The beef trade continues to hold on to its positive momentum this week, with quotes up another 5c/kg.
The supply-demand balance remains firmly at the farmers’ foot, with factory agents very anxious for cattle. Good weather and plenty of grass has meant few farmers are under any pressure to sell.
Bullocks are generally moving at €4.65/kg to €4.70/kg this week, with heifers being quoted at €4.70/kg in a lot of cases, but, once again, quoted price and paid price are two different figures this week.
Prices of €4.75/kg and €4.80/kg are achievable this week for bigger bundles.
Factories have the leeway to go 5c to 10c/kg more than what they are quoting, with flexibility also coming in around fat scores and weights. Transport is also being thrown into deals to try to get cattle across the line. This is worth around 5c/kg on a 350kg carcase at €20/head transport.
Flat prices
Flat prices are also coming into vogue, with up to €5.20/kg being paid flat for in-spec Aberdeen Angus heifers this week.
A quote of €5.10/kg is also on the table as a flat price for O grading bullocks and heifers. Herefords are generally working off 10c/kg less.
As always, farmers with numbers and regular customers are in the driving seat. With supplies tight and factory agents anxious for stock, the advice is to bargain hard if you have cattle to sell.
Foyle Meats, Donegal, has moved to a base price of €3.80/kg for bullocks this week, as long as they kill out between 300kg and 400kg.
Heifers are working off 5c/kg more, with €3.85/kg on offer on the grid for heifers killing out between 300kg and 400kg deadweight.
The bull trade maintains its positive trend, with up to €4.95/kg being paid to a few specialised bull finishers for U grading under-24-month bulls.
R grading bulls are being quoted at €4.80/kg to €4.85/kg, with a little more going to regular suppliers and those with numbers.
O and P grading bulls are trading at 5c to 10c/kg less than this, with fat cover being a big determinant on price for some of the poorer-quality bulls.
Cow prices
The manufacturing trade also remains strong, with good demand for fleshed cows from all factories this week.
Well-fleshed P+3 cows continue to trade at €3.70/kg to €3.80/kg, depending on weight and quality.
O grading cows are working off €4.00/kg to €4.10/kg, while good R grading cows are coming in at €4.30/kg to €4.40/kg.
U grading cows are being quoted as high as €4.45/kg to €4.55/kg in some factories.
UK demand
Much of the demand is coming from the UK. Slaughter-fit cattle numbers have dried up across the water and this has meant Irish factories have seen increased orders in recent weeks.
Last week’s kill dropped to 32,592 head, a drop of over 700 on the previous week. This is the fourth week in a row that supplies have dropped.
Procurement managers are pointing to a difficult summer grazing period on many farms leading to cattle being behind weight targets now.
They expect numbers to correct back up to a 36,000 weekly kill in the next few weeks. However, speaking to factory agents, numbers of finished cattle remain very tight on farms
NI comment
Factory quotes at northern plants are stuck on 446p/kg (€5.53/kg inc VAT) for U-3 animals, but prices are trading well above this level.
With mart prices running well above factory prices, some agents are losing cattle to the live ring and having to up the ante. Steers and heifers are making 466p/kg (€5.71/kg) with reports of 470p/kg (€5.76/kg) being paid. Demand for cows is high and prices have jumped to 390p/kg (€4.78/kg).
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