Factory quotes: Bullock price edging back to €5.00/kg base – Agriland.ie

This week’s factory quotes have seen declines in beef cattle price offerings continue for the third consecutive week.

Weekly beef kills have been increasing in volume for the past four consecutive weeks, with growth in cow kill numbers adding largely to this.

Price quotes for all types of cattle have fallen this week, with some procurement staff saying that further cuts to price are possible as the week progresses.

Factory quotes: Steers and heifers

Bullocks (steers) are being quoted at €5.00/kg on the grid at most outlets this week. Some finishers are managing to secure a base price above this, but base prices over €5.00/kg are less available this week than they were last week.

At the top-end of the price offerings, €5.10/kg on the grid is being quoted for steers with carcass weights from 300-400kg at an outlet based in Co. Donegal.

Farmers can click here to view the prices paid for steers by grade and factory in the week ending Sunday, July 7.

Heifers are generally being quoted at €5.05/kg on the grid this week. Again, while higher base prices are being secured in some cases, they are also becoming much less widely available.

At the top-end of heifer price quotes,€5.15/kg on the grid is available from at least one Donegal-based outlet for heifers, with carcass weights ranging from 300-400kg.

Cow price

Weekly cow kills are remaining large in volume and over half of all cows slaughtered on a weekly basis are grading a P.

Interestingly, while the average price paid for all types of cattle declined in the first week of July, the average cow price increased marginally.

The graph below shows the average price paid for P=3= cows by factory in the week ending Sunday, July 7:

Up to €4.80/kg is still being quoted for U grade cows, but more money than this is available in cases.

R grade cows are being quoted at €4.50/kg. P and O grade cows are being quoted at €4.10 and €4.20/kg respectively.

There remains significant variation between the prices quoted and the prices actually paid for P grade cows.

Cows with fat covers of 2+ or above and a carcass weight of 270kg or above will be priced differently than cows below these specs.

The average price paid for P=1= grade cows in the week ending Sunday, July 7, was €3.18/kg.

Bulls

Under-24-month bulls are being quoted at €5.20-5.30/kg for U grades with €5.10-5.30/kg being quoted for R grades, generally speaking.

O and P grade bulls are being quoted at €4.90-5.00/kg and €4.80-4.90/kg respectively.

Under-16-month bulls are being quoted at €5.00/kg on the grid this week.

Again, there is plenty of variation in prices actually being paid for bulls on a factory-by-factory basis, with some outlets more keen for bulls than others.