After three weeks of trying to talk down the trade, factories have had to give in to pressure and lift prices by as much as 10c/kg in some locations this week. It’s all based around supply and demand.

Bullocks have moved up to €5.05/kg to €5.10/kg this week, with heifers working off €5.10/kg to €5.20/kg. All sorts of deals are being brokered again around price, with as high as €5.30/kg base price being paid for a load of heifers this week.

Aberdeen Angus and Hereford cattle remain in demand, with Hereford Prime increasing its bonus to 20c/kg from next week. The Hereford bonus moves to 25 cent/kg at the beginning of April.

Aberdeen Angus bonuses remain at 20c to 30c/kg, with prime in-spec stock in demand for retail orders.

I have had a few queries around different forms of payment on different grades of cattle this week.

Farmers should familiarise themselves with the quality-based pricing grid for bullocks and heifers and the bonus structure for in-spec payment grid. This is the industry standard and any deviation should be brought to the attention of the factory in question.

Cattle numbers have taken a big fall in the last seven days, with last week’s kill back by 2,719 head, the biggest drop seen in a number of months.

The drop in supply has coincided with a surge in demand from retail markets.

With lamb prices sky rocketing, many retailers are promoting beef as an alternative for the Easter holiday period and this will lift demand in the next fortnight.

Factory agents are reporting very low numbers of finished cattle on the ground.

Shorter working weeks for St Patrick’s Day and Easter will take the pressure off some procurement managers to fill a full week’s kill, but many are only working at three- or four-day capacity anyway.

Bull trade

The young bull trade remains pretty steady, with €5.30/kg back on the table for U grading young bulls in some of the factories specialising in bulls.

R grading bulls are moving at €5.10/kg to €5.20/kg, while O and P grading bulls are being paid out at 10c to 15c/kg less.

Under-16-month bulls are generally working off €5.10/kg to €5.15/kg base price, with the 12c/kg in-spec bonus being added in along with grading for the final price.

Cull cows

Cull cows also remain a very solid trade, despite the increased number of cows coming on the market.

U grading suckler cows are still top of the market, with €4.70/kg to €4.80/kg being paid for good-quality young well-fleshed cows this week.

R grading cows are working off €4.40/kg to €4.50/kg, with O grading suckler cows coming in at €4.30/kg, while P grading cows are working off €4.00/kg to €4.10/kg, depending on weight and flesh cover.

Last week’s kill came in at 34,202 and last week marks the first week’s normal kill in 2024 that the kill fell below 35,000.

Heifers saw a massive drop last week, down 1,281 head on the previous week to 9,788. This is also the lowest full week’s kill of heifers since the beginning of 2024.

The number of calves being slaughtered saw a slight increase last week to 2,597 head, up from 2,419 the previous week. The total number of calves slaughtered in 2024 is currently down almost 10,000 head.

NI comment

Prime cattle are tightening in NI and prices are hardening as a result.

Quotes remain on 460p/kg (€5.64/kg inc VAT) for U-3 animals, but fall short of the main run of prices on 480p to 486p/kg (€5.88 to €5.95/kg) for in-spec steers and heifers, with young bulls on 470p/kg (€5.76/kg).

Cull cows are a sharper trade, with deals ranging from 370p to 390p/kg (€4.47 to €4.77/kg) for suckler types.