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There is more bite in the cattle trade in recent days. A gradual recovery in grass supplies is reducing the pressure on beef finishers to draft cattle and has also reduced the rate of cull cows moving from dairy herds.
The general base quotes offered by factories remain at €3.85/kg for steers and €3.95/kg for heifers but sellers handling higher numbers continue to have good success in securing a 5c/kg higher base. The best demand remains for cattle deemed in spec, with good continental cattle under 30 months of age and good Angus steers and heifers achieving a carcase weight of 280kg upwards.
Numbers of young bulls coming on stream have reduced in recent weeks and this is inserting more demand into the young bull trade. Bulls less than 16 months old and trading on the grid are selling in small numbers on a base of €3.85/kg to €3.90/kg but 5c/kg to 10c/kg higher has been paid to specialist finishers. A similar situation is evident for bulls aged over 16 months but under 24 months.
Farmers selling R and U grading bulls are being quoted a price of €3.85/kg to €3.90/kg and €3.95/kg to €4.00/kg respectively, but 5c/kg to 10c/kg higher has been secured by specialist finishers supplying plants with high numbers on a regular basis. The backlog which had developed in getting bulls accepted for slaughter has now also passed, with agents keen to move bulls quickly.
While the pressure to move cows has reduced somewhat, the trade for poor-quality cows remains sluggish. The general quote for P+3 grading cows remains at €3.00/kg to €3.05/kg but prices vary 5c/kg to 10c/kg either side of this range. Plain-quality cows lacking flesh are selling back to €2/kg while light-carcase P-1- cows are selling back to as low as €1.30/kg to €1.50/kg.
Fleshed O grading cows range from €3.10/kg to €3.20/kg, with specialist finishers securing higher for heavier O+ cows while R grades range from €3.30/kg to €3.40/kg.
Northern and British trade
Cattle supplies in Northern Ireland have also tightened, with low numbers of grass-finished cattle appearing and shed-finished supplies tightening. U-3 base quotes for steers and heifers remain at £3.50/kg to £3.52/kg or the equivalent of €3.92/kg to €3.94/kg at 89.3p to the euro and €4.13/kg to €4.15/kg including VAT at 5.4%. Regular sellers are securing 4p/kg to 6p/kg higher, with top prices rising to £3.60/kg. This is in contrast to Britain, where continued drought conditions are resulting in higher throughput and downward pressure on price, with R4L steers and heifers averaging in the region of £3.70/kg (€4.37/kg incl VAT).
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