The beef price keeps on climbing, with another 30c/kg welded on to base quotes this week on the huge competition from factories. It’s all about the flat prices again this week, with €8.20/kg to €8.30/kg on the table for cattle quoted on a flat-rate basis.
The beef price keeps on climbing, with another 30c/kg welded on to base quotes this week on the huge competition from factories.
It’s all about the flat prices again this week, with €8.20/kg to €8.30/kg on the table for cattle quoted on a flat-rate basis.
There are some Aberdeen Angus bullocks and heifers moving at €8.40/kg flat price this week.
For any cattle being bought on a grid base price this week, bullocks are working off €7.80/kg to €7.90/kg, with heifers moving at €7.90/kg to €8.00/kg base price.
As always, higher quotes are available to those with numbers and regular customers.
At the moment there is nothing to suggest the beef trade will hit any bumps in the road. Demand is high and supplies are set to get tighter towards the end of April and into May and June.
June was traditionally the month where under-16-month bulls filled a gap, but the number of these now being finished are thin in the ground on the back of low factory demand in previous years.
Cows
Cows continue to move in a positive direction, with €7.20/kg to €7.30/kg now on the table for well-fleshed R grading cows in the south of the country and €7.40/kg where bigger numbers are involved.
U grading cows are up to €7.50/kg to €7.80/kg, with O grading suckler cows making their way up to €7.00/kg to €7.20/kg in some factories.
O grading dairy cows are being quoted at €6.80/kg to €6.90/kg. P+3 cows are working off €6.50/kg to €6.60/kg, depending on weight, age, flesh and numbers, with €6.70/kg paid to large feeders.
Factories want kilos of beef and whether that comes from cows, bulls, bullocks or heifers, it doesn’t matter at the moment.
Cows continue to make some exceptional money in marts, with factories paying between €4/kg and €4.50/kg for fleshed cows over the weekend.
A 2016-born Charolais cow weighing 920kg sold for €4,080 in Dowra Mart, Co Cavan, on Saturday. At a 56% kill-out, that cow would come into 515kg dead and would need to come into over €8/kg by the time commission and killing costs are included to break even.
Bulls
Under-24-month bulls are still working off €7.60/kg to €7.80/kg for U grading bulls and higher where larger numbers are involved.
Flat prices as high as €7.90/kg have been paid to some larger suppliers for mixes of U and R grading bulls.
R grading bulls are at €7.40/kg to €7.50/kg, while O grading bulls are being bought at €7.30/kg to €7.40/kg. Under-16-month bulls are working off €7.40/kg to €7.50/kg on the grid.
Last week’s kill got back to normal levels, with just over 36,000 head processed last week.
Comparing that with the same week in 2024, it’s up about 4,000 head.
The bullock kill came in at 13,899 head, while the heifer kill came in at 12,051 head. The cow kill remains strong at just over 8,016 head. This year’s kill is currently running just over 16,000 cattle ahead of the same period in 2024.
It was interesting to see Aldi in the UK sign a £320m deal with Warrendale Wagyu last week. Aldi is betting big on the Wagyu brand and obviously sees it as an avenue to grow beef sales.
There is a growing interest in Ireland in the breed also, with a number of processors now paying more attention to guaranteeing supplies of Wagyu beef in the next few years.
Northern Ireland
Tight supplies north of the border have resulted in base quotes rising 5p/kg on last week to 670p (€8.38/kg incl VAT) for U3 animals.
Deals have also been done for larger finishers at 675p/kg (€8.45/kg incl VAT) for full loads of bullocks and heifers.
This is a subscriber-only article
SHARING OPTIONS: