The beef business is all about the dry cow, with factories stepping up activity over the last week in terms of sourcing their cull cow requirements.

Marts have seen some big turn-outs in the cull cow rings since they started back after Christmas, with farmers opting for the mart ring as opposed to the factory lairage so far in 2024.

Donegal Meats has edged in front with its official base price quote this week of €5.25/kg for 300kg to 400kg heifers and €5.20/kg for 300kg to 400kg bullocks.

The general run of bullock quotes is €5.05/kg to €5.15/kg, with heifers moving at €5.15/kg to €5.20/kg this week. There have been some reports of €5.20/kg being paid for mixed loads of bullocks and heifers.

Factories are hungry for cattle and with lower numbers of cattle on feed, supply and demand principles could mean further increases.

It’s a similar story in Northern Ireland, with the ball at the finishers' foot when it comes to selling cattle.

Bull trade

The bull trade also remains solid, with €5.30/kg being paid for U grading under-24-month bulls this week in some locations, up 5c/kg on last week’s quotes.

Those with numbers have also been able to squeeze €5.40/kg out of some processors.

R grading bulls are being quoted at €5.15/kg to €5.25/kg, with a little more going to regular suppliers and those with numbers.

O and P grading bulls are trading at 5c/kg to 10c/kg less than this.

Under-16-month bulls are generally working off base prices of €5.10/kg to €5.15/kg.

Cow prices

Well-fleshed P+3 cows are trading this week at €4.20/kg to €4.30/kg, depending on weight and quality.

O grading cows are working off €4.30/kg to €4.40/kg, depending on the processor, while good R grading cows are coming in at €4.40/kg to €4.60/kg.

U grading cows are being quoted at €4.60/kg to €4.80/kg. Young cows and good-quality fleshed suckler cows are being bought at higher prices than factories are quoting, with €4.90/kg paid for young once-calved heifers this week.

The mart is the best place to get the value of cull cows at the moment, with all agents working for factories specialising in the cull cow market very active in mart rings.