The beef trade has taken a big jump this week, with quotes rising by 20c/kg in some factories on the back of a big drop in numbers over the last week.

It’s all about supply and demand, with factory agents scrambling for cattle again and many returning to marts to try to prop up the processors kill.

There is huge demand for animals with weight. Overage, underage, out of spec or in spec, it doesn’t really matter this week, with farmers able to command in-spec prices for out-of-spec stock.

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The reduced supply has seen heifers move up to a base price of €7.60/kg in some cases this week, up 20c/kg from last week’s reported tops of €7.40/kg base price.

This week, bullocks are generally moving at €7.30/kg to €7.40/kg, with heifers generally being sold from €7.40/kg to €7.50/kg base price.

Farmers with numbers hold the upper hand in the next few weeks and are advised to hold out for increased quotes.

Lighter carcase weights are also causing an issue for processors. They are currently dealing with the double issue of lower numbers available to kill along with lighter carcase weights arising from animals from the dairy herd.

That said, dairy-beef is still in demand, with flat prices of as high as €8/kg being paid for in-spec Aberdeen Angus animals this week.

With reduced supplies expected to be an ongoing issue in the weeks ahead, beef quotes are expected to only move in one direction in the run up to Christmas buying

Cows

Up to €7.50/kg is back on the table for top-quality U grading cows, with €7.20/kg to €7.30/kg available for R grading cows.

Good-quality O grading suckler cows are coming in around €7.00/kg to €7.10/kg.

Some farmers have managed to negotiate a price of €7.10/kg for mixtures of well-fleshed O and P grading cows.

P+3 cows are coming in at €6.90/kg, with €7.00/kg paid for larger loads of fleshed dairy cows this week.

The mart is still the place to go if you have small numbers of cows to sell, with factory agents continuing to pay over and above what cows are worth in factories.

Bulls

Up to €7.70/kg to €7.80/kg is available at the top end for U grading bulls where numbers are involved, working back to €7.30/kg to €7.40/kg for O grades. R grading bulls are coming in at €7.50/kg to €7.60/kg this week.

Under-16-month-old bulls are working off a base price of €7.20/kg to €7.30/kg, with a little more going to those with numbers.

Last week’s kill came in at just under 26,000 head at 25,920 cattle. This was back a massive 1,459 head of cattle on the week before, with the majority of the fall coming in the bullock category.

The total number of prime cattle killed in 2025 is currently 119,925 head lower than the same period in 2024. On a week-to-week basis, last week’s kill was 15,173 head behind the same week in 2024.

Bord Bia estimates that this year’s fall will surpass 150,000 prime cattle, with the total drop of the cattle kill when calves are included being closer to 200,000 head in 2025.

Looking ahead, it is predicting the reduction in supplies to continue into 2026, with an estimated 35,000 to 45,000 reduction.

Comparing prices with our main markets in Europe and the UK, the Irish market is currently performing well in 2025, tracking behind the UK price by 23c/kg and ahead of the average EU price by 7c/kg. There has been a converging of all three prices in recent weeks, with very a small gap now between the EU, UK and Irish prices.

NI comment

The beef trade north of the border remains in a steady position this week, with quotes of 656p to 658p/kg (€7.92-€7.95/kg incl VAT). Numbers of finished cattle also remain in short supply.