Beef prices are in a good place this week and any farmer with finished cattle to sell will have the upper hand when it comes to price negotiations at the factory.
With a strong demand for Irish beef in the home market, and further afield, procurement officers have taken to the roads, scouring the country to secure cattle to fill kill sheets.
However, a strong demand is only of benefit if the supply is there to fill it and when that supply tightens, processors are left with no choice but to compete for cattle, which is going to cause upward pressure on price.
Looking at factory quotes from this morning (Monday, November 15), procurement officers are keeping their cards close to their chests with some starting the week off at the same prices as last week – testing the waters with beef finishers.
These quotes seem to be gaining little traction in terms of securing cattle, so deals are being done at 5-10c/kg higher than last week’s prices.
Prime cattle prices have seen little to no movement over the past three months or so; however, it seems like this week will bring about a change.
Heifers
Starting with heifers, €4.20/kg seems to be cutting little to no ice this week so procurement officers are having to close deals at €4.25-€4.30/kg on the grid for suitable lots of heifers.
Steers
Next up, steers, and suitable types of beef bullocks are being bought at €4.20-€4.25/kg on the grid this week, with last week’s price of €4.15/kg not being as widely accepted.
Angus are top of the agenda this week and flexibility is being shown in the breed bonus box on the kill sheet this week with scope for 5c/kg extra to be secured here. In-spec Herefords will secure a bonus in most processing facilities also.
Some processors are offering an additional weight bonus of 10c/kg for heifers and steers that tick all the boxes and have a carcass weight of between 300-400kgs.
Cows
There seems to be more bite to the trade this week with some processors offering a small lift in quotes.
Starting with P-grade cows, quotes are varying from €3.45/kg–€3.65/kg, while O-grade cows are coming in at 3.55-€3.70/kg.
R-grade cows are varying from €3.75-€3.90/kg – depending on the processor – and U-grade cows are coming in at €3.85-€4.00/kg.
While cows are bought by factories on a flat-price-per-kilo basis, the price the farmer gets will depend on the level of condition on the cow and its weight when turned out to the factory.
Lighter, short-fleshed cows will be paid at a lower rate per kilo than a heavier, well fleshed cow.
Bulls
Quotes for bulls aged under 24 months are, generally, coming in at the following prices for this week:
- P-grading: €3.95-€4.00/kg;
- O-grading: €4.05-€4.10/kg;
- R-grading: €4.15-€4.20/kg;
- U-grading: €4.25-€4.30/kg.
Finally, under-16-month bulls are being quoted at €4.15- €4.20 on the grid.
Last week’s kill figures will be published by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine tomorrow (Tuesday, November 16).