The mood continues to be downbeat in beef finishing circles, with hopes of a steadying up of the beef price drop falling off again this week. There were some thoughts that factories had reached the bottom of where they were going with beef quotes at €4.75/kg base price for bullocks, but this has dropped another 5c/kg this week.
The mood continues to be downbeat in beef finishing circles, with hopes of a steadying up of the beef price drop falling off again this week.
There were some thoughts that factories had reached the bottom of where they were going with beef quotes at €4.75/kg base price for bullocks, but this has dropped another 5c/kg this week.
The latest beef quote for bullocks is €4.70/kg, with some indications of another 5c/kg pull for next week. Heifer quotes continue to track 5c/kg ahead of bullocks.
Some of the smaller independent factories are still quoting higher than the bigger players, with up to €4.90/kg available for heifers in one of these outlets this week.
Larger feeders and regular customers will also be working off higher base quotes.
It’s understood that a number of factory procurement managers have issued instructions to some large feeders not to purchase anything for the next three to four weeks.
These cattle would normally be coming out in 60 to 70 days, so factories obviously see more cattle coming in three months’ time.
The latest figures from Bord Bia show that they expect a reduction of 30,000 head in the 2023 kill, but we have already killed 32,609 fewer cattle in 2023, so numbers are likely to remain steady for the rest of the year.
The only positive at the moment is that the European beef market appears to have bottomed out, with Irish prices now 20c/kg behind the Bord Bia tracker price for Europe.
The Irish composite price currently stands at €4.87/kg incl VAT versus the European average at €5.07/kg incl VAT.
Cows
P+3+ cows are being quoted at €3.70/kg to €3.80/kg this week.
R grading cows are being quoted from €4.10/kg to €4.20/kg, depending on the factory, while O grading cows are working off quotes of €4.00/kg to €4.10/kg.
U grading cows are being quoted at €4.20/kg to €4.30/kg this week.
Bulls
Base prices for under-16-month bulls are coming in at €4.70/kg to €4.75/kg.
Young under-24-month bull quotes are also under pressure, with U grading bulls now back at €4.90/kg to €4.95/kg, back 10c/kg on last week’s quotes.
R grading under-24-month bulls are being quoted at €4.75/kg to €4.80/kg, with O grading bulls back at €4.60/kg to €4.70/kg.
P grading under-24-month bulls are working off €4.40/kg to €4.50/kg this week.
Last week’s kill came in at 31,929, a drop of over 300 animals on the previous week.
The latest figures from the Department of Agriculture show that there were 36,500 cattle killed out of controlled finishing units during the month of June, a rise of 1,000 head on the corresponding month in 2022.
There has been 4,000 more cattle killed out of these units so far in 2023 compared with the same period in 2022. Some 26% of the national kill so far in 2023 has been slaughtered from controlled finishing units.
IFA livestock chair Brendan Golden said: “Farmers should not buy into the factory narrative on price. Very few cattle have been bought at this week’s lower quotes and it is important farmers take back control and sell hard.”
NI comment
Factories have made sharp cuts to beef prices north of the border, with a 6p/kg reduction to quotes and price deals.
Quotes on U-3 animals are now 452p/kg (€5.54/kg inc VAT) at the top of the market, although some plants are quoting 10p/kg below this level.
Steers and heifers have slipped back to deals at 464p/kg to 468p/kg (€5.69 to €5.74/kg), with young bulls on 460p/kg (€5.64/kg).
Cull cows are also under pressure, with prices around 370p/kg (€4.53/kg) for suckler types.
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