Factory quotes for beef cattle this week seem to have held across the board for this week’s kill which will see a 4-day week following the October bank holiday.
While steers and heifers have seen no movement from the majority of processors, some are quoting cows at 10c/kg short of last week’s price, however, farmers who price around will have no difficulty securing last week’s price for cows again this week.
Looking at last week’s kill, throughput surpassed 37,000 head for the first time this year, however, strong market demand is quickly swallowing up any marginal rises in Ireland’s national beef kill.
Many processors are putting farmers with smaller lots of cattle off until next week citing “they are thronged with cattle this week” while larger groups of cattle are securing days this week at ease in many processing facilities.
Despite this, the short week’s kill is no doubt making it easier for procurement officers to fill kill sheets this week but any build up of cattle from this week will likely be quickly alleviated early next week.
This week’s throughput will likely see a significant drop due to the short week as a result of the October Bank Holiday weekend.
Starting with heifers and a base-price of €4.20/kg seems to be the general run again this week, with €4.25/kg still available on the higher end of the scale.
Looking at steer price this week and €4.15 – €4.20/kg is the general run here. With the steer kill showing a decreasing trend over the past few weeks, it will be interesting to see if there will be any upward movement in steer price from processors to encourage more bullocks into the factory lairages.
Breed bonuses are still available on both Angus and Hereford cattle and farmers should inquire about agreements on possible weight bonuses and haulage costs also.
The general consensus is demand for beef is strong – both in the home market and abroad. The UK continues to be particularly anxious for beef and is expected to continue that way in the run up to the Christmas season and beyond.
Taking a look at cow price, €3.95 and €3.85/kg is what’s on offer for U and R-grade cows respectively this week, with €3.65 and €3.55/kg being quoted for O and P-grade cows respectively.
A well-fleshed cow scoring a ‘+’ in its respective grade can secure more money and farmers should be conscious of this before bringing cows to the factory.
Under-24 month bulls are again seeing a little more variation in both price and interest from processors around the country, with some factories having plenty of jobs for bull-beef, with others citing less interest in them.
Despite this, processors are quoting a flat price of €4.10 and €4.20/kg for R and U-grade bulls respectively, with good deals being done on bulls with suitable weights and fat scores making the ‘+’ in their respective grades.
While an O-grade bull is generally quoted at 20c/kg short of an R-grade, some processors are willing to pay €4/kg for O-graders, an indication that they will likely pay more for R and U-grade bulls.
Finally, under-16 month bulls seem to be coming in at €4.15 on the grid.