Any concerns around fertiliser price, meal price or the autumn beef trade seem to have been well and truly parked this week, with the trade moving on by as much as €50 to €60/head in some cases.

Heavy heifers have seen some of the largest increases this week, with average 600kg+ heifers increasing by 21c/kg this week to €3.01/kg.

Bullocks also saw price increases, with average 600kg+ bullocks up 5c/kg on last week.

Such is the complex nature of the beef trade, dry cows, heavy bulls and general out-of-spec cattle are, in some cases, making more in marts this week than in-spec under-30-month quality assured cattle.

Factory agents have been instructed to hoover up anything that is at or even close to slaughter, no matter the age, breed or weight.

Numbers of cattle continue to be very strong at marts, with many farmers with small numbers opting to sell in the mart and let factories fight it out for cattle.

I saw 10 Aberdeen Angus bullocks weighing 644kg make €2,060 in Gortatlea last Friday night. By the time commission, haulage and killing fees are paid on them, they would need to be north of €5.90/kg on beef price to be getting out.

Agents are still paying 30c to 40c/kg more for beef cattle in marts compared with what factories are prepared to pay.

Active buyers

Feedlot buyers are also extremely active buying short-keep cattle. Some of these buyers, whom would have been working off 500kg+ cattle, have dropped back in weight due to heavy cattle not appearing in marts.

That means they are in the traditional grass trade, which has pushed up prices in the last few weeks.

Aberdeen Angus and Hereford cattle have seen big increases this week, with the average 400kg to 500kg heifer up 19c/kg compared with the previous week’s trading. A lot of these cattle being purchased by factory feedlots and finishers are heading to a shed for a short, sharp finish over the next few months.

Risk

These are too expensive to be taking a risk to go grass for a long keep. The fact that these cattle are out of the system should bode well for the live trade later on the year.

Speaking to mart managers, there has been a lot of extra cattle moving through marts over the last two months, with farmers seizing the opportunity of higher prices to offload stock.

Dry cows continue to exceed all expectations in marts, with top-quality well-finished suckler cows now regularly hitting over €3/kg.

A number of buyers specialising in the wholesale trade are taking out the big players, paying as high as €3.20/kg this week for well-fleshed U grading cows. Plainer cows are also in demand, with P+ Freisian cows hitting €2.60/kg this week in some marts.

Live exports continue to perform very strongly, with live exports up 16,225 or almost 12% year on year.

One of the big drivers of this has been calf exports, with over 40,000 extra calves exported to the Netherlands in 2022 compared with the same period in 2021. The only negative is live exports to Northern Ireland, which are down 13,700 head year on year.