‘Significant’ increase in cattle numbers moving north for slaughter

Update on July 2022 beef prices this week

Beef farmers across Northern Ireland are in line for a further 5-8p/kg price pull next week.

That is according to the Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC), which reported that base quotes for in-spec U-3 grade steers and heifers ended at 420-424p/kg.

It expects plants to place between 412-424p/kg on the table for this category next week.

Furthermore, the cow trade also reported a “similar downward movement” with quotes for “good” quality O+3 cows from 335-374p/kg.

July 2022 beef prices this week

The prime cattle deadweight trade continued to report “downward” movement across most grades last week, as was the case the previous week.

• The average steer price stood at 427.8p/kg, back 3.1p/kg from the previous week, while the R3 steer price dropped by 3.8p/kg to 438.4p/kg;
• The average young bull price in NI last week fell by 2.6p/kg to 421.8p/kg, while the R3 young bull price was “back slightly” from the previous week to 432.9p/kg;
• The average heifer price in NI last week witnessed a 2.5p/kg fall to 432p/kg, while the R3 heifer price fell by 1.4p/kg to 440.4p/kg;
• The cow trade struggled in NI last week, with the average cow price recording a decrease of 10p/kg to 351.7p/kg, while O3 cow price was back by a penny from the previous week to 378p/kg.

Beef throughput

Prime cattle slaughterings in local plants last week amounted to 6,048 head, bringing the prime cattle throughput for the last six weeks to 38,174 head.

According to the LMC, this is a 3.7% (1,345 head) from the corresponding period in 2021, when prime cattle throughput stood at 36,829 head.

Cow slaughterings in plants in Northern Ireland last week amounted to 2,275 head.

This brings cow throughput for the last six-week period to 12,199 head, equating to 14.2% more than the 10,680 cows killed in the corresponding period last year.

Exports and imports

The LMC reports that cattle imports from ROI last week for direct slaughter recorded a “significant” increase from the week prior to this.

A consignment of 453 prime cattle and 146 cows ventured north, while no cattle were imported from GB.

Meanwhile, exports from NI for direct slaughter in ROI consisted of three prime cattle, 30 cows and one bull.

According to the commission, no cattle journeyed to GB for direct slaughter.