They say slow and steady wins the race and that’s how you could describe this week’s beef trade.

The last few days has seen no huge change to beef quotes, with most factories killing three and four days this week and another four days next week. This means no one is panicking about supplies and quotes have remained constant.

The shorter week also means that factories can manage the kill a lot better. The only factory to have raised its quote in the last week is Foyle Meats in Donegal, which is now paying €5.40/kg on heifers killing out between 300kg and 400kg, while bullocks are on €5.35/kg.

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The general run of quotes remains at €5.20/kg to €5.25 for bullocks.

There is a north-south divide when it comes to heifer quotes. Down south, factory agents are finding it a little easier to buy cattle, with many able to buy heifers at the same price as bullocks.

Heifers are being quoted at €5.25/kg to €5.30/kg, with €5.30/kg a little harder to get in some places this week. Prices are still a long way off the €6/kg required to break even for winter finishers.

With some of the most expensive cattle finished out of sheds in April due to feed costs, winter finishers continue to question the viability of the business without any guarantees on price.

Young bulls

The top price in the young bull market is still coming in at €5.40/kg to €5.50/kg for U grades, with €5.30/kg to €5.40/kg on the table for well-fleshed R grades.

P and O grading bulls are being bought at €5.00/kg to €5.10/kg and €5.10/kg to €5.20/kg, respectively.

Bulls under 16 months old are being bought at €5.20/kg to €5.30/kg (the base price on the grid).

There is still a huge variation in prices quoted for older stock bulls, with some factories quoting as low as €3.50/kg, while others are up to €4.50/kg for well-fleshed heavy bulls.

Cows

P3 cows are working off €4.60/kg, with O grading cows coming in at €4.70/kg to €4.80/kg.

R grading cows are generally being quoted at €4.90/kg to €5.00/kg, with U grading cows now moving at €5.00/kg to €5.20/kg.

Smaller wholesaler operators are still competing best for young well-fleshed cows.

There is a big range in cow quotes, depending on factory speciality, so it pays to price around if you have good cows to sell.

The mart trade remains a real option for farmers with small numbers of cattle. Wholesalers and factory buyers remain very active around mart rings and NI customers have also increased activity in the last week

Kill numbers

Last week’s kill came in at 30,835 head, an increase of just over 500 cattle on the previous week.

It’s a remarkable difference to the same week in March 2022, which saw 36,532 cattle killed.

Across the water, the beef trade remains in a positive place, with U grading steers moving up to £5.07/kg (€6.15/kg incl VAT) this week in northern England.

Across Europe, beef supplies remain tight, with U3 young bulls coming in at €5.88/kg in France last week.

NI comment

Strong processing demand for finished cattle north of the border has seen official quotes on U-3 animals rising to 478p/kg (€5.72/kg inc VAT).

However, deals on steers and heifers range from 492p/kg to 496p/kg (€5.89 to €5.94/kg), with reports of regular finishers handling bigger numbers pushing on to 500p/kg (€5.99/kg).

Cull cows are a flying trade, with prices generally between 410p/kg and 415p/kg (€4.91/kg to €4.97/kg) with 5p to 10p/kg more for animals with better conformation.