Base prices are working off a similar level to where they were this time last week, with bullocks working off a €6.70/kg to €6.80/kg base price, while heifers are generally trading for anywhere between €6.80/kg and €7.00/kg.

As always, there is more money being paid to the bigger suppliers, with 20c to 25c/kg being paid to any farmer finishing numbers in the last few weeks.

Speaking to a few farmers buying forward store cattle in marts, they say that factories must be upping the bonus rates being paid to their factory-aligned finishers given the prices being paid at the moment by the larger finishers in marts.

Teagasc has outlined that over €8/kg will be required for winter finishers to leave a margin this winter.

Flat prices of €7.20/kg are still on the table for in-spec Aberdeen Angus bullocks and heifers.

Factory agents are actively ringing around customers looking for supplies, with many factories now in Christmas mode, with one eye on filling factory orders for the next six weeks.

As a result of the public sector work stoppage taking place on Wednesday, beef factories weren’t killing as a result of unavailable staff from the Department of Agriculture.

This isn’t affecting throughput in factories, as most are currently only killing three or four days a week anyway, so it’s just a matter of swapping days around for many.

Active agents

Agents are active in marts, with most of these cattle in the 450kg-plus weight bracket being purchased around €3.70/kg to €4/kg and are being bought for a quick 70- to 100-day finish.

The mart price has lifted in the last two weeks and this has caused some concern in farmer finisher circles, with many still having nightmares about the 2025/2026 winter finishing season and the amount of money that was lost on October cattle purchases.

Bulls are also solid this week, with under-24-month U grading bulls coming in at €6.80/kg to €7.00/kg, with R grading bulls being bought at €6.70/kg to €6.80/kg.

Under-16-month bulls are working off a base price of €6.60/kg to €6.70/kg. Numbers of bulls being presented for slaughter remain small.

Stock bulls are also in demand, with as high as €6/kg being paid for heavy stock bulls by some factories this week.

Cows

U grading cows have firmed up, with €6.60/kg to €6.70/kg now on the table for well-fleshed heavy U grading cows.

O grading cows are working off a quote of €6.30/kg to €6.40/kg this week, with P+3 cows coming in at €6.10/kg to €6.20/kg, depending on weight and flesh cover.

Factory agents are also very active in marts for dairy cows, with up to €3.50/kg being paid for fleshed P grading cows this week by specialised cow finishers and agents.

Last week’s kill came in at 35,161, an increase of just over 600 head on the previous week. The heifer kill saw the largest increase with an extra 1,257 heifers processed last week.

IFA livestock chair Declan Hanrahan said: “There continues to be a big gap in quotes between factories around the country and farmers should price around when selling cattle.

“Factory-finished cattle are in short supply and, in a lot of cases, agents have been given a lot of leeway to pay more for cattle when buying them in yards.”

Across the water, beef quotes continue to be very firm, with further improvement seen in the last week.

In-spec bullocks and heifer rose by 7p to 10p in the British market over the last 10 days.

R4L heifers are being quoted at 636p/kg (€7.91/kg including VAT). The euro/sterling exchange rate is 84p/€1.