As rainfall increases the chances of having to house stock earlier increases also. Buyers are always cautious of their grazing window, as this is their cheapest feeding time.

Heavy rainfall in August means that cattle are housed in September, which means one month less grazing in most places and two months in others.

Weather like this can drastically affect mart trade, but, thankfully, there are no signs of this just yet.

The first animals to feel the brunt of price drops due to weather changes are light cattle more suitable for grazing and finishing off grass the following summer.

Static prices

Looking at the prices, it’s clear to see the prices are very static on the week for the lighter weight divisions.

As highlighted in the last few weeks, these prices are up over 20c/kg on 2019 levels, so it’s even more notable.

Upper-end lots which made the top third of prices saw an average of €2.38/kg

Both steers and heifers under 400kg saw average prices of €2.09/kg and €2.12/kg respectively.

For heifers of a slightly higher weight (400kg to 500kg), this increased to €2.13/kg. Upper-end lots which made the top third of prices saw an average of €2.38/kg. This was at €2.41/kg for the top third of bullocks of the same weight.

These prices, which started strong on the return of marts in early May, have kept mart trade alive during the summer.

While there was a backlog of cattle due to the closure of marts, the high prices achieved for both grass cattle and fit cattle have kept numbers up a lot longer than expected.

Demand for fit cattle

Looking at the fitter cattle and short-keep lots, demand is still there from agents, despite curtailing beef price in the past week.

The average price paid for both bullocks and heifers in excess of 600kg is still over the €2/kg mark.

Short-keep lots of bullocks and heifers are generally seeing a similar trade to fit cattle

Lesser lots or first-cross dairy lots still average around the €1.80/kg mark, while the continental lots can rise as high as €2.40/kg, but generally around the €2.20/kg to €2.25/kg price point.

Short-keep lots of bullocks and heifers are generally seeing a similar trade to fit cattle, with the only one spiking being better-quality steers, which rose by 5c/kg on the week.

Suckler cows

The average price for suckler cows saw a drop of €12 on the week to settle at €1,235.

That said, factories, and particularly northern buyers, are still in search of the top end of these.

Looking at the top third of prices, we see the average rose by €72 to settle at over €1,550.

Young cows of continental descent exhibiting good muscling continue to be the choice lots. Some of these sold with young calves at foot, but for those without, prices as high as €2.19/kg were seen.

Farmers finished with the bull for the year are looking to offload him before winter

One Charolais-cross cow weighing 855kg sold for €1,840 (€2.15/kg).

Heavy bull numbers, while still small, continue to increase week on week.

Farmers finished with the bull for the year are looking to offload him before winter, with a lot down to unsuitable housing for bulls during the winter months.

Heavy bulls this week averaged at €1.66/kg. Some buyers with wintering facilities may have purchased these for work next year, as some prices went as high as €1.95/kg.

Weanling sales are now nearly in full swing.

To get a full analysis of how they are performing on the years and to see how each breed fared out last week, click here.