The beef trade has steadied a little after a number of weeks of cuts being applied by factories.

Most processors have held on to last week’s quotes of €7.20/kg for bullocks and €7.30/kg for heifers for cattle purchased early this week and are holding off issuing quotes until the end of the week for next week’s cattle.

A few are targeting weaker sellers with quotes of €7.10/kg for bullocks and €7.20/kg for heifers, but getting little cattle bought at the lower quotes.

Tighter numbers on the ground and very small numbers of finished cattle appearing in marts have sharpened some agents’ pencils, with some having to pay more for heavy cattle in marts this week.

Tighter numbers in marts and farms in Northern Ireland are also expected to steady the trade north of the border.

The Irish beef price the week ending 15 June was running 49c/kg ahead of the Bord Bia export benchmark price.

Aberdeen Angus cattle are still in demand, with a number of processors offering €7.50/kg to €7.55/kg flat price for in-spec Aberdeen Angus bullocks and heifers. Hereford cattle are working off a 15c/kg bonus.

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. Cull stock bulls are trading from €6/kg to €6.20/kg.

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 Os, Rs 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 came in at under 29,000 head for just the fourth week in the last seven weeks.

There were 28,819 cattle killed last week, with all categories of stock seeing reductions, with the exception of cows, which saw a 100 head increase in the past week.

Last week’s kill was just over 2,000 head back on the same week in 2024.

Moving further afield to the USA, a record-low cattle inventory as a result of drought conditions and lower numbers of cows being put in-calf has meant beef prices continue to rise in the American market.

The top end of their market is now heading for €8/kg, with some industry commentators predicting that €10/kg could be hit before the end of 2025.

Store cattle around 400kg are currently trading at €6/kg and over it, which means that, like Ireland, the level of risk has substantially increased when funding a finishing business.

Reduced numbers have also steadied the trade across the water, with the AHDB reporting R4L bullocks coming in at 645p/kg (€7.97 incl VAT).

The British bullock kill was back 8% on the previous week, with the heifer kill back 5.5% on the previous week.

UK beef production has fallen by 3% from January to May 2025 when compared with the same period in 2024, with the May figure alone standing at 4% lower.

NI comment (35 words)

The beef trade appears to have hit bottom in Northern Ireland with one processor increasing quotes this week.

Quotes range from 636p-640p (€7.86-€7.91/kg incl VAT). Numbers of finished cattle remain tight with NI marts also seeing reduced numbers.