May Beef Prices
Beef prices – young bull, heifer, bullock, and cull cow – moved up a notch across factories in Northern Ireland this week (May 2022).
According to the Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC), base quotes for U-3 grade prime cattle ranged from 392-426p/kg across plants this week.
It reported that most plants quoted 420- 426p/kg for steers and heifers, while the cow trade “remained firm” with O+3 grading cows pocketing 280-356p/kg.
According to the LMC,
- The R3 steer price in NI last week rose by 2.5p/kg from the previous week to 433.7p/kg. The overall average steer price was up by 1.8p/kg to 424p/kg;
- The R3 heifer price in NI last week increased by 2.7p/kg to 435p/kg. The overall average heifer price was up by 2.1p/kg to 426.6p/kg;
- Thirdly, the young bull trade has also continued to improve overall in NI, with an average price of 409.4p/kg last week, up 3.3p/kg from the previous week. However, the LMC noted that the R3 young bull price recorded a “slight” decrease to 419.5p/kg;
- The NI O3 cow price increased last week by 2.1p/kg to 358.4p/kg. The overall average cow price was up by 1.5p/kg to 330.5p/kg compared to the previous week.
Cattle supplies
Reports, the LMC explained, have indicated “steady” supplies of both prime cattle and cows available for slaughter.
Prime cattle throughput in NI last week amounted to 7,029 head, which was back 1,023 head from the 8,052 prime cattle killed locally during the previous week.
Cow throughput in Northern Ireland last week totalled 1,993 head, which was back 403 head from 2,396 cows killed during the previous week.
On the other hand, imports of prime cattle from ROI for direct slaughter in NI last week totalled 244 head, with 114 cows also imported. Meanwhile, no cattle were imported from GB for direct slaughter in local plants last week.
Meanwhile, a total of 83 cattle were exported from NI for direct slaughter in ROI last week, comprising 20 prime cattle, 54 cows, and a further nine bulls.
Lastly, no cattle made the journey to Great Britain for direct slaughter.
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