In the week ending 4 July 2026, the total cattle kill in NI dropped to just 7,557 head.

Even allowing for weeks which included bank holidays, it is the lowest weekly kill in NI this year and almost entirely due to extremely tight supplies of steers, heifers and young bulls.

The prime kill of just 5,529 compares to a weekly average in 2026 of 6,987 head.

Looking at the same week in 2025, prime cattle slaughterings this year are down by 1,000 head and you have to go back over 10 years to find weekly kills at a similar level to that seen in mid-2026.

Spring

Some of the biggest weekly prime kills this year happened in late spring, with the highest so far in 2026 of 7,925 in the week ending 23 May 2026.

Those large kills coincided with a four-week period where factories took over 25p/kg off the average price paid for steers and heifers.

So, in effect, it is a trend consistently seen down the years – the farmer response to falling prices, is to bring cattle forward for slaughter.

That always has consequences and it has contributed to very tight numbers in late June and into July.

The same thing happens in reverse and in a rising market, there is a tendency for farmers to hold onto their animals in the hope of even higher prices. In practice, a steady market is probably best for both farmers and processor alike.

BCR payment

But there is also a new dynamic and that is the £75 per head Beef Carbon Reduction (BCR) payment, which has dropped to a maximum of 27 months this year.

Previous analysis by DAERA shows that nearly 70% of suckler cows calve in the first half of the year.

With the payment in place, it encourages finishers to market these cattle towards the end of a typical housing period in mid to late spring, rather than hold them back for another few months.

That pressure will only become more intense with the maximum age due to reduce again to 26 months in 2027.