The cull cow trade is the highlight of this week’s beef trade, with factory agents very hungry for them.

Factory agents have resorted to cold calling this week to source supplies, with some looking for anything that was coming close to slaughter fit.

The manufacturing market continues to perform very strongly and this is underpinning the demand for cows and out-of-spec stock.

In terms of the prime cattle trade, it’s a case of what’s quoted and what’s being paid being two different prices this week.

Bullocks are moving at €5.05/kg to €5.10/kg, with €5.15/kg being paid on a few occasions this week. Heifers are moving at €5.10/kg to €5.20/kg, with the higher price easily achieved where numbers are involved.

Foyle Meats, Donegal, is quoting €5.20/kg for bullocks and €5.25/kg for heifers once both kill out between 300kg and 400kg.

Flat prices of as high as €5.60/kg for Angus heifers have been paid this week.

Bull trade

The bull trade also remains solid, with €5.30/kg being paid for U grading under-24-month bulls this week in some locations, up 5c/kg on last week’s quotes.

Those with numbers have also been able to squeeze €5.40/kg out of some processors.

R grading bulls are being quoted at €5.20/kg to €5.30/kg, with a little more going to regular suppliers and those with numbers.

O and P grading bulls are trading at 5c/kg to 10c/kg less than this.

Under-16-month bulls are generally working off base prices of €5.15/kg to €5.20/kg.

Cow prices

Well-fleshed P+3 cows are trading this week at €4.15/kg to €4.25/kg, depending on weight and quality.

O grading cows are working off €4.30/kg to €4.40/kg, depending on the processor, while good R grading cows are at €4.40/kg to €4.60/kg.

U grading cows are being quoted at €4.60/kg to €4.80/kg. Young cows and good-quality fleshed suckler cows are being bought at higher prices than factories are quoting, with €4.90/kg paid for young once-calved heifers this week.

The mart is the best place to get the value out of cull cows at the moment, with all agents working for factories specialising in the cull cow market very active in mart rings.

Kill figures

Last week’s kill came in at 35,171 head, an increase on the previous week’s four-day kill of 29,902 head.

Compared with the same week in 2023 the kill is up 1,499 head, mainly driven by an increase in the number of cows being killed.

The cow kill stood at 8,920 last week, up over 1,000 head on the same week in 2023. The prime cattle kill is steady when compared with last year.

IFA livestock chair Declan Hanrahan said: “Factories are paying more than they are quoting in all cases and farmers are advised to bargain hard and price around when selling cattle.”

Beef prices across the water continue to perform very strongly, with R4L bullocks still trading off £4.90/kg (€5.95/kg incl VAT). Cows saw a 10p/kg lift in price for their first week trading in Britain. Interestingly, the AHDB is pointing to a positive outlook for 2024 Irish beef prices could also be positive for British beef farmers given how closely the two markets interact with each other.

NI comment

The beef trade in NI is steady this week, with several plants affected by strike action on Thursday. Quotes are unchanged on 458p/kg (€5.61/kg inc VAT) for U-3 grading animals, but deals for in-spec steers and heifers remain on 480p/kg (€5.88/kg).

Young bulls are on deals of 470p/kg (€5.76/kg). Cows are an improving trade and while quotes for R3 animals are stuck on 326p/kg (€4/kg), deals of 350p to 360p/kg are common place.