Cull cow quotes have fallen, with beef plants wiping off as much as 20c/kg from last week’s prices.
Plants are quoting €3.00/kg Rs, €2.80/kg for O grades and in the region of €2.70/kg or Ps, less, in some cases.
Meanwhile, quotes for steers and heifers have remained stable, hovering around €3.60-€3.65/kg. Up to €3.70/kg has been reported for heifers.
Prices for young R/U grade bulls have remained unchanged, ranging from €3.50-€3.80/kg.
Unjustified move
The move to slash cull cow quotes has been slammed by Brendan Golden of the Irish Farmers’ Association. The IFA livestock chairman has said the cuts are not justified in the marketplace.
“While cow prices have come under pressure in some markets, it is not of the level put forward by meat factories rowed back.”
Golden outlined that market conditions are strong for in-spec cattle as the supermarket trade builds stocks for the lucrative Christmas trade.
Numbers of in-spec cattle are expected to tighten considerably over the coming weeks. “The anticipated tighter supplies of cattle in the UK should drive positive market conditions for Irish beef in our main export market.”
Throughput
The national beef kill for the week commencing October 26th stood at 33,178 head. That is according to the Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine’s database.
Summary:
- Young bulls: 1,637;
- Bulls: 485;
- Steers: 13,982;
- Cows: 7,670;
- Heifers: 9,355;
- Veal: 49.
Over 45,000 head higher
The inclusion of last week’s throughput brings the kill for the year-to-date to 1,502,267 head, according to its database.
The kill, so far this year, is running 45,350 head above 2019 levels, when 1,456,917 cattle were slaughtered during this week.
Compared to the same period last year, the young bull kill has fallen by 60,996 head, while 1,956 fewer bulls have been processed.
The steer kill has jumped by 71,528 head, while 12,213 more cull cows have been slaughtered; the heifer kill is up by 9,969 head.
