The beef trade remains in a vulnerable position, with all categories of stock taking another hit on price this week.

The steer and heifer base quote has fallen by another 10c/kg to €3.40/kg. There are still some cattle moving at last week’s prices, but that is where deals were completed before the weekend.

Prices on offer for this week are firmly on a base of €3.40/kg, with agents continuing to take bookings, but they are only quoting for a couple of days in advance.

Numbers on offer are reported as tightening, with panic selling bringing forward supplies in recent weeks, while some agents now comment that the upturn in weather is seeing more farmers turn forward stores out at current prices.

Young bulls

Young bull quotes have also eased 10c/kg, with a differential opening up between what different plants with varying levels of activity in the bull trade are offering.

R grading quotes at the lower end of the market are starting at €3.30/kg and rising to €3.40/kg and a top of €3.45/kg in cases. U grading bulls are 10c/kg lower at a range of €3.40/kg to €3.50/kg.

Cow price

The cow price has been particularly hard hit again, with prices dropping by as much as 20c/kg in the last week.

P+3 grading cows range from as low as €2.30/kg to €2.45/kg, while O grading cows are trading from €2.40/kg to €2.60/kg on average.

Meanwhile, R grading cows are trading from €2.60/kg to €2.75/kg, with odd deals rising to €2.80/kg to €3.00/kg at the top end of the market for top-quality U grading cows.

Sheep trade strengthens

In contrast, the sheep trade has rallied somewhat at the start of the week, with supplies tighter and factories keen to source numbers to fill orders for the Easter trade.

Hoggets are moving in general at a price range of €5.40/kg to €5.60/kg, but there are reports of 20c/kg to 30c/kg higher being paid to large-scale finishers with light hoggets killing at carcase weights of 19kg to 23kg.

Spring lamb prices are solid, with the general run of prices from €6.00/kg to €6.10/kg. Top prices on offer, when bonus payments are taken into account, are rising to €6.20/kg to €6.25/kg.

Carcase weights are generally being limited at 20kg, but there are some deals being completed at 20.5kg and in rare cases to 21kg carcase weight.

Read more

Interactive map: cow trade in free fall across Europe

Tesco commitment has negligible impact on farmer price