While winter finishers continue to mount up huge losses on farms this spring, there is a chink of light in the beef trade this week with some processors.

After a number of weeks of cutting quotes a number of factories have quoted last week’s quotes this week, the first week without a drop in about six or seven weeks.

Bullocks are in the main working off a base price of €6.60/kg, while heifers are being bought at €6.70/kg. Breed bonuses are being paid at 15c to 20c/kg.

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There is more demand on the ground this week for finished cattle, with agents active again looking for stock. Delays in getting cattle killed have also disappeared in most sites.

Irish Herford Prime announced a new partnership with ABP which will deliver a 20c/kg bonus to in-spec Hereford cattle, provided other conditions are also met on the finishing farm.

The standard 10c/kg bonus will still be available in Kepak factories.

Cows

R grading cows are being priced at €6.30/kg to €6.40/kg. U grading cows are now being bought at €6.70/kg.

O grading cows are being bought for €6.10/kg to €6.20/kg. P+3 cows are coming in at €6.00/kg to €6.10/kg, with some factories quoting lower for very light cows.

Bulls

R grading bulls are coming in at €6.80/kg to €6.90/kg and U grading bulls are being quoted at €7.00/kg, although bulls are in short supply, with low numbers being killed.

There are a number of operators still able to squeeze €7/kg for mixtures of R and U grading bulls.

O grading bulls are working off an all-in price of €6.50/kg to €6.70/kg, while P grading bulls are being quoted at €6.40/kg to €6.50/kg, depending on weight and flesh cover. Under-16-month bulls are working off a €6.70/kg base price on the grid.

Beef markets event

The Irish Farmers Journal held a beef markets meeting in Abbeyleix on Monday night, with presentations from Bord Bia, Teagasc, the Irish Farmers Journal and the Irish Farmers Association.

One of the biggest messages on the night was that beef prices in our main markets are pointing to the cuts that Irish finishers have received in the last few weeks being unjustified.

There was also a clear thought among some of the speakers on the night that the trade had bottomed out and that tighter supplies in the short term should help lift quotes.

The advice on the night was for finishers to sell hard in the next few weeks to try to regain some control of the trade.