Factory quotes for beef cattle have moved up another notch for this week at many beef-processing outlets, as demand continues to grow while supplies of finished cattle tighten.
Last Thursday (January 5), Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, announced the resumption of beef exports from Ireland to China which is a positive development for Irish beef markets.
For beef to be eligible for export to China there are a number of different criteria the cattle must meet. Because of this, China-eligible cattle are generally processed at factories on an allocated day.
Some processing outlets have already conducted beef kills of cattle that are eligible for export to China while others are set to carry out kills of China-eligible cattle this week.
Senior manager of the livestock and meat team at Bord Bia, Joe Burke, expects Irish beef product to be en-route to China “by February or maybe sooner”.
This will add further demand to forequarter beef cuts, which factory representative say have been driving the beef market for the past six months, as opposed to the higher-value steak cuts.
Cattle price
While some outlets have increased prices, others are starting the week at the same price levels as last week. The reality is that beef price has moved up a further 5c/kg this week and could potentially rise a further 5-10c/kg by the weekend at many of the lower-paying outlets.
Steer base price is ranging from €5.05-5.10/kg with at least one outlet offering a 10c/kg weight bonus for suitable cattle with a carcass weight of between 300-400kg, leaving €5.15/kg on the grid available here.
Factory quotes for heifers are ranging from €5.10-5.15/kg with €5.20/kg on offer for heifers with a carcass weight of between 300-400kg at the top-paying outlet.
Weekly heifer supplies peaked in the first week of February last year, however with the economics of winter-finishing cattle this season, the larger supplies of winter-finished cattle could be delayed this year.
Procurement officers are out on the road this week calling to suppliers in a bid to fill-out kill sheets for the second part of the week and will likely have scope to pay farmers extra to secure groups of well-finished cattle.
Generally, when procurement staff are tight for cattle, they will resort to flat-price deals on prime cattle (albeit reluctantly in many cases) and farmers should ensure they are coming out at the beneficial end of the deal if a flat price is agreed for prime cattle.
Cow price
Cow price has also moved on this week and procurement staff have told Agriland there are still large supplies of plain cows available. Farmers with good batches of finished cows should call their agent to view the cows and negotiate a price before agreeing on a date to send them to the factory.
€4.40/kg and €4.50/kg is being quoted at many outlets this week for fleshed P- and O-grade cows respectively with a carcass weight of over 270kg this week.
Factory quotes for U and R-grade cows are at €4.80/kg and €4.70/kg respectively at the stronger paying outlets this week.
R- and U-grade cows are in a lot shorter supply than P and O-grade cows presently.
Where well-finished heavy cows are on offer, procurement staff will likely be willing to negotiate on price as it continues to rise.
Bull price
For under-24 month bulls, a flat price of €5.20/kg and €5.10/kg is being quoted for U- and R-grade bulls respectively, with €4.90/kg and €4.80/kg being quoted for O- and P-grade bulls. Some outlets are paying more than this for bulls while other outlets are paying less.
Finally, under-16 month bulls are being quoted at €5.00 -€5.05/kg on the grid.