Beef finishers have welcomed some stability to the trade this week, with quotes at a similar level to where they were last week.

Despite the sentiment that factories have been sending out on numbers coming their way, factory agents are still actively looking for cattle.

There were even some reports of cattle that were booked in for next week being brought forward to this week such was the demand.

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We are entering into the peak period of Christmas killing for the next two weeks.

Bullocks are working off a base price of €7.40/kg this week, with heifers coming in at €7.50/kg.

Breed bonuses of 30c/kg are still on the table for in-spec Aberdeen Angus heifers. Hereford bonuses are also being paid out at 20c/kg.

Cows

Cows have also steadied a little, with some reports of fewer cows coming to the market in the next few weeks.

P+3 cows are coming in at €6.50/kg to €6.70/kg. Good O grades with flesh are still making €6.80/kg to 6.90/kg, with quality R grading cows coming in at €7.00/kg and a little above it in some locations.

Well-fleshed U grading cows are still coming in at €7.20/kg in some factories this week.

The mart is probably still the place to go if you have small numbers of cows.

The run-up to Christmas always sees demand drop a little for cows, as processors concentrate on prime beef.

Bulls

The trade in young bulls is also at a similar level to where it was this time last week.

The going rate being offered for R and U grades is in the region of €7.50/kg to €7.60/kg, while P and O grading bulls are coming in at €7.20/kg to €7.40/kg.

Under-16-month bulls are working off a base price of €7.25/kg to €7.35/kg this week before any grading or in-spec bonuses are applied.

Last week’s kill came in almost identical to the previous week’s kill in terms of overall numbers, with some slight changes to the make-up of animals in the weekly kill.

The cow kill rose by almost 800 head last week to come in at 8,129 head.

There is a thought that the cow kill could drop a little in the next few weeks as farmers choose to push sales into 2026 as opposed to 2025 for tax reasons.

The bullock kill fell by over 250 head last week, with the heifer kill also dropping to 9,835 head, a fall of 500 head on the previous week.

Last week’s kill at 32,169 head was just over 7,500 head behind the same week in 2024.

Across the water, the beef trade remains steady, with some increased consumer demand seen in the last seven to 10 days in shops.

Irish beef exports to the British market are down almost 10% for the period January to September 2025 compared with the same period in 2024.

Australia and New Zealand are now in third and fourth position as beef exporters to the UK market. Ireland is still in number one position, followed by Poland.

Cow prices have taken a hit this week in Britain, with factories dropping quotes by 5p to 10p/kg in some cases.

Others are only killing cows if coming as part of a consignment of prime cattle. R4L bullocks are coming in at 661p/kg (€8.10/kg including VAT) this week.

World markets

Further afield, there have been some big moves on world markets this week, with US president Trump removing the 40% tariff for Brazilian beef imports to the USA to try to reduce the pressure on American consumers.

NI trade

North of the border, beef quotes remain steady at 660p/kg (€7.97/kg incl VAT), especially where numbers are involved. Supplies of finished cattle are tight and farmers with numbers are in a good position to hammer out deals.