A shed of weanlings that cost €100,000 to buy last year is costing €250,000 this year, Kildare beef finisher Thomas O’Connor has said.

Speaking at the Teagasc national beef conference in Athenry on Tuesday night, he said that everyone looks for value for money.

“Is there such a thing this year? It’s hard to know. As a weanling purchaser, you’re always looking for a healthy animal,” he said.

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“A lot of the hardship that I get as a finisher actually happens from the previous stage, from not getting a vaccine on the previous farm, the stress of the mart and by the time the weanling lands to me in Kildare, the harm has been done. It takes kind of a week before it starts showing.

The reality is we’re at a price level now with weanlings that every farmer never would have dreamt of

“I’m 10 years buying weanlings. When I first started buying weanlings, for every five I sold, I could buy back six the next year. The maths of it there now is that for every 10 I sell this year, I’ll be doing well to get 11.

“I’ve no more certainty. A shed of cattle that used to cost me €100,000 to fill is now costing me €250,000,” he said.

Huge money

“There’s lots of myths out there that beef processors look after farmers, they definitely don’t look after me,” O’Connor said.

“The reality is we’re at a price level now with weanlings that every farmer never would have dreamt of, especially what’s happened in the last two years and I think there’s a link in the chain that needs to be filled,” he said.

He said that farmers and finishers are dealing with “huge money” now and that everybody needs to play their part.

“You’re the primary producer and you’re producing the weanling. I’m the secondary one taking them through to the finish.

“Your job is to have them as fit and healthy as they [can be] coming to me. Definitely in the last two weeks, with the mild weather we’re having in Kildare, there’s a lot of hardship.

“That’s the reality of it. If ye get a good vaccination programme going into your weanlings before I ever get them, it cuts down on the work we have,” he said.

This headline on this article was updated on 21 November 2025.