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Factory agents’ attempts to continue to pull cattle prices back have been interrupted by the upturn in weather. Farmers are taking advantage of the sharp rise in temperatures to harvest silage and make hay, leaving factory agents having to work a bit harder to source cattle.
Marts have also had smaller entries in recent days, which is reducing numbers coming through this avenue.
With many plants short of stock at the start of the week and no pressure on producers to move cattle, agents who were trying to quote a base of €4.05/kg and €4.15/kg at the end of last week have had to raise quotes.
This is leaving a high percentage of steers and heifers trading from a base of €4.10/kg and €4.20/kg respectively, with regular sellers and those with greater negotiating power securing an extra 5c/kg from the market.
Bulls and cows
The bull and cow trades are also witnessing similar fortunes. Bulls are trading in the main for €4.05/kg and €4.15/kg for R and U grading bulls.
Some producers with very little negotiating power have in cases sold for 5c/kg lower, while at the higher end of the market, specialist finishers have secured 5c/kg higher. Bulls under 16 months and trading on the grid are selling mostly from a base of €4.10/kg.
This excludes the 12c/kg Quality Payment Scheme (QPS) bonus for animals satisfying the required criteria.
Large differences remain in what different plants are willing to pay for cows. Over the last two to three weeks, a differential of 10c/kg to 20c/kg has opened up between some plants, with those with less interest in the cow market the first to try to pull prices.
Some producers in areas where cows are not securing the higher factory prices have responded by trying the mart trade, where agents remain extremely active.
Prices for P+3 grading cows range anywhere from €3.25/kg to €3.45/kg on average, with O grades rising to €3.55/kg and even higher in a small number of cases. R grades are selling from €3.50/kg to €3.65/kg.
Solid NI and British trade
The trade in Northern Ireland and Britain is holding firm.
British prices are maintaining their slow upward movement, ranging from £3.67/kg to £3.70/kg. This is the equivalent of €4.42/kg to €4.47/kg at today’s exchange rate of 87.6p to the euro and including VAT at 5.4%.
According to the AHDB, cows continue to benefit from more competitive exports and fewer cow slaughterings in many continental EU markets due to recovery in milk prices.
Prices are averaging £2.70/kg or €3.27/kg for O4L cows with R3 young bulls trading from £3.48/kg to £3.52/kg or €4.22/kg to €4.26/kg.
In Northern Ireland U-3, base quotes range from £3.58/kg to £3.64/kg, equating to €4.34/kg to €4.41/kg. Regular sellers continue to secure a premium of 4p/kg to 8p/kg above these quotes.
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