Last Tuesday’s weanling and suckler sale got underway in Carnaross Mart at 5:00pm and saw a total of 290 bulls and young steers on offer.
Speaking to Agriland after the sale, Carnaross Mart manager Padraig McElroy noted the top price for a weanling bull at last Tuesday’s sale was €3.30/kg.
He explained that numbers of weanling bulls on offer are starting to increase now and noted “there is keen activity” from farmers who are selling store cattle and are now replacing these with weanling bulls.
There was also a number of older bulls on offer with some of last spring’s late born bulls and steers only being sold now.
The video below gives a sample of the type of bulls and steers on offer in the bull ring at Carnaross last Tuesday and the prices they made.
Commenting on trade for other types of cattle at the mart, McElroy noted trade was very active on Thursday across all types of heifers with over 300 cattle on offer.
He added that there was over 140 dry cows at the sale too and said the trade “was holding very well for dry cows”.
Concluding, McElroy noted calf numbers have begun to reduce in recent weeks as the majority of calves have now been cleared through the system.
Rising price trend now flattening
After a few glorious weeks of high temperatures, sun shining and beef rising in price, last week’s factory quotes would indicate the rising price trend is beginning to flatten.
While demand remains strong for Irish beef, factories, for the second week running, have held quotes for beef at the same level as the previous week.
Here’s how quotes are looking:
Heifers and steers
To begin with, looking at heifers, the general run of quotes across the board seems to be a base price of €4.30/kg.
Some factories are putting forward quotes of €4.25/kg base but make up for the difference with a further in-spec carcass bonus of up to 10c/kg.
Meanwhile, steers appear to be coming in at €4.25/kg on the grid. Again, some factories are putting forward base quotes that are 5c/kg shy of this (€4.20/kg) but have additional bonus systems bringing price up to matching and surpassing the €4.25/kg mark – for in-spec beef cattle.
Quality Assured (QA) cattle receive an additional 20c/kg bonus if they grade above an ‘O-‘ and are a ‘2+’ or above in flesh, but not over a 4= in flesh.
Many farmers have pulled well-fleshed heifers from groups of cattle on grass for the factory and farmers have told Agriland, cattle are grading surprisingly well.
Bullocks, especially continentals, tend to stay lean for a while longer and farmers who are feeding bullocks meal out on grass are currently getting away well when presenting well-fleshed bullocks for slaughter, as factory quotes remain strong.
Cows
On the cow price-front, there appears to be more evidence of mixed messaging.
Most factories have held cow quotes for the week ahead, however, some factories – that are less keen on securing cows – have cited quotes 5c/kg short of last week’s prices.
Generally speaking, cow quotes to farmers are coming in at flat prices of €3.50 for P-grade cows, €3.60 for O-grades, €3.80 for R-grade cows and €3.90/€4.00 for good U-grading cows – with some factories beginning negotiations with farmers at 5c/kg below these quotes.
Again, there is still scope for negotiation on cow price – especially where a number of well-fleshed beef cows are available for slaughter.
Bulls
Finally, under-16 month bulls are being quoted at approximately €4.20/kg on the grid, with under-24 month bulls coming in at flat prices of €4/kg for P-grade bulls, €4.10 for O-grades, €4.20 for R-grades and €4.30 for U-grade bulls.
While factory quotes may have stopped increasing for now, generally speaking, most farmers will be pleasantly surprised with the cheque for their beef cattle this year.
A steady base price for a prolonged period is preferable to most farmers than a further rise and then a sharp drop later on in the year.
Also Read: Beef Focus: Cavan calf-to-beef farm gaining momentum