This week’s beef quotes took a hit, with well-flagged reductions from agents coming through on Monday of this week.

Factories are playing their cards close to their chest, with many not saying anything about next week.

Some are pedalling a story about having Christmas orders filled already on the back of poor demand from supermarkets, but the most recent price pressure is probably to do with higher numbers than anticipated coming their way over the last two weeks.

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Weather has played into factories’ hands, with a flush of cattle coming their way last week and this week.

That has meant some cattle that were booked in last week have been shifted to this week and that has left the demand a little lower than normal.

It’s also raised a few questions in farmers’ heads about supplies and could the power be shifting back to factories.

AIMS data would suggest that finished numbers will remain tight for the foreseeable future, with 2026 also looking tight for supplies.

A few factories have one eye on 2026 already, with some looking to do deals with large feeders for the 2026 supply.

Back to this week and bullocks are working off a €7.40/kg base price, while heifers are working off a base price of €7.50/kg.

There isn’t a huge amount of wriggle room on those prices this week, with the extra 10c/kg reserved for the chosen few.

With factories only killing two or three days in some locations, it doesn’t take a lot of cattle to tip the supply balance.

The current situation is expected to correct itself inside a couple of weeks and cattle are expected to return to tighter supplies in the run-up to Christmas.

Bonuses

Where there are numbers of good-quality cattle coming from regular customers, deals are being done for 10c above the base quote.

Breed bonuses of 30c/kg are still available for in-spec Aberdeen Angus bullocks and heifers.

Flat prices are still on the table, with €7.90/kg to €8.00/kg reported as being paid for in-spec Aberdeen Angus heifers this week.

Cows have also taken a hit, with most cow types back 20c to 30c/kg this week.

P+3 cows are coming in at €6.70/kg to €6.80/kg. Good O grades with flesh are still making €6.80/kg to 6.90/kg, with quality R grading cows coming in at €7.00/kg and a little above it in some locations.

The run-up to Christmas always sees demand drop a little for cows, as processors concentrate on prime beef.

The trade in young bulls is also back this week. The going rate being offered for R and U grades is in the region of €7.60/kg to €7.70/kg, while P and O grading bulls are coming in at €7.30/kg to €7.40/kg.

Last week’s kill came in at just over 32,000, a rise for the second week in row.

This was up from 31,382 head last week and up from 29,776 the previous week.

The number of heifers slaughtered last week took a big lift, up 1,000 head on the previous week.

The cow kill also remains very strong, with 7,346 cows killed last week.

Last week’s bullocks were back just under 600 head. There appears to be still more cattle in the system than was anticipated, but these are expected to flush out of the system within a few weeks.

The 2025 kill is now over 150,000 head lower than the same period in 2024, with last week’s kill almost 8,000 head lower than the same week in 2024.

Across the water in Britain, beef quotes remain steady, despite some chat around increased competition on supermarket shelves and the food service market from Australian and South American beef.

NI comment

Prices across Northern Ireland remain steady with 660p/kg (€7.88/kg inc VAT) still freely available for in-spec cattle.