Bullock prices ease as buyers keep powder dry

Whether it was the immediacy of Brexit or concerns over how the Corona virus may impact our trade with China, there was a downward adjustment among mart prices for bullocks last week.

Prices for everything from 400kg up slipped back by 3-8c/kg, equating to a €24-30/ hd fall among the 400-500kg store, and €48+ once you went over 600kg.

Sandwiched in between, the 500-599kg fared a bit better, slipping only 3c/kg on average or €15-18/hd.

The 300-399kg bullock by contrast gained 4c/kg, a rise that while surprising in a week when everything else on the bullock table declined was possibly not totally unexpected as those lighter stores have not seen anything like the bounce of other weight divisions since the start of the year.

Also moving up last week were heifer prices, with average gains of 2c/kg in the 500-599kg section to 9c/kg in the 350-399kg division.

With the bullocks down and the heifers up you’d be forgiven for thinking it was a sort of strange market symmetry, and maybe it is, but would you put money on it?

The reality is figures among the lighter weights on the heifer side are sometimes influenced by those buying for breeding as well as those in the fattening game, while on the bullock side the market is beef-orientated only.

Hence with factory prices moving only very slowly, those buying bullocks last week eased off the juice a little as they waited to see exactly where the trade may be going.

That said, several marts reported that they were beginning to see summer grazers among their attendances. While a number became actively involved, a good number of others were there purely to observe, I’m told.

With fodder still relatively plentiful the temptation is always there to buy.

And if the worst comes to the worst, a round feeder in the corner of a dry field should solve most problems, short term.

One thing that I don’t see influencing the trade is the outcome of the general election.

I can’t recall a previous election where the farming community and rural Ireland appear to be little more than an afterthought among those seeking our vote.

I find this lack of interest among our main political parties amazing, given that we’ve just come out of a period of unrest that saw beef farmers effectively shut down production in a way never before seen.

With four days to go to polling, it’s like politicians on all sides are intent on creating the impression that the protests never happened through the simple ploy of ignoring rural communities.

It’s like politicians on all sides are intent on creating the impression that the protests never happened through the simple ploy of ignoring rural communities