Beef prices paid to farmers in the Republic of Ireland have remained well below the beef price paid to farmers in Northern Ireland last week.
According to the Livestock and Meat Commission’s (LMC’s) weekly bulletin, last week’s average price for an R3 steer in Ireland stood at €4.28/kg.
The price paid to farmers in Northern Ireland last week for the same specification of a steer was €4.69/kg.
41c/kg beef price difference
This price difference would indicate that Irish beef prices are currently running 41c/kg behind prices being paid in Northern Ireland – when current exchange rates are factored in.
On a 350kg R3-grading steer carcass, this equates to €145.01 of a price difference.
Meanwhile, in Britain, the average price for an R3-grade steer was up 2.6c/kg to €4.77/kg.
This puts the British R3-steer price at over 8c/kg above Northern Ireland and over 49c/kg ahead of Irish beef price.
However, it should be outlined that last week, cattle throughput in local processing plants in Northern Ireland totaled 5,220 head as opposed to the 33,601 head of cattle processed in factories approved by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) in the Republic of Ireland for the week ending July 18.
The beef trade in Britian has been ahead of Northern Ireland during the majority of 2021 to date, with the highest differential between these two regions this year reported in early May, according to the LMC.
Cattle going north
According to the LMC, Irish cattle exported to Northern Ireland for direct slaughter in local plants last week consisted of 263 prime cattle and 106 cows.
Meanwhile, cattle imports from Northern Ireland for direct slaughter continue – as expected – at very low levels with one heifer, 33 cows and one bull imported to plants in the Republic of Ireland from Northern Ireland for direct slaughter.
No cattle were exported to Britain for direct slaughter from Northern Ireland last week.