The cattle trade remains sluggish this week and it isn’t anything to do with Mercosur – that is a trade deal that, while agreed, is not approved and, in any case, even if approved will take years to have an effect.

The market remains weak in general, with prices back in the North and Britain, while Irish prices are, at best, holding on steers and heifers with young bulls under particular pressure.

Cows, on the other hand, are a relatively strong trade, with prices holding and creeping up in some cases.

Last week’s kill was up 612 on the previous week and 1,328 more than in the same week in 2018, making the 2019 kill for the year to date up 45,558 on the same period last year. On the type of cattle killed, the big difference between the two years is that the cow kill is down 1,198 head on the same week last year, when the there was a big cull of cows because of the drought and grass scarcity.

For every other category of stock, more cattle are being killed this year and even compared with last week, 122 more young bulls are killed this week, 874 more steers while heifer numbers are down 36. There were 100 cattle sent north and 150 cattle came south last week.

On prices, the best that can be hoped for other than exceptional sales is €3.70/kg base for steers and €3.80/kg base for heifers, with factories in the south of the country keenest.

There are reports that some factories are quoting 5c/kg less than this, but this isn’t buying many cattle, with most deals closed at the higher level.

If steers and heifers are holding up, it is a different picture for young bulls, with €3.60/kg base on the grid for under-16-month young bulls at best, with several reports of factories offering just €3.55/kg.

At the other extreme, we have a report of €3.65 being paid for a load of under-16-month young bulls for Thursday.

Young bulls not on the grid are reducing in number and prices here are generally €3.55/kg for Rs and €3.65/kg for Us.

Cow trade

The cow trade is performing much better relative to prime beef. P grading cows are comfortably making €2.90/kg and up to €3.00/kg, while Os are securing €3/kg and up to €3.10/kg has been reported, while good R grading suckler cows are reported at €3.20/kg.

IFA national livestock chair Angus Woods said the Irish meat factories must stop cutting prices: “It is clear from the level of profits revealed this week [that] factories are profiteering and taking advantage of farmers.”

Britain and NI

The picture is no brighter in the North or Britain.

Prices being quoted for next week in the North are almost meaningless, as there is a backlog to get cattle killed, but, where they are, the going rate on steers is between £3.20/kg to £3.26/kg, which is the equivalent of €3.76/kg to €3.83/kg using an exchange rate of €1 being worth 89.75p and adding VAT at 5.4%. Heifers in the North are to a top of £3.28/kg (€3.85/kg).

Cows in the North are steady, with quotes for R grades at £2.60/kg (€3.05/kg), although £2.74/kg is the reported price paid for last week, which equates to €3.22/kg. O3 grading cows are making £2.55 in the North, the equivalent of €2.99/kg when VAT is added at 5.4%. Prices are also back in Britain this week, down 5.6p/kg for R4L steers to £3.41/kg, which is €4/kg when converted at 89.75p =€1 and VAT is added at 5.4%. Heifers are back 3.6p/kg for R4L, making them worth the equivalent of €4.03/kg.

Read more

NI trends: beef prices drop as slaughter delays build; lamb prices cut