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Prime cattle prices for animals slaughtered this week are down by as much as 45p/kg on the same week last year.
This makes a 380kg steer carcase worth £171 less when compared with a similar animal slaughtered last June.
However, beef finishers have also faced higher costs, with prices for general-purpose beef rations moving up £40/t to £50/t last autumn. A 550kg steer housed last November, stored and intensively finished in June would have consumed just over 1t of concentrate over this period.
It means that farmers finishing cattle now are down by as much as £220/head year-on-year.
Price pressure
The local beef trade has come under renewed price pressure over the past week. Base quotes have slipped to between 326p/kg and 332p/kg for U3-grading animals, with delays building to get animals processed.
For the same week last year, figures from the Livestock and Meat Commission show that base quotes for U3 cattle were 364p/kg to 366p/kg.
Prices paid averaged 379p/kg for U3 heifers and 377.5p/kg for U3 steers during June, as markets were buoyed by strong processing demand.
The previous year U3 steers averaged 372p/kg, with U3 heifers at 373p/kg.
In terms of young bulls, current prices for U3 animals are approximately 330p/kg compared with 362.7p/kg and 362.9p/kg being paid in June 2018 and 2017 respectively. This is a difference of £120 on a 400kg carcase.
Outlook
Meanwhile, cattle forecasts by the LMC indicate that cattle supplies during the second half of 2019 will contract by 5% on last year, with a similar trend to exist in early 2020.
With supply down, beef finishers will be hoping this translates into more sustainable prices over the next 18 months.
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