Cattle prices have eased this week yet again for the most part, with smaller numbers being presented at sales around the country.

While bullocks last week seemed immune to price slips, they have come back in line with others regarding a depreciation in price, falling as much as 25c/kg in the week.

On your 550kg store bullock, that’s €137.50/head of a hit.

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The general report from managers is that quality of cattle is seeing a similar slippage to that of price, which is partly the cause, though some special fatstock sales over the last week or so have been helping to prop up average prices overall.

Another factor that has come into play is the dropping of factory quotes on Monday by as much as 20c/kg, which has peeled base quotes back to €7.20/kg for bullocks and €7.30/kg for heifers, though 10c/kg more is being secured by regular sellers or those with top-end in-spec lots.

Martbids

Looking at the Martbids data table for this week, we see that bullocks of all weights and quality have dropped this week, fluctuating between 3c and 25c/kg of a drop, with very little difference in drop based on weight or quality – it’s just a universal hit.

After bullocks being the anomaly last week, heifers have their turn this week, with prices actually improving for the most part.

While lighter heifers in the 350kg to 400kg bracket have fallen between 4c and 18c/kg, all other weights and qualities have risen by as much as 41c/kg, bar below-average-quality heifers above 600kg, which actually fell by 29c/kg.

As mentioned, some specialist fatstock sales have bolstered these prices and will likely continue to do so for the next week or two ahead of Christmas.

On the dry cow front, prices have also fallen, with top-end dry cows coming in at €3.45/kg (-8c/kg), while the lower end quality have taken the biggest fall, dipping below €2/kg for the first time in a while at €1.97/kg of an average (-16c/kg).

Weanlings

On the weanling side, lighter and lower-quality bulls appear to have taken the biggest hit this week, though again this is partly due to quality of bulls and less export-type animals hitting mart yards.

Poorer-quality bulls in the 200kg to 300kg bracket and 300-400kg bracket fell by 20c/kg and 23c/kg respectively, while heavier bulls of poorer quality have dropped 6c/kg for those 400kg to 450kg types, while 450kg-plus bulls have risen by 27c/kg.

These are now just shy of €1/kg behind top-end bulls of the same weight, which traded at €5.16/kg this week.

On the heifer weanling front, light heifers have fallen more than their male counterparts where poorer-quality and lighter heifers are concerned, with even the top third of weanlings in the 200kg to 300kg bracket and 300kg to 400kg bracket falling by 49c/kg and 23c/kg respectively.

Top-end heavier heifers have risen this week well, again owing to some special sales which can greatly influence price with lower numbers overall, with heifers above 400kg jumping by €1.01/kg.