The tide is slowly turning in the cattle trade again, with agents under big pressure to fill cattle lairages this week.

Agents have actually started to ring around looking for cattle, with some that were booked in for next week already slaughtered this week.

Numbers remain very tight, despite some factories sticking to the story that they have lots of cattle on hand.

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 can’t 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 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.

There are prices being paid above the quotes and deals are being done at €7.60/kg base price and above it for mixes of bullocks and heifers.

There are also reports of heifers moving to €7.70/kg for next week.

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/kg to €8.20/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.

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 being paid where numbers are involved.

Fleshed cows are still making some exceptional money in marts, with fleshed Friesian cows making as high as €3.50/kg this week being purchased by factory agents.

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 a few large bull finishers this week for a mix of under-24-month R and U grading heavy bulls.

Last week’s kill came in at 29,706, but included bank holiday Monday, with numbers expected to tighten more as we progress through May.

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, any free trade deal that the UK makes will always be concerning for Irish farmers.

This one is not thought to cause any issues for the Irish beef trade with the UK.

Cattle numbers are also at a 70-year low in the USA and with prices high, there isn’t expected to be any rush to send beef to the UK.

Prices across the water remain steady. However, there is some uncertainty around what impact increased beef prices may have on retail demand.

Up to now, there has been no impact and, if anything, the latest run of good weather has driven on mince and burger sales.

NI comment

Northern Ireland quotes remain steady, with good appetite for stock from factory agents. Quotes have remained at 686p (€8.48/kg incl VAT), with 690p/kg (€8.53/kg incl VAT) for larger suppliers.