The beef trade has a more positive feel to it this week. Quotes have moved up a gear with most bullocks now moving at €7.15-€7.20/kg.

There are some bullocks being sold at €7.10/kg base don deals that were completed last week but the majority o bullocks are moving at the higher money this week. Heifers are a similar story with quotes back up to €7.30/kg in some cases this week.

Again, there are heifers being bought at €7.20/kg base price but most farmers are holding out for an increase on last week’s quotes. Finished cattle are in short supply with very little shed cattle available for sale at the moment. While there are some grass cattle trickling out for sale from some of the southern counties, a dry week will likely mean farmers will be concentrating on field work and getting second cut in along with some hay before this week is out.

There are some positive signs from across the water as well with beef quotes stabilising after a number of weeks of reductions. A heat wave has seen a big demand on manufacturing beef with burger sales seeing a big lift over the past 7 days filtering through to increased factory demand for cows and heavy cattle.

There’s been a notable increase in agent activity around mart rings over the weekend with agents trying to pick up

Cows

The cow trade remains very steady, with factory agents still in the market for heavy well-covered cows.

R grading cows are generally trading at €7.00/kg to €7.10/kg, while O grading cows are coming in around €6.70/kg to €6.80/kg.

Up to €7.20/kg has been paid for U grading cows this week. There is a big range in quotes for P grading cows, with those with numbers able to bargain more and up to €6.40/kg to €6.50/kg being paid where cows are well finished.

Bulls

Bulls have also steadied, with €7.60/kg now available at the top end for U grading bulls, working back to €7.30/kg to €7.40/kg for O grading bulls.

A few farmers killing aged bulls have also managed to get €7.40/kg flat for mixes of O, R and P grading bulls.

Higher prices are also being paid to farmers who are contract feeding bigger numbers of bulls and larger feeders without a contract have also been able to hammer out better deals.

Under-16-month bulls are working off a €7.15/kg to €7.20/kg base, with a little more going where there are numbers involved.