It’s been another positive week for the 2024 beef trade, with quotes remaining very steady across the board.

Bullocks are working off base prices of €5.10/kg to €5.15/kg this week, with a top of €5.20/kg reported.

Heifers are being quoted at €5.20/kg to €5.25/kg base price, with a top of €5.30/kg being reported this week.

Some factories have moved to manage the kill, dropping a day’s kill in the week to manage numbers.

All factories are very hungry for finished cattle, especially cows, and farmers are advised to bargain hard for better prices.

This week’s factory price league analysis is a good example of why you should shop around when selling.

Bull trade

The bull trade also remains solid, with €5.30/kg to €5.35/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 €5.20/kg to €5.30/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 €5.15/kg to €5.20/kg.

Cow prices

Well-fleshed P+3 cows are trading this week at €4.15/kg to €4.20/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 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.

Last week’s kill came in at 35,182, almost exactly the same as the previous week. Cows saw another rise to cross 900 head, while the young bull kill fell by almost 700 head.

The number of animals being slaughtered at fat score 2 has risen by 8% between 2021 and 2023.

The last 12 months has also seen the highest ever proportion of P grade cows at 65%. The proportion of steers grading a fat score 3 has also dropped 3% in 2023.

Carcase weights have also continued to drop as a result of younger finishing ages, a higher proportion of the national kill coming from the dairy herd and an increase in the cow kill in 2023.

Steers saw a 4kg drop, heifer carcase weights were back 5kg, young bulls back 10kg, cows back 8kg and bulls up 8kg. The average cow carcase weight in 2023 came in at 295kg.

All the talk in beef circles has been on China since the reopening of the Chinese market to Irish beef.

While the news is positive, the Chinese market has been slow to fire again post-COVID and Ireland exported just 3,200t in 2023 before the ban was put in place.

There are some within the industry that say being locked out of the market for close to three of the last four years has meant we have lost valuable ground in terms of asserting ourselves in the market.

It’s a long-play strategy and time will tell if it materialises into a significant market that puts money in farmers’ pockets.

NI comment

Farmers are on the front foot when selling cattle this week with factory agents chasing supplies. Quotes are up 6p/kg to 464p/kg (€5.69/kg inc VAT) for U-3 grading animals, but deals are running 20p/kg above official base.

That puts steers and heifers on 484p/kg (€5.93/kg), but regular finishers with bigger numbers are squeezing another 4p/kg amid tight supplies.

Cows are a positive trade with deals rising to 400p/kg (€4.90/kg) for young suckler types with good conformation.