Farmers are finding it harder to find in-spec cattle at the base price quote of €3.60/kg for steers and heifers, according to IFA livestock chair Angus Woods.He said that cattle numbers had tightened considerably and market conditions are favourable, according to figures from the latest official Department of Agriculture AIMS data for 1 November.
Farmers are finding it harder to find in-spec cattle at the base price quote of €3.60/kg for steers and heifers, according to IFA livestock chair Angus Woods.
He said that cattle numbers had tightened considerably and market conditions are favourable, according to figures from the latest official Department of Agriculture AIMS data for 1 November.
He said that it shows that beef cattle numbers in the critical 12- to 24-month age bracket had 55,000 head less than the previous year, leaving farmers in a much stronger bargaining position.
Supplies
Woods said that some prices of €3.65/kg were paid late last week for both steers and heifers, adding that there was also reports of higher deals for heifers.
“This means supplies for the next number of weeks and months are going to be a lot tighter than in 2019. Farmers who are feeding cattle need to dig in hard and insist on a solid price increase to lift the trade out of the current loss-making situation.”
According to Woods, prices in our main export market in the UK remain strong at the £3.38/kg for R3 steers for week-ending 4 January, which is the equivalent of €4.16/kg including VAT at 85.5p/€.
“At this price level, there is major scope for Irish factories to increase prices,” he said.
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