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Despite a general easing of beef prices, a price differential continues to exist between slaughter plants in NI and Britain.
Prices are holding at 377p to 380p/kg for U3-grading steers in England, while 384p/kg is the officially reported price for steers in Scotland, with heifers making 5p/kg more.
In NI, U3-grading steers were paid at an average of 356p/kg last week, with heifers making 363p/kg. This makes a 350kg carcase worth £70 to £88 more in Britain.
Imports
Beef prices south of the Irish border convert to 335p to 345p/kg for U-grading animals, or 10p to 15p/kg behind local plants.
That difference has brought a spike in imports of Irish cattle into NI for direct slaughter. Last week 312 cattle were imported, compared with 183 head on the same week last year. Weekly imports have regularly passed the 300 mark this autumn.
Despite that, over the year to date Irish imports to NI factories are down over 5,000 head, or 52%, when compared with the same period in 2017.
Beef conference at Greenmount
The importance of cattle health in driving margins on beef farms is the main topic covered at a ‘Healthy cattle, healthy profits’ conference taking place at Greenmount on Wednesday 21 November, starting at 9.30am.
Organised by CAFRE, AFBI, LMC, UFU and the NBA, the all-day conference will hear from a range of speakers covering issues such as disease surveillance, minimising disease spread, livestock housing and the key factors driving margins on farms.
The cost of the event is £20, and bookings can either be made via the UFU website, or by contacting Angela Scott at the UFU headquarters on 028-90370222.
LMC chair role extended six months
DAERA has announced that the current chair of the Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC), Gerard McGivern, has had his role extended for a further six months.
McGivern was appointed in November 2015 for a three-year term, and will now remain in the position until 6 May 2019.
Also having his term extended is LMC board member, Gerry Maguire, the managing director of Linden Foods. He was originally appointed in October 2015 and is to stay on the board until 21 April 2019.
Deadline extended for RUAS beef and lamb
The deadline for entering the 2018 RUAS beef and lamb championships has been extended to 5pm on Monday 12 November.
Entries were originally to close on Wednesday 7 November, but after a slow initial response from livestock exhibitors a flurry of last-minute entries led organisers to extending the deadline.
The new event incorporates the long-standing Allams beef fatstock championship and takes place at the Eikon Exhibition Centre, Balmoral Park, Lisburn, on Tuesday 27 November 2018. The show starts at 11am and the auction commences at 6pm.
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