The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) has said that Irish beef prices are still lagging over 80c/kg behind UK prices.
The association’s beef chair, Edmund Graham is urging beef farmers to push hard on prices in the lead up to Christmas.
He said that there is currently strong demand for cattle from meat factories, as supplies are tight.
“Factories are anxious to maintain their supplies to see them through Christmas and into January.
“While they might have been trying to condition farmers into accepting lower prices in recent months, the reality is that supplies are tight, and factories are actively seeking cattle” he said.
Prices
Graham said that as demand is strong farmers should not accept the first offer they are given, “but rather to fight for every additional five or ten cent possible”.
“Irish prices are still over 80c/kg behind UK prices and also remain below Bord Bia’s Export benchmark price; there is scope for greater parity, and we need to push for it.
“There is also no better time to shop around than when the factories are anxious for cattle as we continue to see some price variation from factory to factory,” the ICSA chair said.
Graham said that farmers should always be mindful of the opportunities to sell cattle elsewhere.
“The mart trade remains strong and should be considered as an option where possible.
“Likewise, there are options too to export cattle live at the minute, particularly for beef type bulls,” he added.
Beef
As reported by Agriland, this week’s factory quotes have seen further increases in the price offerings for all types of cattle, with €5.00/kg ‘all in’ back on the table for in-spec R- and R= grade steers, at some sites.
Cows, bulls, heifers and steers (bullocks) are all in high demand as procurement staff are keen for cattle and appear to be under pressure to fill out kill sheets in the final three weeks ahead of Christmas.
Supplies of finished cattle have been in decline for the past three weeks but weekly kills have been trending ahead of last year for the past five consecutive weeks (up to the week ending November 26).
The overall beef kill (excluding veal) is over 51,500 head below last year to date.