With the weekly kill remaining stubbornly below 30,000, factories are having to work hard to get cattle into the lairage.

This means that while buyers might like to be holding prices, they have a near-impossible task with the current level of supplies.

Factories are also under pressure from a buoyant mart trade, especially for cows, giving farmers another option.

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This week, bullocks are in general working off €7.60/kg base price, with very few being bought at the €7.50kg that was widely quoted last week, so the trend is creeping up.

Heifers are 10c/kg stronger, working off a base quote of €7.70/kg.

As always with the current tight supply situation, deals are on offer, particularly where there are numbers involved.

Where there are numbers of good-quality cattle meeting a supermarket spec, deals being done for 10c to 20c/kg above the base quote.

Breed bonuses of 30c/kg are still available for in-spec Aberdeen Angus bullocks and heifers. Flat prices are still on the table, with as high as €8.20/kg reported being paid for Friesian bulls this week.

The trade in young bulls continues strong. The going rate being offered for R and U grades is in the region of €7.80/kg to €7.90/kg, while P and O grading bulls are getting €7.50/kg to €7.60/kg.

Despite a few more cows being about, as is usual this time of year, the trade remains exceptionally strong. Good O and P grading cows with flesh are making €7.20/kg, with the small number of quality R grading cows easily making €7.60/kg in the factory and some spectacular prices are being paid in the marts for these good cows.

Numbers

Last week’s kill came in at 29,776, roughly the same as the previous week, but this was over 4,000 head down compared with the same week last year.

The bank holiday Monday had no impact whatsoever on numbers and some factories only killed cattle on three of the four days available.

The total kill in 2025 is back 146,624 head excluding calves, with numbers expected to remain tight for the remainder of 2025.

Wet weather, housing and milk price pressure has meant that cow numbers have continued to increase, with last week’s cow kill up 500 head on the previous week.

As we head towards the second week of November, factories are actively planning for the Christmas trade.

With beef at its current price, it had been thought that supermarkets would shy away from beef promotions this year.

However, the latest thinking is that there will be at least some promotional activity in the supermarkets in the run-up to the festive season, even if it isn’t on the same scale as previous years.

If that materialises, we can expect the factory build-up of stocks to be under way and continue over coming weeks.

Britain

Prices across the water in Britain have also been on a slight upward trend.

For the week ending 25 October, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board is reporting a 2p to3p increase across the board.

Numbers of finished cattle coming to the market continue to tighten, with the factory kill back 500 head on the previous week and back almost 2,500 head on the same week in 2024.

There are reports of more cows coming to the market, but these are being swept up, with manufacturing demand remaining very steady.

R4L bullocks are coming in at £6.51/kg (€7.86/kg incl VAT), which puts the British price on an even keel with Irish quotes.

NI trade

North of the border, it has been another week of stand on for factory quotes.

U-3 steers are being quoted at £6.56/kg to £6.58/kg, which is the equivalent of €7.83/kg and €7.86/kg when VAT is included.