The beef trade is back in business this week, with some big lifts in quotes in the last seven days.

Some factories have had to lift quotes by 20c/kg in order to get cattle.

Many of the smaller independent factories are really struggling to get cattle in the last two weeks.

A lot of these factories were dealing with smaller finishers who have now moved to the mart to sell their cattle in marts.

There has been huge competition for cattle in marts over the last two weeks, with heavy cattle rising by over €200/head in some marts this week.

Ironically, some of the smaller factories are actually contract killing a lot of cattle for the larger processors, so it’s hard to work out how they can be paying more.

The general run of quotes this week ranges from €7.40/kg to €7.50/kg for bullocks, with heifers moving at €7.50/kg to €7.70/kg.

As always, more money is being offered to regular sellers and those with numbers, with a lot of these larger regular suppliers on 20c to 25c/kg more than the man or woman with five or six cattle to kill.

Factories are now in big competition with marts to get stock. One factory agent I spoke to this week said: “It doesn’t matter if we lifted quotes by 40c/kg this week, the cattle just aren’t there.”

Flat prices of €8/kg and over it is also back on the table for in-spec Aberdeen Angus bullocks and heifers. Breed bonuses range from 20c to 30c/kg if killing on the grid.

Cows

The cow trade remains very steady, with factory agents active for heavy, well-covered cows.

R grading cows are generally trading at €7.20/kg to €7.30/kg, while O grading cows are coming in around €7.00/kg to €7.10/kg. Up to €7.50/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. Up to €6.90/kg is being paid for well finished cows.

Bulls

Bulls are in demand, with up to €7.70/kg now available at the top end for U grading bulls, working back to €7.40/kg to €7.50/kg for O grading bulls.

Higher quotes of €7.80/kg have been paid to feeders dealing with bigger numbers.

Last week’s kill came in at just under 24,000 for the second week in a row.

Bulls saw a huge drop, with just 1,559 bulls killed, back over 700 head on the week before.

The majority of under-16-month bulls have been flushed out of the system at this stage, with reports of record low levels of bulls being on feed at the moment.

The bullock and cow kill remained steady, while the heifer kill dropped by just over 200 head on the previous week. Last week’s kill was back a massive 8,500 head on the previous week, with this year’s kill now running almost 10,000 ahead of the same period in 2024. Numbers are set to remain very tight for the remainder of the year.

World beef markets are still holding their breath on what might happen if President Trump’s tariff plan is enacted.

His tariff plan would see a 50% tariff on Brazilian imports. This would essentially keep Brazilian beef out of the USA market, but you have to wonder where will it go then.

The new tariffs would likely strengthen Australia’s position in the USA market, as, at the moment, they will have a 10% tariff to deal with.

Closer to home, the British beef trade has continued to steady on the back of tighter supplies. The kill remains just north of 30,000 head a week, back over 2,000 on the same week in 2024. Quotes are ranging from 650p to 655p (€8.03 to €8.10/kg incl VAT) for in-spec cattle.

NI comment

Quotes in Northern Ireland remain steady, with 650p (€8.04/kg incl VAT) being paid for in-spec cattle.