No sign of move on cattle prices as numbers soar

WITH the weekly cattle kill remaining stubbornly high, there again seems to be little, if any, movement on cattle prices from the meat plants, despite an ongoing IFA campaign for better rates to be paid.

Cattle numbers going through the factories every week are now hitting the 32,000/33,000 mark giving very high supply levels and allowing the factories to ‘at best’ leave prices to stand.

By mid-March of this year, the total kill in Irish meat plants stood at 343,622 as compared to 314,689 for the same period last year.

For the week ending March 16 just gone by the kill figures stood at almost 33,000 while for the same week last year the corresponding figure was just 26,245, according to the Bord Bia figures.

Another factor affecting the supply and demand balance is the large numbers of Friesian bulls now coming into the chain, following a major move a couple of years back to retain those animals for finishing.

According to Galway IFA Chairman, Michael Flynn, those animals are now hitting the meat plants in large numbers and consequently ‘swelling’ the numbers going through.

“With the numbers coming through, the factories think that they can do what they like, but really they must look at the long term picture.

“If beef production becomes unviable for farmers, then over the coming years this will have major repercussions for the entire industry. Keeping prices down and cutting them, is a very short-sighted policy by the factories,” said Michael Flynn.

The trend in keeping the Friesian bulls though may be easing with some of the major mart cattle sales in the South, reporting major exports of male animals.

“The live trade is absolutely critical for us. The more animals we can move on the hoof, the more pressure that will be on the factories to secure supplies. We must do everything possible to promote the live trade,” said Michael Flynn.

He also accused the factories of changing the ‘spec’ for bulls to be slaughtered from week to week leaving farmers in no-mans-land as regards weight and age.

“While heifers and steers are holding their own this week, there is again downward pressure on the bulls,” said Michael Flynn.

For the mid-March period, Bord Bia reported the price for R4L grade steers in Britain coming in at €4.47/kg as compared to €3.79 in Ireland.

However Bord Bia reported a slow demand for beef on the French market, apparently partly due to the ongoing mild weather while other continental countries reported little change in demand also.