It looks like it could be a positive backend for beef price as Brexit breaks British supply chains. British retailers are looking at contingency planning to avoid empty shelves during the busy pre-Christmas purchasing period.

Recent weeks have seen severe disruption in supply chains across the water due to labour shortages in factories and lorry driver shortages, and an apparent lack of any Government plan to alleviate the issues.

The Irish Farmers Journal understands that agreements are at an advanced stage between Irish beef processors and British retailers to increase supplies in the coming weeks.

Supermarket beef demand has been good and retail sales have continued to perform well.

While they are back on the unprecedented 2020 levels, they are still trading up 2% on 2019 levels.

There are currently 75,000 fewer cattle killed in 2021 compared to 2020

Industry sources also suggest that demand for steak meat will ramp up in the coming weeks as the UK foodservice industry continues to recover to pre-COVID-19 trading levels.

Irish finished cattle supplies are set to remain tight for the rest of 2021. There are currently 75,000 fewer cattle killed in 2021 compared to 2020, with Bord Bia estimating that this will end up at 110,000 head less by the end of the year, a 6% drop on the 2020 kill.

The EU-27 bloc is forecast to be down 2% on 2020 levels by the end of the year

It’s a similar story across Europe with France and Germany tracking down 4% on 2020 beef production levels.

The EU-27 bloc is forecast to be down 2% on 2020 levels by the end of the year. The UK cattle kill is expected to be down 5% year on year in 2021.

Back home, this week’s beef quotes have remained steady with bullocks continuing to trade at €4.15/kg to €4.20/kg with heifers working off €4.20/kg to €4.25/kg. Factories are anxious for cattle but as yet unwilling to go beyond the €4.25/kg base.