Quotes remain very steady this week, with the majority of this week’s kill already pre-purchased before Christmas.

There is some concern in agent circles about getting enough cattle for the first two weeks of January.

In general, marts aren’t back until next week, with some not resuming until the end of the week, leaving some procurement managers scratching their heads about where their weekly kill is going to come from.

January is generally also a very quiet month for most marts, with no farmers moving big numbers now until grass starts to appear in March and April. Some factories specialising in killing cows will be particularly hampered by smaller marts.

Bullocks are working off a base price of €5.50/kg to €5.55/kg, with €5.60/kg also being paid for bullocks this week.

Heifers are a little more sought after, with as high as €5.70/kg being paid for heifers for next week’s kill. The general run of quotes is €5.60/kg to €5.65/kg this week.

Flat prices of €6.10/kg and over it where numbers are involved are on the table for in-spec Aberdeen Angus heifers.

Well-fleshed cows continue to be in big demand, with the manufacturing beef trade continuing on a very strong footing.

O+ suckler cows are generally working off €5.10/kg to €5.20/kg, while O grading dairy cows are being bought at €5.00/kg to €5.05/kg, depending on which factory you are dealing with.

R grading cows are being quoted at €5.25/kg to €5.35/kg and higher money is available where numbers are involved.

P+3 cows are working off €4.80/kg to €4.90/kg, depending on weight, age and flesh.

Well-fleshed U grading cows continue to command top prices of €5.50/kg to €5.60/kg and over for young, fleshed heavy cows.

Bulls

Under-24-month bulls are still working off a €5.75/kg to €5.90/kg base price for U grading bulls and higher where larger numbers are involved.

Flat prices of €6/kg and over it are on the table where big numbers are involved.

R grading bulls are coming in at €5.60/kg to €5.75/kg, while O grading bulls are being bought at €5.40/kg to €5.50/kg. P grading bulls are working off €5.30/kg to €5.35/kg, depending on weight and flesh cover.

Under-16-month bulls are generally working off €5.40/kg to €5.50/kg base price before the additional in-spec bonus is applied.

The gap between the British and Irish price remains at €1/kg, with increases in Irish prices in the closing weeks of 2024 cancelled out by increases in British prices also.

The Bord Bia market tracker shows that Ireland is 37c/kg behind the price of beef in the markets that we are selling into.

When the UK is excluded, we are pretty close to the European average beef price at the moment.

Across the water, the UK beef trade shows no signs of slowing down, with R4L bullocks finishing out 2024 on a high of 547p (€6.96/kg incl VAT). R4L heifers were just behind them at 541p/kg (€6.88/kg incl VAT).

Supplies of beef cattle continue to remain tight in Britain, with a very strong demand for manufacturing beef in particular.

The UK beef herd continues to decline, with a 1.5% reduction being recorded in 2024.

The female breeding herd reduced by 4.5% (62,500), a similar percentage to the reduction in the Irish breeding herd.

This puts the number of suckler cows in the UK at the lowest level in the last 20 years.