The beef trade continues on an even keel this week, with no real changes to quotes on the ground.

Bullocks are generally being bought at €4.95/kg, with heifers working off a base price of €5/kg.

There is a little more going in some factories with an extra 5c to 10c/kg on the table when pressure is applied.

Factories are slow to officially raise quotes again, but are more open to doing side deals on weights, flat prices and haulage.

Flat deals continue to be worked out for Aberdeen Angus heifers, with €5.35/kg to €5.40/kg still available for good numbers of in-spec heifers under 30 months.

Foyle Meats in Donegal continues to be out in front for quotes for cattle killing out between 300kg and 400kg.

It is quoting €5.10/kg base price for bullocks and €5.15/kg for heifers killing within the specified weight range.

Factory agents are playing their cards close to their chests when it comes to purchasing, but a number of farmers I spoke to this week who rang factories on Monday to get a quote had their cattle killed on Tuesday morning - always a good sign of the trade.

Agents are also very slow to let any cattle slip through their hands and are willing to negotiate on price when they meet a tough customer.

Cows

R grading cows are working off €4.70/kg to €4.80/kg. O+ suckler cows are generally working off €4.40/kg to €4.60/kg, while O grading dairy cows are being bought at €4.30/kg to €4.35/kg.

P+3 cows are working off €4.10/kg to €4.20/kg, depending on weight, age and flesh.

The mart trade is still a good option for farmers with smaller numbers of cows, with agents still very active for heavy cows.

The cow kill has continued to drop off. The last big weekly cow kill was 9,780 cows at the beginning of July. Last week’s kill came in at 8,190, a slight increase in the previous week.

Bulls

Under-24-month bulls are still working off a €5.30/kg to €5.35/kg base price for U grading bulls.

R grading bulls are coming in at €5.20/kg to €5.30/kg, while O grading bulls are being bought at €5.00/kg to €5.10/kg.

P grading bulls are working off €5.00/kg, depending on weight and flesh cover.

Under-16-month bulls are generally working off a €5.00/kg to €5.10/kg base price.

The young bull kill continues to fall, with 1,430 young bulls killed last week, down by over 50% from the peak of 3,225 bulls killed in early June. The bullock kill remains stable at 13,179 head.

Last week’s kill saw a drop of over 400 head on the previous week. The heifer kill was back almost 700 head to 8,720 head last week.

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, IFA livestock chair Declan Hanrahan said: “Farmers should bargain hard when it comes to selling their cattle, as factories are willing and able to pay more than they are officially quoting.

“The UK trade continues to be well ahead of the Irish trade which clearly demonstrates that factories can pay more for cattle.”

NI comment

Tight numbers, combined with solid demand from UK retailers, continue to keep a strong floor under the trade for finished cattle in NI.

Quotes from factory buyers for clean cattle are up this week by 2p and 4p/kg, leaving the best quote at 458p (€5.76 incl VAT) for U-3 steers and 464p/kg (€5.83/kg incl VAT) for heifers.

However, much more is available, with prime steers and heifers generally trading at 486p to 488p/kg (6.10-€6.13/kg incl VAT)for U-3 grades.

Some factories will pay steer prices for young bulls in order to secure numbers.

Others are trying to buy young bulls at around 480p/kg (€6.03/kg incl VAT).

There are no delays in getting cattle slaughtered at most factories.