A big drop in kill numbers is causing huge headaches for processors.

The drop in numbers was forewarned by Bord Bia earlier this year, but it seems to have caught factories by surprise and has left their agents scrambling for finished cattle.

Text messages, friendly WhatsApps to old clients, cold calls to yards and back-bidding both ringside and online in marts have all been rolled out this week in a bid to get their share of a decreasing pot of finished cattle supplies.

There are even reports of some southern factories sourcing cattle in Northern Ireland in the last week to meet contract requirements.

The larger processors have the firepower to hoover up anything coming to marts, and this is leaving the smaller factories no choice but to increase quotes to get their smaller customers to choose the factory lairage over the mart. The mart ring is the new competition for a lot of these smaller operators, with smaller finishers faring out better in marts over the last few weeks.

Base quotes range from €7.40-€7.60/kg for bullocks, with heifers moving at €€7.50-€7.70/kg.

Flat prices of €8/kg and over it are back on the table for in-spec Aberdeen Angus cattle. Cows have moved up to as high as €7.60/kg for top-quality U-grading heavy cows.

Last week’s kill was back almost 9,000 head on the same week in 2024, with just 23,745 cattle killed. The 2025 cattle kill is currently running 10,000 head behind the same period in 2024.