Farmers have been urged to “resist” any price cuts that have been imposed by beef processors this week.
The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association’s (ICSA’s) Beef Committee chairman, Edmund Graham has said: “Farmers need to toughen up when selling cattle”.
The comments come as factories have exerted downward pressure on heifer and steer prices for the past two consecutive weeks, at a time when global demand for beef is holding strong.
While heifer and steer prices have been taken back, cow prices continue to hold firm – a trend which many cattle-trade speculators would say indicates the demand is still strong for beef from the consumer’s end.
Farmers selling beef cattle
Continuing, Graham added: “Any farmer selling steer beef for less than €4.20/kg on the grid this week is a weak seller”.
The Co. Monaghan-based beef farmer has told farmers: “The signs were there that processors would pull beef price again this week because they have essentially gotten away with it last week.
“But it’s time for farmers to draw a line in the sand. No farmer should accept any less than €4.20/kg for steers and €4.25/kg for heifers.”
Continuing, Graham outlined: “There is no justification for driving beef price downwards; the UK market has been getting stronger as more food services are opening up and getting back on track.”
Commenting on costs, Graham said: “Factories must also be aware that the costs associated with producing beef have gone up.”
Concluding, the ICSA’s beef chairman said: “Feed and fuel prices are both rising so there is no room for us to take lower prices for our beef. It’s up to each and every farmer to resist these unwarranted price cuts.”
Beef price
The ICSA’s comments come following yesterday’s news that this week’s factory beef quotes have seen continued downward pressure come on heifer and steer prices.
It appears the beef price peak is now behind us as factory cite quotes 5c/kg short of last week’s quotes and 10c/kg short of quotes from the high two weeks ago.
While the pressure is easing on cattle supply and droves of grass cattle are appearing in factory lairages, most factories are well behind on their beef kill figures for this year when compared to last year.
Staffing issues are being cited as a reason for a reduced kill in some plants this week as some processing facilities have told Agriland they are short staffed as a result of Covid-19 outbreaks among boning hall general operatives, hence throughput will be reduced for the week ahead.
Starting with heifers, a €4.20/kg base price appears to be the general run this week with some processors quoting steer price for heifers also at €4.15/kg on the grid for Quality Assured (QA), in-spec heifers.
Next up is steers and a €4.15/kg base price for Quality Assured, in-spec bullocks would seem to be the general run of quotes here.
A breed bonus is available on in-spec Angus and Hereford heifers and steers and varies in amount depending on the factory and the weight of the carcass.
Some processors also offer an additional 10c/kg bonus for animals with carcass weights of between 300 and 400kgs, so farmers should call a few different processors in their region before selling factory-fit cattle.
Meanwhile, cow quotes have held surprisingly well despite heifers and steers dropping off.
The general run of cow quotes this week seems to be €3.50, €3.60 and €3.80/kg for P, O and R grading cows respectively that are well fleshed and have a carcass weight of above 270kgs.
Up to 10c/kg extra is available to larger suppliers of cows so there is still scope for bargaining on cow price on a case-by-case basis.
Finally, under-16 month bulls are being quoted at €4.10/kg on the grid and under-24 month bulls are being quoted at €4.00, €4.10 and €4.20/kg for O, R and U grading bulls respectively.