Beef quotes have remained relatively stable this week, despite factories trying to pour cold water on the trade.

Bullocks continue to work off a €7.50/kg base price, with heifers coming in at €7.60/kg.

There is more going and looking at some of the prices agents are paying for factory-fit cattle, €8/kg and over it is obviously available or the mart trade wouldn’t be where it is.

Flat prices of €8/kg to €8.10/kg are still on the table for Aberdeen Angus cattle. For those going the grid route with dairy beef, Aberdeen Angus bonuses are up at 30c/kg, while Herefords range from 20c to 25c/kg.

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/kg to €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 €7.00/kg to €7.10/kg being paid where numbers are involved.

Fleshed cows are still making big money in marts, with a lot of farmers with small numbers of cows to sell now choosing the mart option.

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 €7.40/kg to €7.50/kg for O grading bulls.

Again, larger feeders have been able to hammer out better deals, with €7.90/kg being paid to a few large bull finishers this week for a mix of under-24-month R and U grading heavy bulls.

Under-16-month bulls are working off a €7.50/kg base, with a little more going where there are numbers involved.

This means U= grading bulls are hitting prices of €7.80/kg when grading and the 12c/kg in-spec bonus is added.

Last week’s kill came in under 29,000 for the second week in a row.

Finished cattle numbers are in short supply, with the usual spike in the bull kill getting lower and lower every year as factories continue to move away from bulls.

Last week’s bull kill crossed the 2,000 head figure for the first time since early March.

The bullock kill was up slightly, with the heifer kill also rising by 400 head last week. The cow kill dropped just over 200 head.

Any price pressure is coming from the demand side rather than the supply side, with supplies looking set to remain very tight.

Prices across the water were back again last week, with the average bullock price dropping to 678p/kg (€8.38/kg incl VAT). This was a drop of 10p, in spite of the kill dropping by 7% to 8% on the previous week, which had seen a spike in numbers being slaughtered.

Recent Kantar analysis of the UK market has shown that demand has slowed a little, with some pointing to increased meat prices in shops having an effect on purchasing decisions. Numbers of finished cattle remain tight across the water, with prime cattle slaughtering currently down 3%, with cows down 5%.

Supplies of cattle in the 18- to 24-month category are currently down 4.5% or just over 30,000 head, which should help underpin prices for the next few months.

Moving further afield, despite all the talk about US tariffs, its beef trade continues to improve, with the current R3 bullock price coming in at €7/kg.

Cattle on feed dropped 2% in May. USA cattle numbers are at a 75-year low and with demand at a 37-year high, there are expectations of further price increases in 2025.

NI comment

Quotes are now at 660p (€8.16/kg incl VAT), with 664p/kg (€8.21/kg incl VAT) for larger suppliers.

Numbers of ROI cattle travelling north for direct slaughter have reduced in recent weeks, with just 217 exported, back from almost 600 head/week in early April 2025.