For much of last year, Irish beef factories were paying more than the what was being paid at the farmgate in the countries that buy our beef exports.
Every week, the Irish Farmers Journal publishes the Bord Bia beef tracker and from the beginning of March onwards, the prime Irish composite price was ahead of the export benchmark price, as shown in Figure 1.
However, since the beginning of 2026, Irish prices have dipped below what is being paid in the countries where we sell our beef.
The latest Bord Bia figures show that the prime Irish composite price is €7.09/kg, compared with €7.24/kg for the prime export benchmark price.
These figures are calculated by Bord Bia by using the reported cattle prices paid in the countries to which our beef is exported with a weighting to reflect the different amounts of beef sold in each market.
This means that the UK - our largest market - will have a higher weighting than the others, as it is our main export market, followed by France, the Netherlands and the others.
Weekly price reports
For individual country comparisons, the Irish Farmers Journal also carries a weekly table of the prices that are paid for the R3 grading steer or its equivalent outside the EU. For mainland European countries which are primarily bull beef systems, the R3 young bull price is used for comparison.
At week ending 24 January, the Irish R3 steer price was well below what was being paid for not only R3 steers but also R3 young bulls in most European countries.
The top price being paid was in France and Italy at €7.46/kg, followed by Germany on €7.42/kg.
R3 steers in Britain were reported at the equivalent of €7.38/kg, with Northern Ireland a cent higher at the equivalent of €7.39. Polish R3 young bulls come next at €7.25/kg and then it is a step further back to the Irish price of €7.11/kg.
Beef demand across Europe remains robustly strong overall, despite the high prices compared with recent years.
In this week's World Beef Report, it is reported that the Hilton rump and loin cuts from Argentina are achieving $20,000 per tonne or more, which is an all-time high, passing the previous record set in 2014.
This is somewhat surprising, as it has been widely reported that Irish factories are struggling to sell steak meat - loins in particular. Competition from Brazilian and Australian loins is reported to be especially strong in the UK market at present.
Comment – still time to improve
We are still in the early weeks of 2026 and if we look at this time last year, Irish factory prices also trailed behind those paid in the UK and mainland Europe.
From March onwards, Irish factory prices in general trumped those in our main export markets and farmers will be hoping that this trend is repeated in 2026.
No doubt selling beef is a challenge given how much prices have increased over the past year.
However, given falling production across Europe and robust consumer demand, it is a challenge that farmers will be counting on Irish factories being able to meet.
Read more
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For much of last year, Irish beef factories were paying more than the what was being paid at the farmgate in the countries that buy our beef exports.
Every week, the Irish Farmers Journal publishes the Bord Bia beef tracker and from the beginning of March onwards, the prime Irish composite price was ahead of the export benchmark price, as shown in Figure 1.
However, since the beginning of 2026, Irish prices have dipped below what is being paid in the countries where we sell our beef.
The latest Bord Bia figures show that the prime Irish composite price is €7.09/kg, compared with €7.24/kg for the prime export benchmark price.
These figures are calculated by Bord Bia by using the reported cattle prices paid in the countries to which our beef is exported with a weighting to reflect the different amounts of beef sold in each market.
This means that the UK - our largest market - will have a higher weighting than the others, as it is our main export market, followed by France, the Netherlands and the others.
Weekly price reports
For individual country comparisons, the Irish Farmers Journal also carries a weekly table of the prices that are paid for the R3 grading steer or its equivalent outside the EU. For mainland European countries which are primarily bull beef systems, the R3 young bull price is used for comparison.
At week ending 24 January, the Irish R3 steer price was well below what was being paid for not only R3 steers but also R3 young bulls in most European countries.
The top price being paid was in France and Italy at €7.46/kg, followed by Germany on €7.42/kg.
R3 steers in Britain were reported at the equivalent of €7.38/kg, with Northern Ireland a cent higher at the equivalent of €7.39. Polish R3 young bulls come next at €7.25/kg and then it is a step further back to the Irish price of €7.11/kg.
Beef demand across Europe remains robustly strong overall, despite the high prices compared with recent years.
In this week's World Beef Report, it is reported that the Hilton rump and loin cuts from Argentina are achieving $20,000 per tonne or more, which is an all-time high, passing the previous record set in 2014.
This is somewhat surprising, as it has been widely reported that Irish factories are struggling to sell steak meat - loins in particular. Competition from Brazilian and Australian loins is reported to be especially strong in the UK market at present.
Comment – still time to improve
We are still in the early weeks of 2026 and if we look at this time last year, Irish factory prices also trailed behind those paid in the UK and mainland Europe.
From March onwards, Irish factory prices in general trumped those in our main export markets and farmers will be hoping that this trend is repeated in 2026.
No doubt selling beef is a challenge given how much prices have increased over the past year.
However, given falling production across Europe and robust consumer demand, it is a challenge that farmers will be counting on Irish factories being able to meet.
Read more
Beef Trends: no move in quotes
Mart trade out-performs the factory returns
Suckler weanlings back up at €6/kg
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