Analysis by the Irish Farmers Journal of weekly prices reported by factories to DAFM shows a big gap between highest and lowest payers across all grades.
The annual Irish Farmers Journal factory leagues again shows farmers could be up to €250 per head better off by choosing a different factory to sell their cattle to. In this example for U=3= cows, the difference between the top and bottom paying factory is 85c/kg, which when converted to a per head rate at the average cow slaughter weight of 291kg in 2024, amounts to €247.35 per head.
This is the most extreme example, as there are very few U=3= cows in factory kills, with several factories not reporting any, and others reporting them for just a few weeks. However, there are also huge gaps in the more mainstream grades. For example, R3 steers are reported by all factories most weeks and here the gap between highest and lowest was 35c/kg, which works out at just under €120/head when the average slaughter weight is applied.
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Title: €250/head beef factory price gap
Analysis by the Irish Farmers Journal of weekly prices reported by factories to DAFM shows a big gap between highest and lowest payers across all grades.
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The annual Irish Farmers Journal factory leagues again shows farmers could be up to €250 per head better off by choosing a different factory to sell their cattle to. In this example for U=3= cows, the difference between the top and bottom paying factory is 85c/kg, which when converted to a per head rate at the average cow slaughter weight of 291kg in 2024, amounts to €247.35 per head.
This is the most extreme example, as there are very few U=3= cows in factory kills, with several factories not reporting any, and others reporting them for just a few weeks. However, there are also huge gaps in the more mainstream grades. For example, R3 steers are reported by all factories most weeks and here the gap between highest and lowest was 35c/kg, which works out at just under €120/head when the average slaughter weight is applied.
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