Livestock Council Report November 2024

1. Market Report

Market Report

• Beef Price: Steers are making from €5.15kg to €5.25/kg. Heifers are making €5.20/kg to €5.30/kg with higher deals for larger lots and increased off season breed bonuses paid. Young Bulls are ranging from €5.30kg to €5.50/kg for R/U grades. Cows are making €4.50kg to €5.20/kg.
• DAFM Reported Prices week ending 20/10//2024: R3 steer prices for the latest week increased 5c/kg to €5.36/kg, R3 heifer price decreased by 4c/kg to €5.41/kg. R3 young bull prices increased by 7c/kg to €5.34/kg. O3 grading cows are up 3c/kg to €4.66/kg, R3 grading cows are up 7c/kg to €4.99/kg.

• Composite prices: The latest Irish prime composite cattle price and the prime Export Benchmark on October 26^th, 2024 were equivalent to €5.08kg and €5.58/kg deadweight respectfully. 

Supply Figures as Reported by DAFM – WK 42 (20.10.2024)
Animal	Number	Change Prev wk.	% of total	YTD	YTD Change
Y Bulls	1,473	▲60	4%	88,717	▼-7,965
Bull	465	▼-61	1%	24,549	▲796
Steer	15,936	▼-1,249	40%	570,670	▼-9,428
Cow	10,260	▲431	26%	359,444	▲32,934
Heifer	11,778	▲22	29%	421,466	▲18,122
Veal-V	15	▼-26	0%	20,336	▼-10,319
Veal-Z	42	▲15	0%	1,536	▲170
Total	39,969	▼-808	100%	1,486,719	▲3,665

• Supplies:  Total throughput to date in 2024 stands at 1,486,719 head up 3,665 head from the corresponding week in 2023. Bord Bia supply forecasts for 2024 predict a 30,000 to 40,000 head or a 2% fall in the number of finished cattle available for the year. Bord Bia is projecting the prime cattle kill to fall by 46,000 head and the cow kill numbers to drop by 10,000 head in 2025 with the overall kill for the year expected to be around the 1.69 million head mark or 4% below 2024.
• Market Conditions: Cattle prices continue to rise on a weekly basis following a number of weeks of steady prices. Strong consumer demand and the tightening availability of finished cattle supplies are they key drivers of this lift in prices. Supplies have also tightened in the UK and prices have started to rise as a result. Prices in GB for R3 steers has increased 3p/kg to 5.2p/kg in the past week. R3 Heifers increased by 2p/kg to £519.5/kg for week ending October 26^th 2024. EU young bull prices have steadily increased over the past three weeks and currently stands at €5.35c/kg. 
• Live Exports:  To date 326,949 live cattle have been traded from Ireland. Weanling and store cattle exports are operating 57% and 65% ahead of 2023 levels. Large numbers of weanling, store and adult cattle have been exported during 2024 proving strong competition in the market for Irish cattle producers.

2.  Review of Bord Bia Origin Green Producer Standard

• IFA continues to engage with Bord Bia on the Origin Green Producer Standard review.
• IFA has raised concerns at the direction of travel of the Bord Bia proposals in relation to all elements of the standard and of the inspection process.
• Further direct engagement with Bord Bia on the issue is planned in the coming weeks.
• IFA  is seeking a simplified audit process to reduce the burden of the inspection on farmers.

3.  Budget 2025

• IFA has secured an additional €8m towards the National beef welfare scheme for 2025 bringing the total budget to €28m for the national exchequer suckler cow scheme.
• This increase of €8m provides for payments of €75/suckler cow and when combined with the suckler carbon efficiency programme returns of up to €225/suckler cow for 2025.
• Additional funding has been provided for Dairy Beef Calves. 
• IFA is seeking the provision of a calf rearing scheme with this funding. 
• IFA will be engaging with the DAFM on both schemes in the coming months.

4.  Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme

• A funding allocation of €52m was provided for the SCEP scheme in 2023 with a payment of €150 per suckler cow available on the first 22 cows and €120/cow on the remainder.
• 17,637 farmers are currently participating in the scheme with an average reference number of 25 cows. There are currently 441,346 cows eligible for payment.
• Farmers are required to complete an online SCEP training course by November 15^th.
• There are 7 modules which all must be completed in full, together with a short quiz at the end of the modules, to fully comply with the requirements of the training. Farmers must complete all 7 modules by Friday 15 November 2024.
• The modules include; Introduction, Programme Eligibility, Breeding Strategies, Genotyping, Weight Recording, Calving Details and Surveys and Farm and Livestock Safety.
• IFA raised concerns with DAFM regarding ease of access to the platform provided for a significant cohort of suckler farmers and sought the provision of additional means for participants to complete the training course.
• Following calls from IFA to provide additional SCEP training events the DAFM have provided 11 in person SCEP training events across four provinces in October and November. 
• Payments for the scheme will be made in December 2024.

5.  National Beef Welfare scheme

• A funding allocation of €20m was provided for a new suckler scheme in budget 2024.
• A payment of €50 per suckler cow will be available to participants of the scheme.
• The scheme actions include; 
• Action 1 – Meal Feeding (Mandatory): €35 per eligible calf up to a maximum of 40 eligible calves. Participants must introduce meal feeding for a period of 4 weeks pre-weaning and 2 weeks post-weaning to reduce the stress on calves at weaning time.
• Action 2 – Vaccination (Optional):€15 per eligible calf up to a maximum of 40 eligible calves. Participants must implement a vaccination programme against clostridial diseases and / or calf pneumonia in suckler calves and record details of the vaccination.
• The scheme opened for application in August and will close on September 24^th.
• 100% payments made in December 2024.
• IFA has sought the removal of the upper limit on numbers of animals eligible within a herd. 
• IFA sought a resolution for farmers with Autumn born weanlings, DAFM rejected proposals to provide flexibility where Autumn born claves were sold prior to measures for the scheme being completed

6. Changes to ICBF Indices

• IFA participated in the ICBF stakeholder forum meetings in February, April, May and July to address the concerns with the new indices.
• IFA secured significant flexibilities to SCEP requirements related to the indices, ensuring no farmers are negatively impacted by the changes in November.
• Effectively animals now have the benefit of both indices to meet the criteria. 
• Female calves born in herds since the new indices were published where they do not meet SCEP eligibility, these animals will be deemed SCEP eligible if the dam was 3,4, or 5 star and the sire 4 and 5 star on the replacement index. They will carry this eligibility when purchased from either a SCEP or non-SCEP herd
• Any female animals whose star rating on the September 2023 index was 4 or 5 star and subsequently dropped on the new index will retain SCEP eligibility when purchased from SCEP and non-SCEP herds for the duration of the scheme.
• The same criteria are applied for Pedigree Bulls which had a 4 or 5 star rating in the September index that dropped on the new index.  These animals will retain SCEP eligible when purchased from SCEP and non-SCEP farms.
• As with the previous scheme animals that attained SCEP eligibility at any point retains this while remaining within the herd of the participant.
• The lower weights issue in the indices has also been addressed, with the minimum weight set at 520kgs at 200 days after calving which equates to a mature cow weight of 570kgs. This will now be incorporated into the indices.
• Work is progressing on the development of an index that reflects weanling production systems
• Discussions are on-going on the inclusion of carbon in the index
• IFA will continue to engage with ICBF with the objective of delivering an index that has the trust and confidence of suckler farmers and pedigree breeders.