As the dark evenings are now upon us and weather taking a change for the worst, winter has well and truly set in.
With most prime cattle now housed for further feeding, the Christmas trade is beginning to loom on the minds of beef farmers in the hope of a price increase. Factories will now begin to focus their efforts on finding supplies and filling contracts for the Christmas market.
Cow price has continued to fall this week in some plants with O-grading cows being priced from €2.80/kg, and back to €2.70/kg. In addition, P-grades are now trading at a €2.60/kg mark, while R-grades continue to sell at €3.00/kg.
The quality U-grading cow has been reported to be slow in coming forward for slaughter recently, in some parts of the country. The price on the table for these animals remains at €3.20/kg.
Also Read: Edmond Phelan: ‘Don’t send cows to the factory if they are not fit’Under-16-month-old bull quotes have seen no change, as they are still trading between €3.50/kg and €3.60/kg on the grid.
Meanwhile, quotes for bulls under 24 months experienced a similar trend being priced at €3.30-3.40/kg for O-grades, €3.50/kg for R-grades and €3.60/kg for U-grades.
Last year
It is hard to see much positivity with the prices on offer for steers and heifers this week, but reflecting back to the trade for these animals during the same period last year, steers are priced at 15c/kg ahead. Heifers are also trading 10c/kg above November 2019 prices.
Cow price has seen no changes in comparison to last year’s quotes, as the same influx of cow numbers brought forward for processing was experienced.
Slight positive trends can be seen from the bull-beef finisher’s point of view as bulls under-24-months-old across O, R and U-grades are up, on average, 10c/kg ahead of the same week for 2019. While under-16-month-old-bulls were being quoted €3.40/kg on the grid this time last year.
These yearly price changes, however, does not carry enough confidence for beef farmers to ensure that prices are going to get better from this point onwards. With a Brexit date looming on January 1,2021, farmers need to be considering the effect this is going to have on beef prices.