Beef Trends: bullocks break €6/kg base price barrier

Storm Éowyn caused huge disruption to the country on Friday, but it hasn’t managed to blow beef quotes off the course of heading for €7/kg.

Finished cattle continue to be in very short supply, with agents very hungry for cattle.

Some factory agents have even begun to move outside their territory to get cattle and have been issued strict instructions from factory bosses to leave no cattle behind them this week.

A number of processors had to cancel last Friday’s kill on the back of a red weather warning preventing staff from travelling to work.

Some factories that could do so opened on Saturday to work through some of the cattle that were due to be processed on Friday.

Most quotes are up 5c to 10c/kg this week. Bullocks are working off a base quote of €6.00/kg to €6.05/kg, with heifers at €6.10/kg to €6.20/kg.

Base quotes of €6.30/kg have also been paid for heifers to get deals across the line.

This is before any breed bonuses, factory bonuses or in-spec bonuses are added.

R grading Aberdeen Angus heifers being sold through the Kepak/Tirlan 2020 club are coming in at €6.60/kg this week.

Flat deals

Prices of as high as €6.60/kg flat are being paid for big loads of continental cattle this week.

I have also heard of a flat price of €6.80/kg for a double-decker lorryload of good-quality Aberdeen Angus and Hereford heifers. Several deals have been done for O grading Aberdeen Angus heifers at €6.50/kg to €6.60/kg flat.

Flat prices for Friesian bullocks of as high as €6.10/kg to €6.20/kg are available, depending on the numbers involved.

Factories are also paying big money for overage cattle, with as high as €6.25/kg being paid this week for over-30-month cattle being killed on the grid.

Cows

O+ suckler cows are generally working off €5.40/kg to €5.50/kg, while O grading dairy cows are being bought at €5.30/kg to €5.40/kg, depending on the factory.

R grading cows are being quoted at €5.60/kg to €5.70/kg and higher money is available where numbers are involved.

P+3 cows are working off €5.20/kg to €5.30/kg, depending on weight, age and flesh.

Well-fleshed U grading cows continue to command top prices of €5.90/kg to €6.00/kg and over for young, fleshed heavy cows.

Factory agents are paying the equivalent of €6/kg deadweight and over it in marts to secure top-quality fleshed cows.

Bulls

Under-24-month bulls are still working off €6.40/kg to €6.50/kg for U grading bulls and higher where larger numbers are involved.

Flat prices of €6.40/kg and over it is on the table where big numbers are involved. R grading bulls are coming in at €6.10/kg to €6.20/kg, while O grading bulls are being bought at €5.90/kg to €6.00/kg.

Under-16-month bulls are working off a base price of €5.90/kg before any QA bonus or grid payments are added.

Last week’s kill came in at 34,236 head, some 300 back on the previous week, but much of this is down to storm disruption.

Last week’s kill was back about 2,000 head on the corresponding week in 2024.

Beef quotes across the water continue to move upwards, with reports of a 5p to 10p increase taking placeagain this week.

The AHDB is reporting 587p/kg (€7.43/kg incl VAT) for R4L bullocks this week, with heifers at a similar price. Prices of £6/kg (€7.63/kg incl VAT) are being paid to larger feeders

NI comment

Tight supplies north of the border have resulted in base quotes rising 12p/kg on last week to 540p/kg (€6.73/kg) for U3 animals, although deals on steers and heifers range from 550p to 560p/kg (€6.86 to €6.98/kg) depending on numbers.