Supplies of finished cattle remain extremely tight around the country with factories continuing to hold a big presence around mart rings looking for anything fit to kill. There was some hope in factory circles that the 30-month age limit would flush out more cattle in the next couple of weeks but this hasn’t come to fruition with a lot of dairy beef cattle already slaughtered at the 24-month stage earlier this spring.

Bullock quotes range from €7.50-€7.60/kg. Heifers are working off base quotes of €7.60-€7.70/kg. Factory agents have a lot of leeway to increase quotes with very few cattle being sold on an opening quote. Transport is also being thrown into a lot of deals to ensure cattle come the to lairage that they are supposed to. Flat deals of as high as €8.10- €8.20/kg have been paid this week to secure in spec Aberdeen Angus cattle.

Cows

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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 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 it have been paid to feeders dealing with bigger numbers.