Brendan Golden said beef prices are steady at €3.80 to €3.85kg for bullocks, and €3.85 to €3.90kg for heifers, with higher deals for larger and specialist lots.
He said cow prices are starting at €3/kg for P grades and moving up to €3.50/kg for good quality R/U grading cows, O grades are making €3.10 to €3.30/kg. R/U grading young bulls are making €3.75 to €3.95/kg.
The IFA Livestock Chairman said market conditions are strong, underpinned by high volume and value of sales of beef in supermarkets, and tight supplies of finished cattle.
“Projections are for 80,000 fewer cattle to be available for slaughter this year compared to 2020. When the strong performance of beef in supermarkets is factored in, where both volume and price have shown huge growth, this creates a positive market environment that must be reflected in beef prices to farmers,” he said.
Brendan Golden said Irish prices are just about keeping pace with the Prime Export composite price, which reflects the market conditions in our main markets.
“The Prime Irish Composite price is currently reported at €3.73/kg (excl. Vat) which is 3c above the Prime Export Benchmark price of €3.70/kg and must continue to push on,” he said.
The breakeven price is €4.50/kg, according to Teagasc, and Brendan Golden said we are still a long way from that.
