The beef trade has kept moving up this week on the back of continued tight supply and, more importantly, high demand for the time of year.

Bullocks are up 5c to 10c/kg to €6.60/kg to €6.70/kg base price this week, with heifers trading for as high as €6.80/kg base price in some locations. That’s up 10c/kg since Monday morning in some factories.

Higher quotes are available to those with numbers and finishers who are killing cattle every week.

Aberdeen Angus cattle are trading for as high as €7.40/kg flat price this week, with huge demand for in-spec cattle that would be destined for the retail market.

Finishers selling through factory groups are getting as high as 80c/kg bonuses when all bonuses are factored into in-spec cattle.

Despite the good trade, farmers are still advised to price around for any cattle that they may have to sell.

Smaller independent factories appear to have more leeway this week in upping quotes, with some of larger factories more restricted in raising prices above levels.

Cows

Cows continue to move in a positive direction, with €6.40/kg now on the table for well-fleshed R grading cows in the south of the country and €6.50/kg where bigger numbers are involved.

U grading cows are up to €6.60/kg, with O grading suckler cows making their way up to €6.20/kg to €6.30/kg in some factories.

O grading dairy cows are being quoted at €6.10/kg to €6.15/kg.

P+3 cows are working off €5.90/kg to €6.00/kg, depending on weight, age, flesh and numbers, with €6.10/kg paid to a few large feeders for P grading cows.

Heavy cull cows are regularly hitting €3,000 and over it at the moment in marts and for anybody with a small number of cows, the mart is still the best place to go.

Bulls

Under-24-month bulls are still working off €6.80/kg to €6.90/kg for U grading bulls and higher where larger numbers are involved.

Flat prices of as high as €7.10/kg have been paid to some larger suppliers this week for mixes of U and R grading bulls.

R grading bulls are at €6.60/kg to €6.70/kg, while O grading bulls are being bought at €6.50/kg to €6.60/kg.

Under-16-month bulls are working off a base price of €6.30/kg to €6.50/kg before any QA bonus or grid payments are added.

Last week’s kill came in at 38,727 head, an increase of 200 head on the previous week.

Comparing last week’s kill with the same week in 2024, it was actually almost 2,000 head up on the same week.

Last week’s bullock kill went up by 1,000 head, while the heifer kill came back by over 300 head.

The number of calves being slaughtered has greatly reduced, with 893 calves slaughtered so far in 2025, down from 5,155 during the same period in 2024.

Prices across the water continue to improve, with as high as £6.65/kg (€8.42/kg) paid for in-spec stock this week.

Irish processors are capitalising on increased demand for Irish beef from the UK.

There is some concern across the water that the high price of stores is forcing smaller farmers out of the finishing game, with larger feedlots having better financial firepower to fund what is now a high-stakes business with millions of pounds involved on large units.

High prices across Europe have also added more confidence to the beef trade, with Italian R3 heifers coming in at €7.30/kg this week.

NI trade

Tight supplies north of the border have resulted in base quotes rising 10p/kg on last week to 620p to 625p/kg (€7.85/kg to €7.91/kg) for U3 animals.

Deals have also been done for larger finishers at 630p/kg (€7.98/kg) for full loads of bullocks and heifers.