This week’s beef trade remains pretty steady, with bullocks on €5.00/kg and heifers working off €5.05/kg. Factory agents are at the double-speak again, talking down the trade but anxious for cattle at the same time.
This week’s beef trade remains pretty steady, with bullocks on €5.00/kg and heifers working off €5.05/kg.
Factory agents are at the double-speak again, talking down the trade but anxious for cattle at the same time.
Cows were a similar trade to last week, with U grading cows still up at €4.90/kg to €5.00/kg and R grading cows coming in at €4.60/kg to €4.70/kg.
Factories specialising in cows and dealing through producer groups are paying up to 20c/kg higher than these quotes to secure numbers.
O+ suckler cows are generally working off €4.40/kg to €4.60/kg, while O grading dairy cows are being bought at €4.30/kg to €4.35/kg in the main.
P+3 cows are working off €4.10/kg to €4.20/kg, depending on weight, age and flesh.
The mart trade is still a good option for farmers with smaller numbers of cows, with agents still very active for heavy well-fleshed cows.
The cow kill continues to be very strong, with 9,336 cows killed last week.
So far, the cow kill is running just above 10% ahead of last year’s kill for the same period. This is being fuelled by dairy farmers offloading passengers in the south on the back of poor grass growth and nitrates issues.
Bulls
Under-24-month bulls are still working off a €5.35/kg to €5.40/kg base price for U grading bulls.
R grading bulls are coming in at €5.20/kg to €5.30/kg, while O grading bulls are being bought at €5.00/kg to €5.10/kg.
P grading bulls are working off €5.00/kg, depending on weight and flesh cover. Under-16-month bulls are generally working off a €5.00/kg to €5.10/kg base price.
Last week’s kill came in at 32,664, up just over 300 head on the previous week.
The bullock kill saw the biggest lift of just over 1,000 head, while the cow kill came back by over 400 head on last week’s big kill of cows.
The cow kill is currently running almost 2,000 head over what was killed in the same week in 2023.
The overall kill is pretty similar to where it was this time last year, tracking about 1,000 head up on where it was in the middle of July 2023.
The cumulative kill for 2024 is up 20,460 on the same period in 2023, mainly being driven by the increase in the cow kill.
IFA livestock chair Declan Hanrahan said: “Supplies of cattle will remain tight, particularly for in-spec cattle, for the next number of months.
“It is important farmers take full advantage of the situation by selling hard.
“Where factories are not forthcoming with higher prices, farmers should consider the mart outlet, which is boosted by Northern Ireland buyers bringing vital competition to the trade.
“The gamesmanship of factories on price must stop. Market conditions for beef are strong. Supplies are tight here and in our key markets, which creates real opportunities for factories to strengthen prices to farmers.”
Across the water, the beef price remains steady, with R4L steers coming in at 479p/kg (€6.02/kg incl VAT).
The sterling-euro exchange rate dropping to 84p/€1 has strengthened the hand of Irish exporters.
There is some mixed messages coming from the UK trade. Some say the ending of the European Football Championships will cause a dip in demand for manufacturing beef, while others say that warmer weather means barbecue meat sales are on the up.
Prime cattle are in short supply across the water and this is adding some bite to the market.
NI comment
Prime cattle on a base of 460p/kg (€5.70/kg inc VAT) are well below the 484p to 486p/kg (€6 to €6.03/kg) for in-spec steers and heifers as tight supplies keeps a floor under the beef trade. Cows are steady on 370p to 390p/kg (€4.59 to €4.83/kg).
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