The beef trade remains on a very steady footing this week, with some processors having to up their game with quotes such is the competition for stock.
Bullocks are generally moving at €7.50/kg to €7.60/kg, with heifers being quoted at €7.60/kg, but most factories paying €7.70/kg or higher in cases to secure supplies.
There are some agents threatening to pull quotes, but they are likely to be left with very few cattle if they do.
Flat prices of as high as €8.20/kg are on the table this week for in-spec Aberdeen Angus bullocks and heifers.
Farmers are advised to dig in hard in the next few weeks as numbers remain tight and factories gear up for a back-to-school boost in beef sales.
Cows
The cow trade remains very steady, with factory agents active for heavy, well-covered cows. R grading cows are generally trading at €7.30/kg to €7.40/kg, while O grading cows are coming in around €7.10/kg to €7.20/kg.
Up to €7.60/kg has been paid for U grading cows this week. Larger finishers with big numbers of cows have been able to get 20c/kg more for well finished cows.
There is a big range in quotes for P grading cows, with those with numbers able to bargain for more.
Up to €7.10/kg is back on the table for well-finished dairy cows, with the higher prices dependent on weight and flesh cover.
Bulls
The manufacturing trade is under big pressure for beef and that has lifted cow quotes along with lifting bull quotes.
Up to €7.80/kg to €7.90/kg is now available at the top end for U grading bulls where numbers are involved, working back to €7.40/kg to €7.50/kg for O grading bulls.
Higher quotes of €8.00/kg and over has been paid to feeders dealing with bigger numbers.
Lat week’s kill recovered a little to the tune of just under 1,000 head to 25,401, but still remains just over 7,000 head behind the same week in 2024.
It’s been a remarkable shift in numbers over the last few weeks. There has been 31,052 fewer cattle killed in July 2025 versus the same four-week period in 2024. That’s the equivalent of a full week’s kill lost.
The reduction in July has swung the national kill from being ahead of the 2024 kill to dropping almost 25,000 head behind.
The pain for factories doesn’t stop there though, with Bord Bia estimating that the 2025 kill will be 70,000 to 80,0000 head behind the 2024 kill, so there are a lot of weeks left in 2025 where supply will be well behind demand.
The drop in supplies is causing huge headaches for factories, with already some chat about smaller factories having to renege on contracts.
Larger processors are also drafting in some of the smaller factories to contract kill on their behalf to fill the gaps in their own supply chains.
Taking a look at the most recent Bord Bia data on the beef price tracker, it shows that the Irish composite price stands at €7.65/kg, while the tracker price stands at €7.01/kg.
Across the water, beef quotes remain steady with the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) reporting R4L steers at £641p/kg (€7.74 incl VAT) for week ending 26 July.
The euro to sterling exchange rate moving to 87p has meant that the gap has closed between British and Irish prices.
A massive gap has opened up in recent weeks between cow prices in the UK and Ireland, with Irish cows up to €1.50/kg ahead in quotes.
Prime beef prices are now on a par in Ireland and the UK, with increased Irish quotes in recent weeks closing the gap.
Like Ireland, the store cattle trade in marts is trending ahead of the dead trade, with the AHDB reporting that average stores in the 12- to 18-month age category are up 42% in price compared with 2024.
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