Heavy rain over the weekend was very welcome on cattle farms, especially in the south of the country.

This, followed by a showery week, will take off some of the pressure that was on grass supply on cattle farms and will also reduce the pressure to sell in the next few weeks.

Despite the rain, factories have used higher numbers to apply some pressure, with some trying to reduce quotes for next week.

Quotes remained very steady for this week and unchanged from last week, with the majority of bullocks moving at €4.80/kg to €4.85/kg.

Heifer quotes also remain unchanged, with quotes generally ranging from €4.85/kg to €4.90/kg.

Some factories have dropped official quotes to €4.80/kg for heifers, but when pressure is being applied, €4.85/kg is being paid. There are reports of prime cattle supplies getting a little tighter in the coming weeks and procurement managers have been actively looking ahead in the last few weeks lining up supplies.

Cow prices

R and U grading cows range in price from €4.80/kg to €4.90/kg.

O grading suckler cows are back at €4.60/kg to €4.70/kg, while there is a wide range in what is being quoted for P grading cows, with anything from €4.40/kg to €4.50/kg being quoted depending on weight and flesh cover.

The manufacturing trade is still performing very strongly and this continues to drive the cow trade.

Bull trade

The bull trade is also steady, with €4.80/kg being paid for under-24-month bulls.

Some specialised bull finishers have been able to squeeze €4.95/kg for bulls this week, with O grading bulls working off €4.60/kg to €4.70/kg.

Bigger finishers have also been able to hammer out deals at €5/kg for U grading bulls.

Black and white P grading dairy bulls are being quoted at €4.50/kg to €4.55/kg.

Under-16-month bulls, of which there are very few around, are being quoted at a base of €4.80/kg to €4.85/kg.

The Irish R3 bullock price is currently running 20c/kg behind the EU average young bull price and it is currently 39c/kg behind the average UK steer price.

Kill figures

Last week’s kill hit 36,322 head, with the bullock kill coming in at 18,610 head. This is the highest weekly bullock kill for a number of years.

The end of August coincides with February- and March-born cattle coming up to the 30-month age limit, so always flushes out extra cattle during these weeks.

The cow kill remained relatively stable at 6,647 head. The cow kill has been bobbing around 6,000 to 6,500 head for the last four weeks, but it’s expected to grow more in the coming weeks, as dairy farmers choose to offload more cows in the face of a reduced fodder supply, especially in areas which have been hit by lower grass growth in recent weeks.

The likely impact that these cows will have on tonnage of beef output will be small, as carcase weights will be low.

British trade

Across the water in Britain, the beef trade remains very stable, with R4L heifers working off £4.40/kg to £4.50/kg (€5.40 to €5.52 incl VAT).

According to the AHDB, for the year to date, total estimated British prime cattle slaughter is back 3% on the same period in 2021 and 4% below the five-year average.

NI comment

Finished cattle prices are holding firm in Northern Ireland, with quotes generally on 426p/kg (€5.22/kg inc VAT) for U-3 grading animals.

However, prime steers are making 438p/kg (€5.36/kg), with young bulls making 2p/kg less and in-spec heifers making 2p to 4p/kg above steer price. Cull cows are generally making 380p/kg (€4.65/kg) for good-quality suckler types.