

Cow prices

Good, well-fleshed cows remain a solid trade. Light P1 parlour cows are a different story, with very few factories having any appetite for these.

Some factories are quoting as low as €2.00/kg and under for these dairy cows this week, with others refusing to take the cows that have been bought in a mart.

These factories are implementing a minimum residency period of over 21 days before the cows can be killed.

Well-fleshed P+3 cows continue to trade at €3.60/kg to €3.80/kg, depending on weight and quality.

O-grading cows are working off €3.80/kg to €4.00/kg, while good R-grading cows are coming in at €4.10/kg to €4.30/kg.

U-grading cows are being quoted at €4.30-€4.40/kg. The live trade for cull cows has waned a little this week on the back of poorer demand from Northern Ireland customers.

Disruption

A work stoppage being carried out by Department for Agriculture vets in NI has led to some severe disruption of the cattle and sheep kill.

Union members in the Veterinary Service Animal Health Group (VSAHG) started the action at midnight on Sunday night. The strike is expected to cause a back log in getting cattle killed in NI for the next seven to 10 days. The strike will also see disruption to NI live imports and exports of cattle.