Bullock prices tighten but heifers steady
Steers Heifers Cull Cows Young Bulls THE tightening in factory prices for bullocks continued last week with the week ending on a base price that was closer to €3.75 than €3.80/kg as numbers continue strong.
Heifers, however, held steady at €3.90 to €3.95/kg, with that higher price more common in the west and midlands.
Up to the end of last week bulls under 16 months remained fixed on a base of €3.80/ kg, while those over 16 months also continue undisturbed at €3.90-3.70/kg for Us back to Os, with the Rs on €3.80/kg. Some Friesian bulls were being quoted 5c/kg less on occasion.
By yesterday morning, however, I had a solid report from the midlands of 5c/kg more being paid for bulls under 24 months, bringing their price to €3.95, €3.85 and €3.75/kg respectively for Us, Rs and Os.
Bord Bia figures for the first seven weeks of this year show bull numbers running at nearly 10pc higher than the early part of 2016. As we approach March 1 the number of under 24-month Friesian bulls coming on the market will decline in line with the dairy calving pattern.
The trade for cull cows continues strong. One agent I spoke to yesterday morning put it up to the opposition when I pointed out he was quoting 10-20c/ kg more for a range of P grades than elsewhere: “I want to buy cows,” he said.
That 10-20c/kg translates into P+3s at €3.15/kg and “other good Ps” at €3.10/kg, with the remaining grades largely unchanged ,with Os on €3.20-3.25 and Rs at €3.40-3.50/kg.
On the supposed 100,000 extra cattle for slaughter this year, one source I spoke to this week said: “If we’re supposed to have all these extra cattle wouldn’t we want to be killing about 2,000 more a week, every week?” Yes we would.
However, up to the February 18, the cumulative slaughtering figure for 2017 versus the same period last year show us behind the curve by 1,660 as opposed to 14,000 ahead of it.
Department of Agriculture figures for the first six weeks of 2017 on average farm gate prices across various EU beef markets make for depressing reading.
They show that when you strip out VAT, both the French and Irish price for R3 grade stock, be they steers or bulls, were below the EU 15 average.
The Irish price is bottom of the pile at €3.71.4/kg, with the French on €3.72 versus the EU 15 average of €3.80/kg. Germany stood on €3.87, with Northern Ireland on €4.07.4 and Britain top of the pile at €4.17.4/kg.
This means that your typical R3 grade bullock at 370kgs cold weight is worth €31.82/hd less than the EU 15 average and €170.20/hd less than his UK counterpart.