Over 1 in 5 or 20% of the steers slaughtered in Ireland in the first half of 2026 graded an 'O-' or below, according to figures from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).

Animals grading an 'O-' or below generally do not qualify for Quality Assurance, breed, or sustainability bonuses.

The percentage of these 'O-' or below steers slaughtered in the first half of this year is down from 24.4% or almost 1 in 4 in the same time period of last year (2025).

Generally, most processors deem a beef animal with a carcass grade above an 'O-' and a fat score of '2+' or above and below a 4+ as 'in-spec'.

As an approximate guide, carcass weights of above 270kg and below 400kg are generally preferred but some outlets do have markets for carcasses outside of these specifications.

Interestingly, a lower percentage of heifers are falling into this out-of-spec grade category.

In the first half of 2026, only 11% of heifers slaughtered fell into a grade of 'O-' or below.

In the first half of 2025, 14.8% of the heifers slaughtered graded an 'O-' or below.

In the first half of this year, the most common grade for both steers and heifers is 'O=', with 20.8% of both steers and heifers falling into this grade.

Looking at the cull cow kill in the first half of this year, the vast majority of cows slaughtered graded a 'P'.

62.1% of cows graded a 'P' in the first half of this year, down from 63.7% in the same time last year.

Interestingly, in the first half of this year, 17.1% of cows slaughtered scored a '2=' or below in fat score, with these deemed "short of flesh".

This percentage is down from the 22.6% of cows slaughtered in the first half of last year that were short of flesh.