The beef trade has returned to relative stability this week after last week’s effort by factories to pull quotes.

Despite beef factories strategy to concentrate their efforts on a few big suppliers with regard to forward prices, last week was a good example of farmer power still existing. Factories tried to pull quotes to €5.15/kg base price but that plan backfired when they simply couldn’t get cattle.

Nearly all bullocks are moving this week at €5.20/kg, with heifers being bought at €5.25/kg base price. Some factories have increased their quotes by 10c/kg in the last few days to get cattle. Deals of up to €5.40/kg base price have been hammered out this week with a few larger suppliers to secure cattle.

Numbers of finished cattle remain extremely tight on farms, with the latest Department of Agriculture figures showing there were over 45,000 fewer beef cattle aged zero to 42 months on farms on 1 January 2023, compared with 1 January 2022. There were almost 7,500 fewer animals in the critical slaughtering bracket of 18-30 months when compared to last year.

Irish Farmers Association livestock chair Brendan Golden said “With demand increasing, farmers should dig in and sell hard. Factories need the cattle and they must reflect the realities of costs on our farms in higher beef prices.”