Beef Update
IFA National Livestock Chairman Brendan Golden said cattle supplies continue to tighten with throughput down for the third consecutive week to 31,138, which is a drop of 960 on the previous week and over 4,659 back from throughput figures in early May, the largest drop was in steers which were back over 800 head. He said UK prices have strengthened over the past week and demand remains strong in our key export markets. Brendan Golden said a slight easing in the Export Benchmark price and the recent price increases here have moved our prime composite price to 29c/kg above the Benchmark price in recent weeks. He said despite attempts by some factories to reduce quotes demand for beef is strong and numbers are tightening week on week keeping a firm floor under the trade. “The beef market is strong and farmers should sell hard and ignore any attempts by factories to reduce prices”. The IFA Livestock chairman said factories must stand firm in the market place to ensure the strong demand for beef is reflected in prices to farmers to offset the significant input costs being experienced at farm level.
Beef Price Update 09/06/2022
Steer Base €5.25/5.35kg. Heifers €5.30/5.40kg. Higher deals and flat prices for larger and specialist lots. Y Bulls R/U €5.50/5.70Kg. Cows €4.70/5.30kg
Supply Figures as Reported by DAFM – Week 22 (05.06.2022)
| Animal | Number | Change prev wk | % of total | YTD | YTD Change |
| Y Bulls | 3,319 | ▲249 | 11% | 65,522 | ▲1,483 |
| Bull | 586 | ▼-172 | 2% | 12,038 | ▲963 |
| Steer | 10,458 | ▼-802 | 34% | 274,252 | ▲27,897 |
| Cow | 8,788 | ▲257 | 28% | 170,686 | ▲27,339 |
| Heifer | 7,958 | ▼-453 | 26% | 219,699 | ▲16,353 |
| Veal-V | 5 | ▼-28 | 0% | 27,868 | ▲7,386 |
| Veal-Z | 24 | ▼-9 | 0% | 942 | ▲78 |
| Total | 31,138 | ▼-960 | 100% | 771,007 | ▲81,499 |
Official Irish Prices as Reported by DAFM – Week 22 (05.06.2022)
| c/kg(Incl. VAT) | U3 | Changeprev wk | R3 | Change prev wk | O3 | Changeprev wk | P+3 | Changeprev wk |
| Steers | 571 | ▲8 | 562 | ▲7 | 553 | ▲8 | 520 | ▲6 |
| Heifers | 576 | ▲9 | 564 | ▲8 | 561 | ▲11 | 514 | ▲7 |
| Y Bulls | 561 | ▲12 | 553 | ▲8 | 532 | ▲7 | 521 | ▲9 |
| Cows | 0 | ▲0 | 522 | ▲11 | 499 | ▲9 | 490 | ▲11 |
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 |
| 28/05/2022 | 444.2 | 447 | 446.6 | 448.1 | 438.6 | 440.6 | 379.9 |
| 04/06/2022 | 446.5 | 446.7 | 440.2 | 447.1 | 449.4 | 441.4 | 440.9 |
| Change | ▲2 | ▼-0 | ▲1 | ▲1 | ▲2 | ▼-1 | ▼-0 |
| Price in c/kg (Incl VAT) | 554.7 | 555.0 | 555.5 | 558.3 | 547.8 | 546.4 | 471.6 |
Euro Price for the Most Recent Week (€/KG Deadweight excl. VAT)
| Country & Type | 30.05.2020 | 29.05.2021 | 28.05.2022 |
| EU + Y Bulls | € 3.49 | € 3.83 | € 4.98 |
| IE + Steers | € 3.62 | € 4.13 | € 5.26 |
| UK + Steers | € 3.91 | € 4.60 | € 5.19 |
Live Exports W/C 23.05.2022
Sheep Update
IFA Sheep Committee Chairman Kevin Comiskey said factories must deliver strong market returns for spring lamb in the coming weeks to reflect the high input costs experienced by farmers this year. He said spring lamb numbers are running over 6,000 head behind last year’s levels on a weekly basis and are almost 36,000 behind to-date and with hogget supplies dropping weekly demand for lamb should remain strong. Kevin Comiskey said lambs are making €8.20/kg to €8.40/kg to weights of 21/kgs with higher deals for groups and larger lots and deals on transport, hogget quotes are ranging from €7.20/kg to €7.50/kg with demand for cull ewes strong and prices of €3.80/kg to €4.20/kg paid. Kevin Comiskey reminded farmers that they should only sell lambs to factories as they become fit and that farmers should continue to sell hard while considering the mart outlet where factory agents are competing strongly for lambs, hoggets and cull ewes.
Lamb Price Update 09/06/2022
Hogget €7.30/7.50/kg. Spr lamb €8.20/8.40/kg. Weights to 21kg. Higher deals groups/larger lots. Ewes €3.80/4.20/kg.
Supply Figures as Reported by DAFM – Week 22 (05.06.2022)
| Animal | Figure | Change | YTD | YTD Change |
| Lambs/Hoggets | 10,821 | ▼-2,533 | 876,278 | ▲187,089 |
| Spring Lambs | 37,681 | ▲8,464 | 154,019 | ▼-35,545 |
| Ewes and Rams | 5,812 | ▼-276 | 116,807 | ▼-5,836 |
| Light Lambs | 21 | ▲11 | 84 | ▼-20 |
| TOTAL | 54,335 | ▲5,636 | 1,147,188 | ▲145,688 |
Official Irish Prices as Reported by DAFM – Week 22 (05.06.2022)
| c/kg (Incl. VAT) | WK 22 | Changeprev wk | 2021 | Change prev yr |
| National Avg Price | 782.08 | ▲9 | 735.95 | ▲46 |
| YTD Avg | 710.70 | ▲3 | 690.37 | ▲20 |
Official GB Prices as Reported by AHDB
| R3L | Overall SQQ* | Type of lamb | |
| 28/05/2022 | 660.2 | 661.5 | New season |
| 28/05/2022 | 682.6 | 684.7 | New season |
| Change | ▲22 | ▲23 | |
| Price in c/kg (Incl VAT) | 848.0 | 850.6 |
