Quotes have started off this week where they left off last week, with bullocks continuing to be bought at €5.25/kg.

There are some factories paying €5.30/kg for bullocks where heifers are also involved.

The top quote for heifers is €5.30/kg this week in most factories.

Foyle Meats in Donegal is still paying €5.30/kg for bullocks and €5.35/kg for heifers, as long as they kill out between 300kg and 400kg.

Young bulls

The young bull trade remains firm, with most quotes remaining unchanged this week.

U grading bulls range from €5.40/kg to €5.50/kg, with R grades 10c/kg back at €5.30/kg to €5.40/kg

P and O grades are moving in the main from €5.00/kg to €5.10/kg and €5.10/kg to €5.20/kg respectively.

Cow trade

U grading cows are trading anywhere from €5.00/kg to €5.20/kg, with plants most active for top-quality cows continuing to show a keen appetite for the right stock.

R grading cows are trading from €4.90/kg to €5.00/kg, with young cows a super trade in the live ring.

O grading cows are at €4.70/kg to €4.80/kg, with P grading cows coming in at €4.50/kg to €4.60/kg.

Factories continue to give preference to their own feedlots when it comes to killing cattle, with further reports this week of cattle already booked for a specific day’s kill being delayed by a few days.

TB-restricted feedlots

The latest figures from the Department of Agriculture show that there was 36,500 cattle killed out of TB-restricted feedlots in March - up 500 head on March 2022 and up 8,000 head on March 2021.

There have been 109,000 cattle slaughtered out of these units so far in 2023, up 9,500 head on the same period in 2022.

About 30% of a factory’s weekly kill is now coming from these units, with a lot of these larger finishers working off set pricing and contracts.

Factories continue to manage the kill by only opening for short weeks, with numbers of finished cattle still tight.

The razzmatazz around Irish beef being unloaded in Shanghai is grating with winter finishers who are currently losing over €200/head on cattle purchased in the back end of 2022.

Chinese beef

The news that Irish beef has landed in China is being heralded by the great and good in the Irish beef industry.

However, most Irish processors are still refusing to offer any sort of Chinese bonus on beef that is eligible for the Chinese market.

ABP Waterford and ABP Bandon won the race, with the first boxes of beef coming from the south of the country.