Beef quotes remain relatively unchanged this morning ahead of another busy week for beef factories.

The kill for the week ending 13 October came close to 40,000 cattle but was still almost 1,000 cattle ahead of the same week in 2022.

Wet weather over the last two weeks has meant farmers have been more anxious about moving cattle, but with the vast majority of finishing cattle housed, this pressure to move stock has subsided over the last few days.

Foyle Meats, Donegal have reduced their quotes by 5 cent/kg back to €4.60kg for bullocks killing out between 300-400kg and €4.65/kg for heifers killing out between 300-400kg.

General quotes for bullocks continue to run from €4.55-€4.60/kg, while heifers are working off €4.60-€4.65/kg.

The NI based Livestock and Meat Commission reported prices for the week ending 14 October 2023 puts ROI R4 bullocks at €4.79/kg, while the equivalent R4 bullock in Northern England comes in at €5.93, a difference of €1.14/kg or €433 on a 380kg carcass.

The bull trade remains pretty stable, with €4.80/kg being paid for U grading under-24-month bulls this week.

R grading bulls are being quoted at €4.70/kg to €4.80/kg, with a little more going to regular suppliers and those with numbers.

O and P grading bulls are trading at 5c to 10c/kg less than this. Under-16-month bulls are in short supply and generally working off a base price of €4.60/kg to €4.65/kg.

Cow prices

Good well fleshed cows remain a solid trade. Light P1 parlour cows are a different story, with very few factories having any appetite for these.

Some factories are quoting as low as €2.00/kg for these dairy cows this week, with others refusing to take the cows that have been bought in a mart. These factories are implementing a minimum residency period of over 21 days before the cows can be killed.

Well-fleshed P+3 cows continue to trade at €3.60/kg to €3.80/kg, depending on weight and quality.

O grading cows are working off €3.80/kg to €4.00/kg, while good R grading cows are coming in at €4.10/kg to €4.30/kg.

U grading cows are being quoted at €4.30-€4.40/kg

ICSA beef chair Edmund Graham has called on the meat factories and Bord Bia to explain how a €1/kg differential between British and Irish prime cattle can be justified.

“This shows that factories are fleecing farmers. This differential is the highest in living memory and comes at a time when prices on the continent are moving upwards. In fact, our price for prime beef (heifers, steers, young bulls) is now a good 30c/kg behind the EU average,” he said.