There was a further jump in the beef trade this week with Foyle Meats Donegal increasing its quotes by 10c/kg across most categories of stock.

Foyle Meats is quoting €5.10/kg for in-spec heifers this week, while bullocks are working off €5.05/kg. This has put the heat on others, with factories in the northern half of the country following suit with increased quotes on the back of the Donegal increase.

General quotes range from €4.90/kg to €5.05/kg for bullocks with heifers moving at €4.95/kg to €5.10/kg.

Numbers of cattle fit for slaughter are expected to remain extremely tight over the next six to eight weeks and this will see quotes rise further in the coming weeks.

If we look at our two main markets, the UK and EU, both have made gains in the last two weeks.

On the Bord Bia beef market tracker, the Irish composite price remains 22c/kg behind the EU composite price which means Irish beef prices have the scope to increase further.

Young bulls in Poland continue to trade €1.60/kg to €1.80/kg higher than this time last year. Irish young bull prices are currently running 90c/kg ahead of where they were this time last year.

Further afield, the Argentinian beef price has broken the €5/kg barrier with €5.05/kg being paid for R3 steers last week, up from €3.29/kg for the same week in 2021.

Irish factories are keeping one eye on the possible reopening of the Chinese market for Irish beef, with a number of factories completing dry runs of killing animals to Chinese specifications in the last few weeks. For more, read Beef Trends.