The weather continues to cause disruption to turnout and this is starting to take its toll on the mart trade, especially in the north and the west of the country.
Grass buyers remain very cautious in their purchases, with no real spark to the grass trade just yet.
Farmers have been very slow to move with fertiliser and this has meant grass supplies aren’t as plentiful, so buying has been a little restricted until things warm up.
Large finishers and factory feedlots are still driving the trade for the heavier cattle, with no real let-up in demand.
Factories are still very anxious about finished cattle supplies right up until the end of June and have issued the instructions to their large feeders to keep the feedlots full in anticipation of a lull in supply. This is driving the bullock and heifer trade.
Database
If we look at this week’s MartBids analysis, it paints a pretty positive picture across all grades and weights of bullocks.
Most categories show an increase on last week’s trading, with the poorer-quality bullock under the most pressure.
A massive gap of €1/kg has opened up between the poor-quality 450kg bullock and the top-quality 450kg bullock. This equates to €450/head.
In the heifer rings this week, it was a similar story, with the poorer-quality stock under the most pressure.
The top-priced heifers this week were the 600kg-plus heifers coming in at €3.43/kg, with most of these going for direct slaughter or a short, sharp indoor finish.
Weanlings
Last week’s weanling trade doesn’t paint as positive a scene, with a lot of weight classes and grades of animals taking a dip in price over the last seven days.
The delay in grass buyers moving out is likely affecting the trade of these lighter animals.
Taking a look at the weanling bull rings, all categories saw a price reduction this week, albeit off a very high price last week.
Top-quality bulls in the 300kg to 400kg weight bracket - the most popular weight bracket - saw a reduction in price of 12c/kg.
Heavier calves in the 400kg to 450kg bracket saw a reduction of 7c/kg. A top-quality 350kg bull weanling is still coming into €1,292/head.
Average weanlings
Average weanlings also saw a drop, with average 400kg to 450kg bull weanlings coming in at €3.02/kg this week, a drop of 8c/kg on last week.
Heifer weanlings took a harder hit, with the top-quality 300kg to 400kg heifer weanling coming in at €3.44/kg this week, a drop of 20c/kg on the previous week’s trading.
Live exports
Taking a look at the live export trade, it continues to tell a very positive story. Despite last week’s blip on calf exports, numbers are still up on 2022 and with the Pignet facility back open again this week, big numbers of Irish calves are expected to move this week and next week.
Live exports have crossed the 100,000 mark last week with weanling exports up 41% on the same period in 2022 and calf exports up 12.1% on 2022. The live export outlook remains very positive with cattle supplies tight across Europe.
