The beef trade remains under sustained pressure ,with quotes dropping for another week.

Base prices for bullocks have dropped as low as €4.90/kg in some factories, with heifers trading for €4.95/kg to €5.05/kg.

That’s 35c/kg or almost €150/head behind the same week last year.

Base prices for under-16-month bulls have also dropped, with many processors working off €4.90/kg, a drop of 5c to 10c/kg in some cases.

Young under-24-month bull quotes continue to track back, with U grading bulls now back at €5.05/kg to €5.15/kg.

R grading under-24-month bulls are being quoted at €5.00/kg to €5.05/kg, with O grading bulls back at €4.85/kg to €4.95/kg.

P grading under-24-month bulls are working off €4.75/kg to €4.80/kg this week.

Cows

There is a big gap between factories this week on cow prices, with plants specialising in cows more active for stock.

U grading cows are trading anywhere from €4.60/kg to €4.70/kg, with top-end suckler cows getting the top of the market prices.

R grading cows are trading from €4.40/kg to €4.55/kg, depending on the factory.

Some processors are trying to quote lower, but are doing very little business at the lower money.

O grading cows are at €4.10/kg to €4.20/kg, with P grading cows coming in at €4.00/kg to €4.05/kg, depending on weight and flesh cover.

Agents are still paying above the odds for good-quality well-fleshed cows in marts, so the mart is still the best place, especially if small numbers of cows are involved.

National kill

Last week’s kill came in at 32,465, an increase of just over 1,000 head on the previous which was a bank holiday week.

The cow kill saw the largest increase, with an extra 632 cows killed last week compared with the previous week.

European comparison

Taking a look at the latest figures from Bord Bia, they show that for the week ending 10 June 2023, R3 Irish bullocks are coming in at €5.42/kg incl VAT.

In terms of EU prices, R3 young bulls are trading at €5.21/kg, some 21c/kg behind the Irish price, while the UK R3 bullock price is at €5.94/kg, which is 52c/kg ahead of the Irish price.

This price differential is the equivalent of over €200/head on a 400kg carcase.

Looking to what’s happening in other countries, the British beef price is still ahead of many countries in the European market.

The GB price for R3 bullocks is at €5.87/kg incl VAT, while NI R3 bullocks are at €5.79/kg.

In France, R3 young bulls are at €5.55/kg, while R grading young bulls in Germany are selling for €4.83/kg. In the Netherlands, young bulls are under more pressure, with R3 young bulls coming into €4.67/kg.

Further afield, beef markets in the USA continue to march on, with the steer price coming in at the equivalent of €6.27/kg on the back of reduced supplies of finished cattle, along with increased demand.

Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) livestock chair Brendan Golden said: “The continual factory pressure on beef prices is unacceptable. The behaviour of factories in failing to reflect the production costs and investments made by beef farmers in finishing cattle is a very short-sighted approach.”

NI comment

The Northern Ireland beef trade has steadied over the last week, with supplies of shed-finished cattle dropping.

Up to 490p/kg (€6.01 /kg incl VAT) is on the table for U3 in-spec animals. Cows have also steadied at 400p to 410p/kg (€4.91-€5.03/kg incl VAT). Short-keep cattle are still a very good trade in marts, with finishers and factory agents very active for heavy cattle.