Factory quotes for beef cattle this week have now steadied and the moves in recent weeks by processors to cool the trade have now stalled.
As August comes to a close, quotes for this week are now 10c/kg behind the peak base-price cattle quotes for this year.
August started on a high for cattle prices with a €4.30/kg base price freely available to all farmers for heifers – plus respective bonuses.
A slight cooling-off was noted in the mart trade at the beginning of the month as some feedlots eased off buying cattle in the marts and the following week, factory quotes came back 5c/kg.
Beef quotes this week
Looking at this week, heifer quotes are coming in at €4.20/kg on the grid, with breed bonuses still available on in-spec Angus and Herefords.
Steer quotes are coming in at €4.15/kg on the grid – 5c/kg short of this week’s heifer price. Despite this, some farmers are negotiating hard and managing to secure €4.20/kg for well-fleshed steers that tick all the boxes that processors are looking for. Breed bonuses are there to be secured for in-spec Angus and Hereford steers also.
Cow price is a major talking point among farmers again this week as quotes have remained at their peak price this year and witnessed no change this month, despite heifer and steer prices seeing a slight dip.
To buy cows, procurement officers are having to pay a flat price of €3.50/kg, €3.60/kg and €3.80/kg for P-grade, O-grade and R-grade cows respectively, to secure stock in this category.
Farmers with a nice bundle of well-fleshed, heavy cows have the ball in their court on cow-price negotiations this week.
Procurement officers are conscious the mart trade is strong for cows and most will be willing to pay a further 10c/kg to secure a good group of beef cows for processing.
Looking at under-24 month bulls, a flat price of €4.10/kg and €4.20/kg for R and U-grade bulls respectively is what is being quoted this week.
However, looking at cow-price performance, the demand for manufacturing beef appears to be still strong, so farmers with a group of bulls should negotiate with their procurement officer or agent before agreeing on a price.
Finally, under-16 month bulls are being quoted at €4.15/kg on the grid, with some processors quoting 5c/kg less but would likely be willing to pay more for the right type of stock.
With this week seeing the close of the August kill and the beginning of the September kill, quotes are in a relativity good place compared to this time in previous years.
With the weather forecast good and ground conditions firm in most parts of the country, a deluge of cattle is unlikely to appear in the coming weeks.
With this in mind, further drops in cattle price are unlikely and, if anything, a 5c/kg lift in steer and heifer quotes would be more likely than a price pull.
Last week’s kill figures will be published by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine tomorrow, Tuesday, and it will be interesting to see how they compare to figures from the previous week.
Stay tuned to Agriland for more.