This week’s factory quotes have strengthened a notch at some sites and held at others, as price quotes are now up by 60c/kg (generally speaking) since early November.
In early November, steer (bullock) price quotes were generally at around €4.60/kg on the grid.
This week sees processors quoting €5.15-€5.20/kg on the grid for steers, with a few cents more available in some cases.
Last September, Teagasc published guideline costings for winter finishing steers and based on the calculations, €4.98,€5.39 and €5.47/kg would be needed to break even on winter finishing Friesian, Hereford and continental steers respectively.
Factory quotes: Heifers and steers
Steers are generally being quoted at €5.15-€5.20/kg on the grid this week, with €5.25/kg being quoted on the higher-end of the price scale.
An overview of the prices paid (inclusive of QPS and breed bonuses) for R=3= grade steers by factory up to the week ending Sunday, January 21 is available here.
Heifers are generally being quoted at €5.20-€5.25/kg on the grid with top quotes of €5.30/kg available for suitable heifers this week.
Cow price
Processors appear to be putting forward more conservative price quotes for cows this week, which is not unusual.
Where farmers are are supplying larger numbers of cows or where farmers have choice lots of cows that suit an individual processors’ specific requirements, much higher prices can be secured for cows.
It is also important to note that the price paid for cows, within each grade, can vary depending on the age of the cow, the carcass weight and the fat score.
U grade cows are being quoted at €4.70-€4.80/kg this week. R grade cows are being quoted at €4.50-€4.60/kg.
O-grade cows are being quoted at €4.20-€4.40/kg and P-grade cows are being quoted at €4.10-€4.30/kg.
An overview of the prices paid by factory for cows by grade and fat score in the week ending Sunday, January 21, is available here.
Bull price quotes
Under-24-month bulls are being quoted at €5.30-€5.40/kg for U grades with €5.20-€5.30/kg being quoted for R grades.
O grade bulls are being quoted at €5.00-€5.10/kg and P grade bulls are being quoted at €4.90-€5.00/kg.
Under-16-month bulls are being quoted at €5.10-€5.20/kg on the grid this week.
An overview of the prices paid by factory for bulls by grade and fat score in the week ending Sunday, January 21, is available here.