The beef trade is quickly entering crisis mode, with quotes back another 10c/kg this week.

That brings the cuts in the last four weeks to 40c/kg, with talk of another 10c/kg cut coming next week.

That will be an almost €200/head drop in just five weeks.

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The cuts have left winter finishers staring into losses of somewhere between €300 and €500/head, with some now seriously contemplating the future of finishing cattle during the winter months.

Monday morning’s quotes for bullocks are at a €6.70/kg base price, with very little movement off that figure and a more or less take-it-or-leave-it attitude taken by a lot of agents.

Foyle Meats in Donegal is working off a higher base of €6.80/kg for bullocks, but is booked out for this week.

Heifers are working off a base price of €6.80/kg, with Foyle Meats in Donegal 5c/kg ahead this week with a base price of €6.85/kg.

Difficulties

Factories are maintaining that they are having difficulties selling beef, but when you look around some of our main markets, Ireland is lagging seriously behind some of our main export markets.

Figure 1 outlines the Irish beef price in comparison with our main markets and it shows Irish beef currently sitting at the bottom of the list.

Italian young bulls are selling for €8.16/kg, while the latest price in Sweden is being quoted on the Bord Bia website at €8.54/kg.

The British price is currently coming in at €7.67/kg, while the Polish price is at €7.65/kg.

The Irish price is currently bottom of the list at €7.47/kg when compared with our main markets for beef.

The majority of these prices were taken for the week ending 28 February 2026, which is the latest data available from Bord Bia.

Cows

R grading cows are being priced at €6.40/kg to €6.50/kg. U grading cows are now being bought at €6.70/kg, back 10c/kg in the last seven days.

O grading cows are being bought for €6.20/kg to €6.30/kg. P+3 cows are coming in at €6.00/kg to €6.20/kg, with some factories quoting lower for very light cows.

The mart trade continues to be very steady, especially for well-fleshed heavy cows.

Bulls

Bulls have probably held the best out of all categories of stock, with R grading bulls coming in at €7.00/kg and U grading bulls remaining at €7.10/kg, although bulls are in short supply, with low numbers being killed at the moment.

O grading bulls are working off an all-in price of €6.80/kg to €6.90/kg, while P grading bulls are being quoted at €6.70/kg to €6.80/kg, depending on weight and flesh cover.

Under-16-month bulls are working off a €6.80/kg base price on the grid.