Prime cattle steady but cow prices rise

The beef trade remains relatively steady with no change to prices. Processors have been trying hard to ease prices over the past seven days with limited success. Some buying agents state they have plenty of cattle on offer and have numbers booked as far as two weeks in advance.

Other agents report a different scenario, stating that while supplies of cattle coming on to the market are good, a big percentage of these are outside of market spec.

With no change to base quotes and several farmers reporting little difficulty in getting animals booked for the latter half of the next week, it would seem that processors are still eager for cattle.

The live trade is also buoyant. Mart managers report a strong presence of larger finishers competing for forward short-keep cattle, indicating that demand for beef looks stable in the short term.

Base quotes for U-3 grade cattle are 350p to 354p/kg. Plants that cut prices by 2p/kg last week have seemingly reversed this move.

Farmers report plants are opening on 354p to 356p/kg for sellers with limited numbers, while more regular sellers continue to see deals of 360p to 370p/kg being offered at the upper end of the market.

Last week, the average price on steers and heifers was 352.18p/kg. The average price paid for U3 steers was 365.4p/kg, with U3 heifers on 362.8p/kg

Cows

The cow trade provides a good indicator of how the trade is actually performing. While plants point to slower sales on prime cuts, demand for manufacturing beef remains strong.

Quotes for cull cows have risen by 15p/kg to 290p/kg on O+3 animals. Farmers report 300p to 310p/kg on offer for good-quality beef cows, with agents eager to secure numbers.

To meet demand, cull cows are being imported from Britain for slaughter at NI plants.

Hogget trade

Quotes for hoggets at meat plants have risen to 415p/kg, but there appears to be pressure to get quotes reduced and one plant is waiting to see how the mart trade develops midweek. At 415p/kg, a hogget is worth £91.30 at the 22kg weight limit.

In the marts, Kilrea sold 450 hoggets from 363p to 391p/kg, little changed from last week. Massereene sold 826 hoggets making from 375p to 410p/kg, also no change from last week.

In Saintfield on Tuesday, a smaller show of 540 hoggets sold from 365p to 400p/kg, up 15p/kg on last week for heavier hoggets. Snow on Tuesday evening forced the cancellation of the sale in Rathfriland. However, Ballymena was open on Wednesday morning.

The fat ewe trade continues to be very firm, with top prices rising at most of marts. Top prices in Newtownstewart were to £90/head, in Swatragh to £146/head, to £94.50 in Kilrea and to £119 in Massereene. In Saintfield on Tuesday, a big show of 195 head made up to £100 for good ewes.

Store lambs in Ballymena Monday evening saw the best pens of Charollais make £66 and £62/head. The best Texels made £55, with crossbreds at £53.50 and £50/head. Ewes with twin lambs at foot made from £110 to £150 for the outfit.