Factories continue to try to apply some pressure to this week’s trade. Some agents took a tougher line this week with finishers and tried to drop quotes by 10c/kg, but when pressure was applied most reverted back to last week’s quotes.

There have been bullocks purchased at under €7/kg this week though, back on last week’s base price in some locations.

Bullocks are working off a base quote of €7.00/kg to €7.10/kg, with the higher quotes reserved for those dealing in bigger numbers.

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On the heifer side, it’s a similar story, with heifers working off a base price of €7.10/kg to €7.20/kg.

Breed bonuses are still being paid at the rate of 15c to 20c/kg for in-spec Hereford and Aberdeen Angus bullocks and heifers, with some factories also offering a little higher bonus for those with bigger numbers.

Factory procurement managers are trying to manage the kill more in the last week with some farmers now waiting seven to 10 days to get cattle killed.

This is causing some frustration in finishing circles, with some finishers pointing to large losses being taken on cattle at the moment given where the store trade was last autumn.

In reality, beef price hasn’t kicked on enough for these farmers to make a margin and beef price needed to be €8/kg and over it for the winter finishing system to work this year.

Cows

The cow trade is also very steady, with R grading cows being priced at €6.80/kg to €6.90/kg.

U grading cows are still trading at €7.00/kg to €7.10/kg, with as high as €7.30/kg being paid for a load of good-quality cows this week all grading R and U.

O grading cows are being bought for €6.60/kg to €6.70/kg. P+3 cows are coming in at €6.30/kg to €6.40/kg.

Finished cows continue to make big money in marts, with over €4/kg being paid for well-fleshed cows in marts again this week. For farmers with small numbers of cows, the mart is still the place to go to get best value.

Bulls

Bulls have probably held the best out of all categories of stock, with R grading bulls still coming in at €7.30/kg and U grading bulls at €7.40/kg.

Specialised bull finishers have been able to squeeze a little more out of some processors.

Under-16-month bulls are working off a €7.00/kg to €7.10/kg base price to go on the grid.

Last week’s kill came in at a similar level to where it was the week before at 31,689 head.

The young bull kill continues to drop, with 2,687 head killed last week. The bullock, heifer and cow kills remain steady, with no real change in the last seven days.

The 2026 kill is now running just over 46,000 head behind the 2025 kill, with numbers expected to tighten more in the next few weeks.

Beef supplies remain in tight supply around the world, with prices holding steady in many of the big markets.

The USA beef price is running 30c/kg ahead of where it was this time last year at €7.37/kg.

The Australian beef price is also running 34% ahead of last year’s price at €5.08/kg.

The Brazilian beef price remains relatively stable at €3.44/kg, while the Argentinian beef price has seen a big lift, with the Argentinian beef price up 20% on the same period in 2025.

Closer to home, the British price remains on an even keel, with this week’s quotes coming in around €7.70/kg.

NI comment

The Northern Ireland market also remains steady, with prices unchanged from last week.

In-spec animals are working off £6.56-£6.58/kg (€7.88-€7.90/kg including VAT).

Supplies of finished cattle remain tight and that is underpinning quotes in Northern Ireland at the moment.