Beef prices match UK as cattle supply plummets

Irish beef prices are within 4c/kg of UK prices for the first time since 2022.

Factory prices are being forced upwards by plummeting supplies of finished cattle.

Numbers of finished cattle available to buy in marts last week also dropped. This has left some factories unable to source enough cattle to fill their contracts.

Some of the smaller independent factories have had to increase their quotes to secure weekly supplies.

Last week’s kill came in at 25,401 cattle, down 7,000 head on the same week in 2024.

Huge numbers of cattle exported in 2024 and 2025 mean the cattle supply problem is here to stay for processors in the short to medium term.

Price lift

Average Irish beef prices in 2025 are running €1.97/kg (€690 on a 350kg carcase) ahead of the 2024 price.

The Irish price for R3 bullocks for the week ending 26 July was €7.86/kg, while prices for R4L bullocks in the UK came in at 654p/kg (€7.90/kg).

This brings the gap between the UK and Irish price to just 4c/kg, down significantly from €1.17/kg in February this year.

According to Bord Bia, the average reported price for an R3 young bull in Europe at the end of July lagged behind both the UK and Irish price, coming in at €7.13/kg, which puts it 63c/kg behind the Irish R3 bullock price.