The beef trade continues to show slow signs of improvement, with a number of factories now moving to €4.40/kg to secure heifers. This is an improvement of 5c/kg on last week.

There are still a number of processors able to buy heifers at €4.35/kg, but farmers are advised to sell heard in the coming weeks when a real tightness in supply of finished cattle is coming on stream.

Bullocks are still being quoted around the €4.25/kg to €4.30/kg mark, with Donegal Meats taking the top spot with its quote of €4.40/kg for bullocks killing out between 300kg and 400kg dead.

Aberdeen Angus and Hereford premiums of between 10c and 25c/kg are available for in-spec stock.

Over-30-month cattle are also attracting a little more interest in the last couple of weeks, with base prices of between €4.25/kg and €4.40/kg being paid for bullocks and heifers depending on who you are and how many you have.

Cow price

A number of specialised cow operators are still very active to secure supplies, with €4.00/kg to €4.10/kg being paid for good R grading cows. U grading cows are trading at 10c/kg higher.

O grading cows are coming in at €3.75/kg to €3.85/kg. Better suckler O grades are pushing into €3.90/kg if part of a load.

P+3 cows are being quoted at €3.65/kg to €3.75/kg.

Bulls

Bulls are in demand, with a number of factories now paying €4.40/kg for under-24-month U grading bulls, with €4.30/kg being quoted for R grading bulls. Some factories are paying €4.10/kg for mixtures of O and P black and white bulls.

Under-16-month bulls are still working off €4.25/kg on the grid, but €4.30/kg has been paid to those with bigger numbers.

CSO data

Looking at data from the Central Statistics Office, it shows a clear decline in numbers of animals and tonnes of beef being produced during the April, May and June period.

Figure 1 outlines the numbers of animals slaughtered each month over the last three years.

Figure 2 shows the tonnes of beef that is produced by month during the last three years. Beef produced in Ireland dropped by close to 40,000t between 2020 and 2021 (Figure 3). This again shows a big decline during the months of April, May and June over the last three years.

Figure 4 shows that the number of livestock slaughtered in 2021 dropped by 90,000 head compared with 2020.

IFA livestock chair Brendan Golden said: “Demand for beef in our key export markets - the UK and the EU - is strong, with the prime export benchmark price showing consistent growth since the beginning of the year. It’s now 3c/kg above our price.

"Numbers of slaughter-fit cattle are tight. With live exports to NI performing strongly for forward store and finished cattle, factories are having to compete for supplies."