Factories have tried to apply some pressure to the trade this week, with agents dropping quotes by 5c/kg for some categories of stock.

Weather, COVID issues and lots of cattle coming on stream have been the topics agents have rolled out this week to cast some doubt in the trade and force more cattle their way.

Farm Tech Talk: Joe Burke, Bord Bia – Week 20.

The tactics haven’t been that successful and, as one farmer said to me this week, “it’s one thing getting quotes for cattle, it’s another thing selling them” and there lies the issue.

Hard sellers are still getting €3.75/kg to €3.80/kg for heifers, despite factory efforts.

Steers are trading between €3.70/kg and €3.75/kg.

Angus steers and heifers are still in high demand, with 20c/kg on top of in-spec bonuses being paid to secure supplies.

Young bulls are trading off a base of €3.70/kg on the grid, with under-24-month bulls working off €3.60/kg for R grading bulls and €3.70/kg for U grading bulls.

Cows are a similar trade, with €3.00/kg to €3.10/kg being paid for O grading cows and €3.20/kg to €3.30/kg being paid for R grading cows.

Tight supplies

All the signs are that cattle supplies will remain tight and the market appears to be strong, so there shouldn’t be any cause for concern.

The reality is that the kill remains stable, with no big flush of cattle forecast.

The kill for the week ending 31 July was 35,267, up 359 cattle on the previous week’s kill.

Young bulls continue to be in short supply, with just over 50,000 fewer young bulls killed in 2020 compared with 2019.

Factories continue to source young bulls, with some very active in marts in the last week purchasing young bulls for feedlot feeding.

On the ground, factory agents are reporting little willingness and no panic to sell with finishers.

There is a marked reduction in the number of cattle coming on stream coming up to the 30-month age limit and agents report that finishers seem to have offloaded cattle at an early stage this year.

Strong demand

While weather conditions in the northwest will apply some pressure to cattle on grass, the rest of the country is coping fine.

Demand is still strong from meat plants for factory-fit cattle and agents are also very active around mart rings.

The high kills we have seen in the last few weeks are gone and the kill has dropped down to below 35,000 in the last few weeks.

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal Farm Tech talks show, Bord Bia livestock manager Joe Burke was very positive for the outlook for the beef market.

UK retail sales are all up, which is a real benefit to Irish beef sales.

Burger sales are up 45% for the 12-week period up to mid-June compared with 2019 sales.

UK finished beef supplies are also down, which should help exports into the UK.

NI prices

North of the border, it’s a similar story to last week. With finished cattle still in tight supply, the trade remains strong, with base quotes remaining at 360p to 364p/kg (€4.00 to €4.04/kg ex-VAT) for both U-3 grading steers and heifers.

But the prices paid continue to indicate that much more is available, especially to regular suppliers. Last week, the average price paid for all steers and heifers went up another 2p/kg and for top-end U3 grades, the increase was 4p to 5p/kg.

That left U3 steers averaging 375.8p/kg (€4.17/kg ex-VAT), with U3 heifers at 377.8p/kg (€4.20/kg ex-VAT).