Factory quotes: Beef price offers drop 10c/kg this week
Several factories had their kill sheets for this week filled out since last week, with many of the cattle booked in for this week are in at the higher prices from last week.
The move to reduce price offers has come as a surprise to most farmers as supplies of cattle are expected to be scarce for the coming few weeks.
Factory procurement staff are telling Agriland that beef price needs to reduce further but, with tight supplies expected, it remains to be seen if further price cuts will materialise.
Most factories had reduced their number of kill days to four due to the seasonal drop-off in cattle supplies in late May/and into June.
Factory quotes: Heifers and steers
This week, most outlets are quoting €7.40/kg on the grid for bullocks and €7.50/kg on the grid for heifers, but cattle booked in to many of the outlets since last week are in at rates 10c/kg higher than this.
The Certified Irish Angus 30c/kg off-season breed bonus ended last week, and many factories have moved back to a 20c/kg Angus breed bonus for this week with others continuing to offer the higher Angus breed bonus for eligible cattle.
The Irish Hereford Prime 25c/kg off-season breed bonus ended the previous week and most outlets are paying a 15-20c/kg Hereford Breed bonus for this week.
Cow price
This week continues with up to 20c/kg of a price difference between outlets for cows.
Worth noting is Ashbourne Meats is running a cow carcass competition from June 30 to July 4, to celebrate 40 years of business with prizes of up to €500 available to farmers.
Generally speaking, 'U' grade cows are being quoted at up to €7.40/kg this week with 'R' grade cows being quoted at approximately €7.10/kg.
Click here to see the latest official data on cow prices paid by grade and factory.
Better type, coloured 'O' grade cows are being quoted at up to €6.90/kg, while the plainer 'O' grade cows are being quoted at €6.70-6.80/kg. Fleshed 'P' grade cows are being quoted at€6.60-6.70/kg.
Bulls
Under-24-month bulls are being quoted at €7.60 and €7.50/kg for 'U' and 'R' grade bulls respectively.
'O' grade bulls are being quoted at €7.40/kg and 'P' grade bulls are being quoted at €7.30/kg.
Under-16-month bulls are being quoted at €7.40/kg on the grid this week.
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