Quotes remain on a knife edge this week as factories try to balance demand with tight supplies.

Quotes remain on €7.10/kg to €7.20/kg for bullocks, with heifers generally selling for €7.20/kg to €7.30/kg.

There are a few agents trying to talk down the trade with lower quotes, but are finding themselves with very few cattle this week.

Some of the smaller factories have had to increase breed bonuses and throw in sweeteners such as haulage to get sufficient supplies for this week.

Farmers with numbers to sell have been able to squeeze 10c/kg more out of agents this week. Flat prices for in-spec Aberdeen Angus bullocks and heifers remain around €7.50/kg all in.

Two-hundred-and-forty-three cattle travelled north last week for direct slaughter. That’s up from 192 head the previous week.

The gap between ROI prices and NI prices has narrowed in recent weeks, but numbers travelling north continue at a steady pace. The cow kill dropped back by 600 head to 6,577, one of the lowest weekly kills in the last six weeks.

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 €6.90/kg to €7.00/kg, while O grading cows are coming in around €6.60/kg to €6.70/kg.

Up to €7.10/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 €6.30/kg to €6.60/kg being paid where cows are well finished.

Bulls

Bulls have also steadied, with €7.50/kg still available at the top end for U grading bulls, working back to €7.30/kg to €7.35/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 €7.10/kg to €7.20/kg base, with a little more going where there are numbers involved.

Last week’s kill remained at a similar level to the previous week, with just under 29,000 killed in the week. The bull kill remains stable at 2,900 head, with the increased number of under-16-month bulls available now dropping back.

The bullock kill rose to the tune of 600 head with 10,409 bullocks killed last week.

The 2025 kill is still running almost 13,000 head above the 2024 kill for the same period, with a drastic reduction in numbers expected over the next few months. Last week’s kill was almost 3,000 head behind the same week in 2024 when almost 32,000 cattle were processed.

Numbers of finished cattle available for slaughter in the UK are also under pressure, with the kill for the week ending 21 June down 1,865 head on the previous week.

IFA livestock chair Declan Hanrahan said “Factories here have had to increase their offerings for cattle to get supplies as farmers pushed back strongly against the lower quotes of recent weeks.

“Farmers should sell hard, supplies are tight and will tighten further, cattle numbers in our key export markets are low and prices have turned a corner in these markets providing the opportunity for factories to increase beef prices.”

UK processors continue to lament weak sales in supermarkets and increasing price pressure on the shelves from South American and Australian offerings. The average R3 bullock came in at 634p/kg (€7.84/kg incl VAT) last week.

NI trade

The NI beef trade is holding steady with quotes unchanged at 640p (€7.91/kg).