Plain stock price eases by €20/hd
LAST week I questioned whether mart prices from two weeks ago had reached a tipping point.
Despite a factory squeeze that started mid June, shaving between 10-15c/kg off the base bullock price and similar off the heifer, things didn’t look too bad for 2017 so far.
However as we slip into August apprehension is starting to permeate as factory bosses continue to squeeze the price of beef. The unease started to affect the price of lesser quality stock late last month with George Chandler of Kilkenny noting that “plainer bullock was back by €10-30/hd”.
Last week, mart managers described trade as “steady” with “plainer stock easier”. In Carnew plainer animals were said to be “easier” by €20/hd.
Last week’s ringside figures support this analysis with all bullock categories up to 599kgs seeing average falls of 5-7c/kg while the 600kg+ bullock eased back just 2c/kg to €2.03/kg.
What is very interesting when you delve into the statistics is not so much which weight categories moved up or down, it’s how the figures for the various breeds within those weight categories moved over the last two weeks.
Looking specifically at the staple of the purely grass finisher, the Friesian bullock.
The Friesian over 600kgs appeared the most susceptible to factory price movements with overall average mart prices falling by 5c/kg or €30/hd last week, while the general average of all bullocks at this weight fell by just 2c/kg or €12/hd.
However once I started to go down into the more storish animal under 600kgs things changed noticeably.
The average fall from two weeks ago in the 500-599kg section was 7c/kg last week that’s €35-42/hd yet the Friesian bullock only fell by 3c/kg, €15-18/hd.
The 400-499kg weight category recorded an average price fall of 6c/kg or €24-30/hd, yet the Friesian bullock at this weight actually gained 3c/kg on average from the week before. In the 300-399kg section average overall prices fell by 5c/ kg last week but the Friesian bullock only averaged a 4c/kg reduction.
What’s going on? With factory prices going in reverse and mart price averages following suit why is the humble Friesian, that “plainer bullock,” appearing to hold his own and then some?
Is it because it is only early August and if you have grass to eat why buy anything fancy at bigger money that might also need the expense of extra feeding? Or do factory price reductions hit those more expensive fancy cattle harder than most would care to admit?