This is a subscriber-only article
Current prices being paid for prime cattle are the highest ever seen during October. Data compiled by the Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC) shows that prices paid since the start of October are 46p/kg ahead of the corresponding month last year.
Over the past four weeks, U3 grading steers and heifers averaged 368.8p/kg and 371.8p/kg respectively, with U3 grading young bulls at 361.3p/kg.
That compares to a U3 steer price of 322.1p/kg in 2019. On a 380kg carcase, the difference is £177. Prior to this year, the highest October price was in 2018, when U3 steers averaged 357.4p/kg and heifers 363.8p/kg.
However, prices currently being paid for cull cows are behind those from October 2017, when O+3 grades averaged 284.3p/kg, compared to the 275p/kg of recent weeks.
Lambs
Factory prices for lambs are also at record levels for October, with plants currently quoting 440p/kg to 450p/kg, – up £1/kg, or £21 per head, on the same month last year.
Imports
Meanwhile, with tighter COVID-19 restrictions impacting the foodservice trade, and factories concentrating on supplying the British market with home-produced beef in the run up to Christmas, NI demand for Irish cattle imports has taken a hit.
Over the last two weeks, imports have averaged 271 head, compared to 667 for the first two weeks of October. In September, weekly imports averaged 595.
SHARING OPTIONS: