Factory agents have been active in recent days to ensure strong supplies are on hand when processing resumes on Tuesday morning. Current firm market demand is being bolstered by factories also starting to fill orders for the Christmas trade.
Factory agents have been active in recent days to ensure strong supplies are on hand when processing resumes on Tuesday morning.
Current firm market demand is being bolstered by factories also starting to fill orders for the Christmas trade.
Prices for a high percentage of deals completed remain largely unchanged at a base of €3.75/kg for steers and €3.85/kg for heifers.
There has been some movement for farmers with greater negotiating power, with a base of €3.80/kg paid for steers and €3.90/kg paid for heifers.
Reports suggest the higher heifer price is easier to negotiate than for steers.
Some plants are offering these higher deals outside their normal catchment area in a bid to source higher supplies from further afield while other plants looking to stick tight on the base quote are offering allowances on transport costs.
Cow trade
The cow trade is unchanged but it should continue to be noted that there is a wide differential between prices paid.
P+3 grade cow prices are starting below €3.00/kg in plants with little interest in cows and rising to €3.10/kg to €3.15/kg at the higher end of the market with reports of higher prices paid to specialist finishers handling very large numbers.
Fleshed O grade cows range in general from €3.25/kg to €3.35/kg.
With higher numbers of dairy cows coming on stream, it is also worth noting that there is a big differential in prices paid for light-carcase cows lacking significant flesh.
This is demonstrated in Table 1, which shows the average cow prices in the week 16 to 22 October and in Table 2, which shows cow carcase weight for the same week.
Under-fleshed cows are penalised on price anywhere from 40c/kg to 50c/kg for better-quality cows falling into the fat class of 1=/+ to 70c/kg to €1/kg for very poorly conformed and under-fleshed cows.
These cows are typically also those with a low carcase weight as reflected in Table 2.
Bull lessons
The same lesson should be kept in mind for those finishing bulls, with bulls falling into fat class 1=/+ penalised on average by 20c/kg to 30c/kg.
This varies between plants and also within plants depending on the number on bulls falling outside of specification and the supplier.
Therefore, it is important to ensure that bulls are adequately covered before drafting for slaughter. R and U grading bulls are selling in general from €3.80/kg to €3.85/kg and €3.90/kg to €3.95/kg, respectively.
Bulls less than 16 months and trading on the grid are selling on a base of €3.75/kg to €3.80/kg.
Steady northern trade
The northern trade is steady, with most plants remaining on a U-3 base quote of £3.52/kg to £3.54/kg.
At Monday’s exchange rate of 88p to the euro, this is the equivalent of €4.00/kg to €4.02/kg, rising to €4.22/kg to €4.26/kg when VAT is included at 5.4%.
O grading cows continue to sell from £2.60/kg to £2.80/kg (€3.11/kg to €3.35/kg including VAT). The British price has eased by 1p/kg to 2p/kg further, with R4L steers averaging £3.76/kg (€4.46/kg incl VAT) while heifers are 2p/kg lower at an average of £3.74/kg (€4.44/kg incl VAT).
In contrast, downward price pressure continues to be felt in Britain. AHDB reports R4L steers easing 4p/kg to £3.76/kg or the equivalent of €4.50/kg including VAT. R4L heifer prices eased by an average of 2p/kg to £3.74/kg (€4.48/kg incl VAT). The weakening in the trade is being attributed to increased numbers, with the most recent figures for the week ending 21 October showing an increase of 713 head to 32,139.
The cow kill is steady at 11,163, with AHDB’s weekly market report also showing cow prices slipping by 4.5p/kg to an average of £2.62/kg (€3.14/kg incl VAT).
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