According to the Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC), the number of Aberdeen Angus cattle registered in Northern Ireland has notably increased in recent years.
During 2020, 358,334-beef sired calves were registered in Northern Ireland, and Aberdeen Angus-sired calves accounted for 91,081 of these registrations, which equates to 25.4%.
Furthermore, during 2019 there were 82,657 Aberdeen Angus-sired calves registered in Northern Ireland. This accounted for 23.7% of beef-sired calf registrations in the region.
The number of Aberdeen Angus-sired calves in 2020 has also increased from 2018 levels. In 2018, 76,606 of these calves registered in Northern Ireland, which accounted for 22.1% of the total beef-sired calves registered.
Angus cattle Northern Ireland
“Strong prices available for Aberdeen Angus prime cattle at point of slaughter in a number of the local processing plants have produced a strong demand for these types of cattle.”
“An analysis of deadweight cattle price reporting has indicated that the rise in Aberdeen Angus-sired calf registrations is being reflected in Northern Ireland’s prime cattle slaughter mix.”
During the first two months of 2021, Aberdeen Angus cattle accounted for 24.4% of price reported prime kill in Northern Ireland.
This proportion of Aberdeen Angus cattle in the prime slaughter mix during the first two months of 2021 has increased by 2.7% from 2020 and 4.9% from 2019 during the corresponding period.
Hereford cattle
The LMC noted that there has also been a slight increase in the proportion of Hereford prime cattle passing through local processing plants during the first two months of this year.
Hereford cattle have accounted for 7.6% of the prime cattle slaughter mix in Northern Ireland. To note, this is a marginal increase from 2020 and 2019.
According to the LMC, these cattle accounted for 7% of the price reported kill in both years.
Beef prices
In other beef-related news, factories quoted 364-374p/kg for U-3 grade prime cattle in Northern Ireland this week, according to the Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC).
The spokesperson noted that most plants quoted in the region of 370-374p/kg for steers and heifers. The trade for good quality O+3 grade cows “remained steady,. Most beef plants quoted in the region of 265-274p/kg.
Prime cattle throughput in NI last week totalled 6,661 head, an increase of 763 head from the previous week.
According to the commission, most grades increased in the region of 2-4p/kg from the previous week.
Summary – average prices:
- Steers – 372.9p/kg;
- Heifers – 375p/kg;
- Cows – 260.5p/kg.
