A number of worrying trends in the kill-out performance of Irish beef cattle were highlighted at the Bord Bia Meat Marketing Seminar 2024, which took place at the Killashee Hotel, Naas, Co. Kildare, today (Friday, January 19).
The annual event sees industry personnel and stakeholders in the meat industry from across Ireland gather to hear the latest information and market outlooks for the year ahead.
Bord Bia’s beef sector manager, Mark Zieg, delivered a review of Irish beef in 2023 and an outlook for 2024.
The presentation outlined a number of cattle performance trends which are going in the wrong direction, which presents challenges for both beef farmers and processors alike.
The graph below shows the average Irish beef carcass weights by category in 2022 and 2023.
As the graph indicates, carcass weights fell in all major beef categories in 2023. Zieg attributed this trend to “the increasing numbers coming from the dairy herd”.
The beef sector manager continued: “Similarly in the confirmation scores and fat scores, we’re seeing more cattle falling onto the lower lines.”
This trend was attributed to both the dairy influence on the Irish beef herd, and the prolonged wet weather conditions experienced in 2023.
The two tables below show the percentage of steers slaughtered in November 2021, 2022, and 2023 that fell into each respective grade and fat score.
The presentation noted that O and P grade steers now account for 60% of national steer beef production.
The percentage of steers with a fat score of ‘2’ has increased by 8% from 2021 to 2023.
“Ideally we would like to see those grades jumping up into those higher lines,” Zieg noted.
2023 also saw the highest ever percentage of P grade cows slaughtered at 65%.
Looking at calf registrations in 2023, Zieg’s presentation noted that dairy calf births increased by 18,000 head, or 1.1% to just over 1.5 million head.
Suckler-bred calf births also saw “quite a significant” contraction in 2023, with numbers falling by 60,000 head or 7.4%, to just over 800,000 head.
However, on a more positive note, he said that the number of beef-sired calves from the dairy herd is increasing, while the number of dairy-sired male calves from the dairy herd fell in 2023.
Looking at cattle supplies for 2024, Zieg said: “We’re looking at a strong cow kill being maintained”, but said indications suggest “an overall decline of somewhere between 30-40,000 head for the year”.
He also added that the average Irish beef price in 2023 increased by 4% to €4.96/kg.