Beef Update
IFA Livestock chairman Brendan Golden said market demand for beef and prices in our key export markets show capacity for beef price increases. He said the attempts by factories to hold back prices by talking down the trade and offering lower quotes is not working. He said tight supplies and strong global demand for beef is underpinning the trade. UK and EU prices have strengthened with the Prime Export Benchmark price increasing by 17c/kg in the past two weeks opening up a gap of 30c/kg with our price. He said beef prices must reflect the reality of the market place and move on to close the gap in price with our key markets. He said winter finishers are in the process of making key decisions for the coming months, factories must reflect the realities of the current market in stronger prices now and offer winter finishers minimum price guarantees for their cattle for this Winter and next Spring. He said input costs are now at levels that cattle finishers cannot take risks with, the sector does not have the capacity to absorb these. He said meat factories and multi-national retailers are acutely aware of these costs and must provide surety for farmers in the form of minimum price guarantees to maintain our hard-earned consistent year round supply of cattle.
Beef Price Update 08/09/2022
Steer Base €4.80/4.90kg. Heifers €4.85/4.95kg. Higher deals and flat prices for larger and specialist lots. Y Bulls R/U €4.70/5.00Kg. Cows €4.40/4.90kg.
Supply Figures as Reported by DAFM – WK 35 (04.09.2022)
| Animal | Number | Change prev wk | % of total | YTD | YTD Change |
| Y Bulls | 1,462 | ▼-64 | 4% | 96,089 | ▲5,313 |
| Bull | 561 | ▼-66 | 2% | 19,910 | ▲1,323 |
| Steer | 18,610 | ▲1,252 | 51% | 457,006 | ▲25,958 |
| Cow | 6,647 | ▲99 | 18% | 268,531 | ▲36,122 |
| Heifer | 9,042 | ▼-705 | 25% | 334,619 | ▲19,915 |
| Veal-V | 7 | ▼-32 | 0% | 28,022 | ▲7,345 |
| Veal-Z | 17 | ▼-2 | 0% | 1,189 | ▲48 |
| Total | 36,346 | ▲482 | 100% | 1,205,366 | ▲96,024 |
Official Irish Prices as Reported by DAFM – WK 35 (04.09.2022)
| c/kg (Incl. VAT) | U3 | Changeprev wk | R3 | Change prev wk | O3 | Change prev wk | P+3 | Change prev wk |
| Steers | 516 | ▲0 | 505 | ▲0 | 488 | ▼-1 | 457 | ▲0 |
| Heifers | 523 | ▼-1 | 509 | ▼-1 | 498 | ▼-1 | 455 | ▼-2 |
| Y Bulls | 503 | ▼-2 | 491 | ▼-3 | 471 | ▲2 | 465 | ▲7 |
| Cows | 0 | ▲0 | 478 | ▼-4 | 458 | ▲0 | 444 | ▼-2 |
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 |
| 27/08/2022 | 443 | 445.9 | 442 | 445 | 434 | 431.5 | 371.5 |
| 03/09/2022 | 444.1 | 446.1 | 437.3 | 442.0 | 445.5 | 436.0 | 434.2 |
| Change | ▲1 | ▲0 | ▲0 | ▲1 | ▲0 | ▼-2 | ▲1 |
| Price in c/kg (Incl VAT) | 551.7 | 554.2 | 549.1 | 553.5 | 539.4 | 533.7 | 462.3 |
Euro Price for the Most Recent Week (€/KG Deadweight excl. VAT)
| Country & Type | 29/08/2020 | 2021 | 27/08/2022 |
| EU + Y Bulls | € 3.53 | Figures | € 5.00 |
| IE + Steers | € 3.66 | Not | € 4.80 |
| UK + Steers | € 4.20 | Available | € 5.19 |
Live Exports W/C 15.08.2022
Sheep Update
IFA sheep committee chairman Kevin Comiskey said factory demand for suitably finished lambs is strong and prices have risen. He said factory agents are very active over the past few days trying to secure numbers of suitably finished lambs with deals to 22kg available. Kevin Comiskey said prices of €6.40/kg and €6.50/kg have become a lot easier to negotiate with higher prices on offer for groups and larger lots. Cull ewes are in general moving between €3.40/kg and €3.80/kg with some deals above these prices. The IFA sheep chairman said it is a critical time of year for sheep farmers and factories must return strong viable prices to reflect production costs on farms and to ensure store lamb buyers remain active in marts. He said lamb price in France remains strong at over €8.00/kg which provides real opportunity for factories particularly as large volumes of New Zealand lamb continues to be directed towards the Chinese market. Kevin Comiskey said factories are very anxious for lambs and farmers should sell hard while moving lambs when fit.
Lamb Price Update 08/09/2022
Lamb €6.10/6.50/kg to 22kg. Higher deals groups/larger lots. Ewes €3.40/3.80/kg.
Supply Figures as Reported by DAFM – WK 35 (04.09.2022)
| Animal | Figure | Change | YTD | YTD Change |
| Lambs/Hoggets | 800 | ▲535 | 895,381 | ▲198,807 |
| Spring Lambs | 55,107 | ▲2,328 | 778,120 | ▼-72,129 |
| Ewes and Rams | 11,011 | ▲744 | 224,375 | ▼-5 |
| Light Lambs | 0 | ▲0 | 107 | ▼-10 |
| TOTAL | 66,918 | ▲3,607 | 1,897,983 | ▲126,663 |
Official Irish Prices as Reported by DAFM – WK 35 (04.09.2022)
| c/kg (Incl. VAT) | WK 35 | Change prev wk | 2021 | Change prev yr |
| National Avg Price | 616.03 | ▼-16 | 615.2 | ▲1 |
| YTD Avg | 705.04 | ▼-3 | 668.40 | ▲37 |
Official GB Prices as Reported by AHDB
| R3L | Overall SQQ* | Type of lamb | |
| 27/08/2022 | 537.0 | 536.2 | New season |
| 03/09/2022 | 535.2 | 534.3 | New season |
| Change | ▼-2 | ▼-2 | |
| Price in c/kg (Incl VAT) | 664.9 | 663.8 |
Live Sheep Exports 18/07/2022
