Factories continue to try to apply pressure to the beef trade.

Beef quotes have slipped in the last week for the third week in a row, with factories relaying messages of issues in retail channels as to the reason markets are back.

European beef prices have slackened a little in recent weeks, with Bord Bia reporting that consumers have become more price sensitive to higher beef prices as the current cost of living expenses continue to spiral.

On the opposite end of the scale, the manufacturing beef trade continues to perform very strongly, with good demand across both the UK and the EU.

Many factories are now working off a number of different prices, depending on the farmer customers they are dealing with.

Regular customers and those dealing with numbers are still working off last week’s prices, with some working off quotes similar to prices quoted two weeks ago.

General quotes for bullocks are working off €5.05/kg to €5.15/kg, with heifers working off €5.10/kg to €5.15/kg.

Factories are pushing hard to get quotes back under €5.00/kg, with some signalling base a price of €4.95/kg for bullocks next week.

This may not materialise, as numbers are tight on the ground, with shed cattle now almost non-existent and grass cattle still not ready.

Factories are doing their best to try to make it look like they aren’t bothered about cattle and adopting a take-it-or-leave-it approach when quoting for cattle this week.

The agents around the ring haven’t been given the same instructions, with mart managers reporting a continued strong trade for factory-fit cattle, with plenty of demand for factory-fit animals and prices holding well.

Range in bull quotes

There is a wide range in bull quotes, with some factories trying to buy under-16-month bulls on Monday morning at €5.00/kg, with others quoting €5.10/kg on the grid.

U grading under-24-month bulls are being quoted from €5.10/kg to €5.25/kg, with R grading bulls coming in at €5/kg to €5.20/kg.

Cow prices

Cows are also working off a variety of quotes depending on who you are, who you are dealing with and what numbers you have.

Larger finishers dealing with specialist cow processors are still working off €5.00/kg for O grading cows and €5.10/kg for R grading cows.

Other factories have pulled quotes back to €5.00/kg for R grading cows, €4.80/kg for O grading cows and €4.70/kg for P grading cows.

The mart trade for heavy cows is still very strong, with factory agents continuing to be very active around rings.

Last week’s kill came in at 32,461 head, an increase of 545 on the previous week.

The young bull kill was back 400 head, with the biggest increase coming in the bullock category with an extra 490 bullocks killed last week.

The national kill is up 80,000 head on 2021 levels. This would signal no huge numbers of cattle to come to the market for the rest of 2022 and this should help stabilise the trade coming into autumn time.

The advice is to not panic and market cattle when they are fit.

Looking across Europe and the UK over the past week, the trade is steady, with numbers tight and demand remaining very solid.

Cows saw a 5p/kg rise in Britain last week, with young bulls seeing a 2p/kg rise.

NI trade

Factories continue to talk the trade down in Northern Ireland, but, so far, with little success.

Quotes are steady on 434p/kg (€5.31/kg inc VAT) for U-3 grading animals. However, this is well below the price deals being paid, with steers and heifers generally making 448p to 454p/kg (€5.49 to €5.56/kg) for in-spec animals.