Factories are playing a little bit of cat and mouse games at the moment with some processors sticking to last week’s quotes while more are having to improve a little to get cattle for this week’s kill. Numbers remain tight despite some factories sticking to the story that they have lots of cattle. A number of large finishers have actually stopped killing cattle this week on the back of factories messing them about with quotes and only taking some cattle this week and more next week. They are arguing that they just cant afford to kill cattle at the lower quotes and need beef quotes to be back up at €8/kg and over it to cover the cost of production with high store prices factored in along with the replacement costs for replacing cattle being slaughtered at the moment.

Bullocks are generally working off a quote of €7.50/kg while heifers are generally working off a €7.60/kg base quote. There are prices being paid above the quotes and deals are being done €7.60/kg base price and above it for mixes of bullocks and heifers. Farmers are advised to dig in hard and not panic in the next few weeks with cattle numbers expected to tighten even more by the end of May.

Flat prices for in spec Aberdeen Angus cattle are hovering around €8-€8.10/kg with good demand for supermarket spec cattle.

Factory agents remain very active in marts paying in excess of €8/kg deadweight for cattle for next day kill and yet are trying to talk down the trade at the same time.

Cows

U grading cows continue to work off a quote of €7.50/kg, with more going to those with numbers.

R grading cows are generally trading at €7.30/kg to €7.40/kg, while O grading cows are coming in around €7.00-€7.20/kg. There is a big range in quotes for P grading cows with those with numbers able to bargain more and up to €6.90/kg being paid where numbers are involved.

Bulls

Bulls are also in demand, with up to €7.80/kg still available at the top end for U grading bulls, working back to €7.30/kg to €7.40/kg for O grading bulls.

Again, larger feeders have been able to hammer out better deals, with €8/kg being paid to one large bull finisher this week for a mix of under-24-month R and U grading heavy bulls.

USA/UK trade deal

While there was some concern last week around the announcement of the UK/USA free trade deal and its implications for the UK beef trade. While any free trade deal that the UK will always be concerning for Irish farmers, this one is not thought to cause any issues for the Irish beef trade with the UK. The deal is in relation to hormone free beef only which the USA beef industry have little interest in exporting at the moment. Cattle numbers are also at a 70 year low in the USA at the moment and with prices high there isn’t expected to be any rush to send beef to the UK.