The beef trade has taken a positive jump this week, with quotes improving across the board on nearly all categories of stock.

Foyle Meats, Donegal, has increased quotes to €4.55/kg for heifers when the 10c/kg bonus is included for heifers killing out between 300kg and 400kg.

It also moved its bullock quotes up to €4.50/kg when the 10c/kg bonus is included.

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This increase has meant all other factories have had to increase quotes to keep pace with Donegal Meats.

Most factories are working off somewhere between €4.30/kg and €4.40/kg for bullocks and €4.35/kg and €4.45/kg for heifers.

Regular suppliers and those with numbers are working 5c to 15c/kg ahead of these quotes.

There’s a marked difference in the tone of procurement managers this week, with many now looking for stock for the end of this week, never mind lining up next week’s kill.

Finished cattle remain in very tight supply and anybody with numbers at the moment has the ball at their foot, with factories paying out higher prices than quotes given when pushed.

Cow trade

The cow trade is also very steady, with a few factories improving quotes, with €4.00/kg to €4.10/kg being paid freely for good R grading cows. U grading cows are trading at 10c to 15c/kg higher.

O grading cows are coming in at €3.75/kg to €3.85/kg. Better suckler O grades are pushing into €3.90/kg if part of a load.

P+3 cows are being quoted at €3.70/kg to €3.80/kg.

Factory agents remain very active around mart rings sourcing heavy cows. If farmers are just selling one or two cows, the mart ring is the place to sell them.

Bulls

Bulls are in demand, with a number of factories now paying €4.45/kg for under-24-month U grading bulls, with €4.30/kg to €4.35/kg being quoted for R grading bulls.

Some factories are paying €4.20/kg to €4.30/kg for mixtures of O and P black and white bulls.

Under-16-month bulls are working off €4.30/kg, with more going for bigger numbers.

Last week’s kill increased by almost 900 head to 35,957, with heifers being the main mover. The bull kill has remained steady at 3,691 head killed last week.

English prices

Across the water, the English beef trade is very steady. R4L heifers in northern England are coming in at €5.25/kg this week, which is 60 cent/kg ahead of the Irish price. This translates into a €200/head difference.

Interestingly, the northern English price is actually ahead of the Scottish price at the moment.

Scotch beef would have traditionally attracted a premium price, but a strong supply of finished cattle in Scotland at the moment has eroded some of this premium.

IFA livestock chair Brendan Golden said: “Increased feed and fertiliser costs on beef farms have eroded the price increases from 2021.

“Despite beef prices running at 50c/kg above last year, for higher-stocked beef farms, feed and fertiliser costs have risen by 65c/kg above 2021 levels.”

NI comment

In Northern Ireland, cull cows have increased by 10p/kg as processing demand grows.

Base quotes for R3 cows is now 310p/kg (€3.94/kg), but deals generally exceed 320p/kg (€4.06/kg).

Prime cattle prices are slowing moving upwards. Base quotes have risen by 2p/kg, meaning U-3 grading animals are now on 398p/kg (€5/05/kg inc VAT), although deals are still running well above this level.

Steers are generally moving from 408p/kg (€5.18/kg) up to 412p/kg (€5.24/kg) for regular finishers.

Heifers are moving at similar prices, whereas bulls are a harder sell with farmers struggling to better base quotes.