Finishers continue to be left reeling from price cuts in the beef trade, with further pressure being applied this week to quotes. Losses continue to mount on winter finishing farms, with some farmers reporting losses of over €500/head on cattle which were purchased last autumn.

Bullocks are now working off a base price of €6.40/kg, while heifers are working off a base price of €6.50/kg. T

There are some finishers who are working off last week’s quotes, but these prices are being reserved for regular suppliers and those with numbers.

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Breed bonuses are generally being paid out at 10c to 20c/kg for in-spec Hereford and Aberdeen Angus cattle.

There’s a varying degree of activity among agents, with some farmers reporting delays in getting cattle killed, especially in the northwest of the country.

This is pushing out to two weeks in some cases, with some factories slow to quote.

The Irish beef price continues to lag behind the Bord Bia beef export tracker price by over 40c/kg. Ireland is also trailing a lot of other EU countries for beef price at the moment, with the latest information showing Italian young bulls coming in at €8.12/kg this week. French young bulls are being quoted at €7.60/kg this week, almost €1/kg ahead of the Irish price.

Cows

R grading cows are being priced at €6.25/kg to €6.30/kg. U grading cows are generally now being bought at €6.30/kg to €6.40/kg, with higher prices going to regular cow sellers and specialist feeders.

O grading cows are being bought for €6.00/kg to €6.10/kg. P+3 cows are coming in at €5.80/kg to 5.90/kg, with some factories quoting lower for very light cows.

Bulls

R grading bulls are coming in at €6.60/kg, with U grading bulls being quoted at €6.70/kg. There are a number of operators able to get €6.70/kg for mixtures of R and U grading bulls.

O grading bulls are working off an all-in price of €6.40/kg to €6.50/kg, while P grading bulls are being quoted at €6.30/kg to €6.40/kg, depending on weight and flesh cover.

Over-age bulls are generally working off a price of €6.40/kg to €6.50/kg, depending on grades and flesh cover. Under-16-month bulls are working off a €6.40/kg to €6.50/kg base price on the grid.

Kill

Last week’s kill came in at just over 31,000, an increase of a little over 1,000 head on the previous week. Much of this increase came in the form of cows, which saw a 500 head increase last week.

The cow kill still remains low compared to previous weeks. There were just over 300 more bulls killed last week, with the bullock and heifer kill remaining stable.

Last week’s kill was just over 3,000 animals ahead of the same week in 2025. The 2026 kill is now running just over 82,000 cattle behind the same period in 2025. This is expected to drop back in the coming weeks as the 2026 weekly kill stays above 2025 levels.

Industry sources in Britain cite continued pressure from Australian and New Zealand imports as being the issue when it comes to reduced prices over the last number of weeks.

Australian beef continues to be imported at record levels into the British market. In 2023 there was just 1,663 tonnes of Australian beef imported into the British market for the full calendar year.

This rose to 5,549 tonnes for 2024 and increased to 15,020 tonne in 2025.

For the first four months of 2026 there has been 10,484 tonnes of Australian beef imported into the British market.

Cheaper imports are putting particular pressure on the food service market, which was already feeling the effects of reduced demand through food inflation and increased prices.

During the first three months of 2026 Irish beef exports to the UK was down just under 6,000 tonnes, or 10%. Irish beef exports to the EU are level with 2025 exports during the same period.