Organic beef prices paid to farmers are set to reach €6.60/kg in the first quarter of 2025, according to the latest forward-price contract offered to organic beef farmers.
The organic beef processor ‘The Good Herdsmen’ has announced the rollout of a 20c/kg breed bonus as well as its’ pricing guide for the first quarter of 2024.
In an e-mail sent out to its organic beef farmer suppliers, the Good Herdsmen managing director John Purcell said that The Good Herdsmen has introduced a further 20c/kg bonus on top of the organic base price “to support suppliers of organic in-spec Angus cattle”.
The pricing template for the period January to March 2025 was enclosed and Purcell said: “We hope you find it encouraging, the prices represent an 8% increase versus same period in 2024”.
The table below details the organic beef prices on offer from The Good Herdsmen for the first 13 weeks of 2025:
Week number Base price (€/kg) Angus in-spec price 1 €6.20 €6.40 2 €6.20 €6.40 3 €6.20 €6.40 4 €6.20 €6.40 5 €6.30 €6.50 6 €6.30 €6.50 7 €6.30 €6.50 8 €6.30 €6.50 9 €6.40 €6.60 10 €6.40 €6.60 11 €6.40 €6.60 12 €6.40 €6.60 13 €6.40 €6.60
The base price is for R grade cattle above 250kg carcass weight and below 450kg carcass weight. The Bord Bia Quality Assurance premium is included within the price.
The Angus in-spec price is for eligible U, R and O grade cattle under 30 months of age with a fat score of 2, 3 or 4.
Eligible steers and heifers with a weight range between 260-380kg will qualify for the Angus Bonus.
Purcell said that organic beef pricing “is and will always be driven by international market trends, and the long-term trend looks positive for Irish organic beef farmers”
He said that the challenge will remain “to keep beef at a price that is both incentivising to the sector to invest, and not so high that base consumption is lost”.
He outlined to the organic beef suppliers that Good Herdsmen has placed organic beef “with top European retailers and manufactures and we’re commanding the ‘premium Space’ on their shelves”.
He highlighted that “increased competition from breed-specific beef” such as Aberdeen Angus, Hereford and Shorthorn “is also trying to claim this space” and reminded suppliers that “your partnership for continued supply is required while we will endeavour to keep a premium between the two sectors going forward”.
He highlighted that the Autumn [2024] period “has been the most unusual and unprecedented” saying: “Never have we witnessed beef prices in the factories going up in October and store prices scaling new heights during this period”.
“Good Herdsmen reacted to the high conventional prices by adding an additional 25c/kg to our templated prices since October, we believe this has helped to maintain confidence among organic beef finishers as store prices remain very high.”
Purcell said: “it’s not easy out there but due to the continued quality of the beef you are supplying and our European blue-chip customer base, we don’t see any reason why we can’t continue to grow.
The Good Herdsmen managing director asked all organic suppliers interesting in killing cattle with the entity over the coming year to get in contact and said “we predict higher volumes of cattle due to farmers coming into full [organic] status in January 2025”.