The beef trade shows no signs of slowing down this week with quotes up another 10 cent/kg this week across the board. A number of finishers have been quoted a €6.50/kg base price this week for heifers with €6.40/kg on offer to anybody with cattle so sell.
The beef trade shows no signs of slowing down this week with quotes up another 10 cent/kg this week across the board.
A number of finishers have been quoted a €6.50/kg base price this week for heifers with €6.40/kg on offer to anybody with cattle so sell.
Bullocks are working off a base prices of between €6.30 and €6.40/kg with a €6.40/kg base price easily achieved where there is a mix of bullocks and heifers being sold.
Flat prices of €7-€7.10/kg have been paid for larger loads of continental heifers this week in the south of the country.
Factories are also very active looking for Aberdeen Angus heifers with breed bonuses of as high as 30 cent/kg o offer for in spec heifers.
Cows
Cow beef is actually being more preferred by some agents at the moment given the big volumes that factories are able to process from cows.
O+ suckler cows are generally working off €5.70/kg to €5.80/kg, while O grading dairy cows are being bought at €5.60/kg to €5.70/kg, depending on the factory.
R grading cows are being quoted at €5.90/kg to €6.00/kg and higher money is available where numbers are involved.
P+3 cows are working off €5.50/kg to €5.60/kg, depending on weight, age and flesh.
Well-fleshed U grading cows continue to command top prices of €6.00/kg to €6.10/kg and over for young, fleshed heavy cows.
Factory agents are paying the equivalent of €6.40/kg deadweight and over it in marts to secure top-quality fleshed cows.
Bulls
Under-24-month bulls are still working off €6.60/kg to €6.70/kg for U grading bulls and higher where larger numbers are involved.
The best price I heard this week was €7/kg flat for a load of U grading bulls in the south east of the country.
R grading bulls are at €6.50/kg to €6.60/kg, while O grading bulls are being bought at €6.40/kg to €6.50/kg.
Under-16-month bulls are working off a base price of €6.20/kg to €6.30/kg before any QA bonus or grid payments are added.
Last week’s kill came in at just over 39,000, just 600 cattle ahead of the same week in 2024.
The young bull kill remains string with 3,187 head killed last week.
Comparing 2024 numbers versus 2025 numbers, the bullock kill remains similar, heifers are up 6000 head while the cow kill is back 7000 head for the 7 weeks of 2025.
Scottish quotes
Quotes in England and Scotland have also kicked on in the last week, with Scottish quotes for R4L bullocks coming in at 630p to 640p/kg (€7.97/kg to €8.10/kg incl VAT).
Strong beef prices in NI and a scarcity of forward store cattle is also driving more and more finishers south of the border to purchase store cattle with some very big prices paid for heavy cattle in marts in the last week.
The latest data from the Bord Bia meat tracker shows that the Irish price continues to lag behind that of our main markets for prime beef with a 21-cent gap on the prime Irish composite price.
Irish beef prices are still almost €1.20/kg behind the UK market with the gap widening in recent weeks.
High demand
Moving further a field prices across Europe remain very steady with low supplies and high demand driving the trade. European meat importers are reporting a string demand for imported meat
The USA beef market continues to hit new highs with the average steer coming in at €7.10/kg on the back of supply and demand issues.
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