IFA - Irish Farmers Association

26/07/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 26/07/2024 18:50

Beef & Sheep Update 26th July

Beef Update

IFA livestock chair Declan Hanrahan said attempts by factories to lower quotes for beef cattle are at odds with market conditions. He said UK prices have increased again in the past week on the back of tight supplies and good demand for beef in our key market.Declan Hanrahan said imports of beef to the UK have increased by 11% this year, with Irish beef accounting for most of this increase. "As the UK market takes increasing volumes of our beef, there is no justification for the extent of the differential in price, which currently stands at almost 60c/kg." This divergence in prices cannot be justified, is unacceptable and must stop. Declan Hanrahan said. "Farmers should reject the negative and unfounded propaganda coming from factories and their agents. Supplies are tight, demand is strong, and factories are very anxious for cattle."

Beef Price Update 25/07/2024

Base Quotes Steer €4.95/5.10kg. Heifers €5.00/5.15kg. Higher deals and flat prices for larger and specialist lots. Y Bulls R/U €5.10/5.30Kg. Cows €4.30/5.00kg.

Supply Figures as Reported by DAFM - WK 29 (21.07.2024)

Animal Number Change prev wk %of total YTD YTD Change
Y Bulls 2269 ▲648 7% 71612 ▼-5,050
Bull 681 ▼-73 2% 16165 ▲163
Steer 11511 ▼-1,141 35% 341630 ▼-4,378
Cow 9336 ▲0 28% 243942 ▲22,869
Heifer 8869 ▲134 27% 278999 ▲7,591
Veal-V 97 ▼-218 0% 19582 ▼-10,852
Veal-Z 10 ▼-21 0% 1187 ▲84
Total 32773 ▲96 100% 973117 ▲3,665

Official Irish Prices as Reported by DAFM - WK 29 (21.07.2024)

c/kg (Incl. VAT) U3 Change prev wk R3 Change prev wk O3 Change prev wk P+3 Change prev wk
Steers 540 ▼-6 531 ▼-5 518 ▼-5 488 ▼-1
Heifers 554 ▼-4 535 ▼-6 527 ▼-6 479 ▼-4
Y Bulls 536 ▼-8 523 ▼-6 503 ▼-8 486 ▼-3
Cows 0 ▲0 482 ▼-3 445 ▼-4 430 ▼-5

Official GB Prices as Reported by AHDB

Steers Steers Heifers Heifers Y bull Y bull Cow
p/kg R3 R4L R3 R4L R3 R4L -O4L
06/07/2024 486.7 488.8 485.3 490.1 475.1 474 386.9
13/07/2024 488.4 490.0 482.4 486.6 473.3 472.3 385.6
Change ▲2 ▲1 ▲2 ▲1 ▲2 ▲4 ▼-3
Price in c/kg (Incl VAT) 599.7 601.7 598.7 603.1 586.7 587.1 474.6

Euro Price for the Most Recent Week29 (€/KG Deadweight excl. VAT)

Country & Type 28.02.2022 06.07.2023 13.07.2024
EU + Y Bulls € 4.98 € 4.93 € 5.06
IE + Steers € 5.26 € 4.94 € 5.12
UK + Steers € 5.19 € 5.59 € 5.73

Live Exports W/C 15.01.2024

[Link]Source: Bord Bia

Sheep Update

IFA Sheep committee chairman Adrian Gallagher said demand for well fleshed lambs has increased this week with prices rebounding by 10c to 15c/kg.

Adrian Gallagher lead delegations of IFA sheep committee members in meetings with the sheep factories last week.

IFA set out to the factory management teams the damage the severity of the price cuts was doing to the sector and the impact it would have on decisions farmers will make for the breeding season.

The IFA sheep committee chairman said he called for an immediate stop to the price cuts and a return to a price that reflect the costs of lamb production on farms.

Lamb Price Update 25/07/2024

Spring Lamb €7.25kg/7.40kg. Weights to 22kg. Hogget €6.00/6.35/kg. Weights to 24kg. Higher deals groups/larger lots. Ewes €3.90/4.30/kg.

Supply Figures as Reported by DAFM - WK 29 (21.07.2024)

Animal Figure Change YTD YTD Change
Lambs/Hoggets 940 ▼-58 892620 ▼-84,055
Spring Lambs 39383 ▼-5,487 356973 ▼-69,040
Ewes and Rams 5679 ▲1,041 133861 ▼-22,590
Light Lambs 0 ▼-5 101 ▼-25
TOTAL 46002 ▼-4,509 1383555 ▼-175,710

Official Irish Prices as Reported by DAFM - WK 29(21.07.2024)

c/kg (Incl. VAT) This week Change prev. wk 2023 Change prev. yr
National Avg Price 861.14 ▼-720 675.73 ▼-737
YTD Avg 733.19 ▼-806 624.81 ▼-671

Official GB Prices as Reported by AHDB

R3L Overall SQQ* Type of lamb
13/07/2024 645.9 645.6 New season lamb
20/07/2024 647.0 647.2 New season Lamb
Change ▲1 ▲2
Price in c/kg (Incl VAT) 794.5 794.7
[Link]Source: Bord Bia