The beef trade continues to remain very steady this week, with no signs of any change. Bullocks continue to trade at €4.10/kg to €4.15/kg, while heifers are moving at €4.15/kg to €4.20/kg.

Young under-16-month bulls continue to move at €4.10/kg to €4.15/kg on the grid. Under-24-month bulls are generally being quoted at €4.10/kg to €4.15/kg for R grades, with €4.15/kg to €4.20/kg being paid for U grading bulls.

The cow trade has steadied after a slight drop last week. P grading cows are working off €3.30/kg to €3.40/kg. O grading cows are moving at €3.50/kg to €3.60/kg, while good suckler-bred R grading cows are still at €3.70/kg to €3.80/kg, with a little more going for U grading cows in some factories.

Flat prices are getting increasingly popular, especially for Friesian cattle and while there was a reluctance in the past to quote off the grid, at the moment factories are very open to striking flat-priced deals.

You need to know your cattle when you are negotiating the price.

Some farmers like it, as it takes the risk out of it and they know what they are getting.

An O= grading bullock is back 18c/kg on the grid, while a P+ bullock is back 50c/kg when you count in losing the in-spec bonus as well.

I have heard of €4.25/kg flat being paid for mixes of O and P grading Friesian bullocks this week, which is a good price considering good-quality in-spec continental R+ bullocks are coming in at €4.36/kg at a base of €4.10/kg

Angus in demand

Flat deals of as high as €4.60/kg have been paid to secure Aberdeen Angus bullocks and heifers this week.

Two of the big three players have been especially active in recent days, paying as high as €2.40/kg to €2.50/kg for Aberdeen Angus bullocks in the 500kg to 600kg weight category.

Last week’s kill came in almost identical to the previous week’s kill at 31,036 head, down only 19 on the previous week.

This week’s kill is likely to be a similar story, with a number of factories increasing the days that they kill this week to meet demand.

The young bull kill took a big lift last week, with 3,555 head killed, up from 2,817 the week before. The heifer kill was down almost 500 head last week to 8,091.

So far this year, there have been 31,680 more head of cattle excluding veal slaughtered compared with 2020.

The cow kill is actually running 10,000 head ahead of last year’s kill at 136,180, while the young bull kill has dropped over 13,000 head for the first five months of the year compared with 2020.

IFA livestock chair Brendan Golden said: “World beef markets are very strong and prices across the water in Britain are still well ahead of Irish prices. Factories should pass on any positive developments in markets to the primary producer.”

NI comment

Factory agents are showing greater appetite for finished cattle in Northern Ireland, as supplies are growing increasingly scarce.

Base quotes lag well behind the main trade on 376p/kg (€4.61/kg inc VAT) for U-3 grading animals.

However, with demand outstripping supply, prime cattle are opening on 390p/kg (€4.78/kg), with deals of 2p to 4p/kg more on offer for regular finishers.

Cull cows are in demand and deals of 320p to 330p/kg (€3.92 to €4.04/kg) are on offer for good-quality suckler types.