The cattle trade continues to move in a positive direction, with standard quotes increasing again this week.

All sorts of deals are also being completed where numbers are involved, with procurement mangers particularly active for prime cattle over the last few days.

This has resulted in a lot of cold calls to irregular customers looking for cattle supplies and a sure sign that the ball is at the farmer’s foot when it comes to selling cattle.

Bullocks are working off €4.75/kg to €4.80/kg base price, with a lot more being bought this week at the higher end of that range.

Heifers are being quoted €4.85/kg to €4.90/kg, but, again, I have heard of deals being done at a €5/kg base price in some cases where higher numbers are involved and the promise of further cattle in January is also thrown into the mix.

Flat deals are also back on the cards, with as high as €5.15/kg available for Aberdeen Angus heifers this week.

I’ve also heard of flat deals around €5/kg being completed for good Friesian bullocks.

Farmers should dig in for the best price available, with factories willing to show leniency on transport costs, weight limits, age limits and number of movements to get deals across the line.

Solid trade

Bulls continue to be a very solid trade, with some factories having to shift to bull producers to shore up supplies in the last week.

This has injected some much-needed competition into the market for bulls.

U grading bulls have been moving freely in the east of the country at €5.10/kg this week, with €5.00/kg also on the table for R grading bulls, with weights generally not an issue.

Even lower-grading O bulls are in demand this week, with some factories paying out €4.85/kg for mixes of dairy-cross under-24-month bulls.

Under-16-month bulls are being quoted at €4.75/kg to €4.85/kg on the grid this week.

While the cow kill is high, demand has remained solid, with quotes also firming up in some factories, especially for younger well-fleshed cows.

R and U grading cows are working off €4.40/kg to €4.50/kg in most factories, with €4.30/kg being quoted for well-fleshed O grading dairy cows in some plants.

Parlour cows short on flesh are being sold from €2.70/kg to €3.00/kg, depending on flesh cover and the factory involved.

Higher quotes

Higher quotes are going for warmer cows that have been eating meal for a few weeks.

The much talked about Bord Bia price tracker gap has started to close, but there is still huge scope for improvement from Irish processors.

Last week’s export benchmark price came in at €4.78/kg compared with the Irish price of €4.39/kg excl VAT.

This shows a 5c/kg improvement, with further lifts expected in the weeks ahead.

European beef markets remain strong amid reduced supplies and increased demand in the last few weeks.

Last week’s prime cattle kill dropped by another 1,000 head to 26,634, compared with last week’s 27,670 head.

The fact that the cow kill continues to increase is taking some pressure off factories sourcing stock, but with retail-spec cattle in high demand, it has meant factories have had no choice but to increase the price of in-spec cattle.

Last week’s cow kill saw a record 11,115 cows killed – an increase of over 300 on the previous week.

NI comment

Base quotes on prime cattle in Northern Ireland are steady at 428p/kg (€5.19/kg inc VAT) for U-3 grading animals.

Numbers are tailing off after several weeks of record throughput, helping to underpin price deals.

Steers are generally making 442p/kg (€5.35/kg) with heifers opening on 446p/kg (€5.40/kg), but more is on offer for bigger numbers.