Farmers were left reeling this week with the news that some factories were looking to take 5c/kg out of prices and up to 10c/kg on young bulls, though they are meeting fierce farmer resistance.

No doubt, the big weekly kills for this time of year mean that factories are getting plenty of cattle, but it is also a weak beef trade across Europe at present.

R3 steers and young bulls

The Irish R3 steer price for the week ending 2 June was €3.88/kg excluding VAT, while the young bull price was €3.74/kg, again excluding VAT.

This compares with an EU average on R3 young bulls of €3.59/kg.

In the main markets where Irish beef is sold, only the UK and Sweden are above Ireland.

In Britain, an R3 steer was making the equivalent of €3.97/kg for week-ending 2 June, while Swedish prices were the equivalent of €3.96/kg.

French young bull prices for R3 grades were €3.76/kg, while the Spanish price was €3.73/kg.

Italy was further back on €3.53/kg and the weakest markets where volumes of Irish beef are sold for R3 young bulls last week was Germany on €3.46/kg and the Netherlands on €3.41/kg

Outside the EU, USA prices continue strongly, at the equivalent of €3.77/kg for an animal similar to our R3 steers, while Australia was returning the equivalent of €3.12/kg.

Brazil, the world’s biggest exporter, remains the weakest price by a distance at the equivalent of €2.17/kg.

R3 heifers

The Irish R3 heifer price was actually the strongest in the EU for the week ending 2 June at €4/kg.

This was 2c/kg better than the UK and 6c/kg better than France, the next-strongest markets.

Swedish prices were next at the equivalent of €3.92/kg for R3 heifers and Spain and Italy were on €3.89/kg and €3.83/kg respectively for R3 heifers.

Germany and the Netherlands were again the weakest markets on €3.52/kg for Germany and €3.36/kg for the Netherlands.

The EU average for R3 heifers was €3.78/kg.

Cows

There was a much stronger market for cows on the continent.

The best price for O3 cows was in Sweden at €3.60/kg, while France was next highest at €3.26/kg and the Netherlands also came in ahead of Ireland at €3.07/kg.

The Irish O3 cow price was €3.06/kg and Germany was on €3.05/kg, while Britain was back on the equivalent of €2.97/kg, the same as the EU average.