While there had appeared to be a bit of a divide emerging across the country as regards factory prices, with agents in the west and the midlands appearing to be able to give a bit more in recent times than their southern counterparts, reports I had over the weekend would seem to indicate that that gap has closed.
gents in the south report good supplies with their quotes for bullocks now sticking around the €4.10/kg mark with only the odd €4.15/kg entertained and then only for bigger numbers. On the heifer side, the southern boys appear stuck on €4.15/kg, while further north prices appear to have stalled at between €4.10-4.15/kg for bullocks with heifers making from €4.15-4.20/kg.
The demand for Angus, however, still sees all-in prices of between €4.50-4.60/kg being negotiated which when you take away the quality bonus of 20c/kg for under thirty-month stock and the 20c/kg Angus bonus leaves you on a base of €4.10-4.20/kg.
Friesian bullocks under thirty months continue to also see flat prices, with up to €4.20/kg being reported. How a flat price breaks down when compared to going directly on the grid is, in my opinion, a project for a university honours maths student. The following is the bones of it at a basic level for those with dairy type or lesser conformation coloured stock.
When you deduct the 20c/kg quality assurance, it means your better O+ to O= 2+ Friesian in the fat score range of 2+ to 4= is on a base of €4/kg. This means that the only benefit of that flat price for under thirty-month Friesians occurs only where the animal grades either O- or has a fat score of 4+. As the quality assurance payment is just 12c/kg, it means a net benefit under that flat price of €4.20/kg of 8c/kg for those grades.
While most farmers can judge the potential grades of their stock in their own yard, are able to follow the intricacies of the grid and the bonus systems attached, and calculate out whether they are better going on it or taking a flat price, it’s not simple.
I had one report last week of a farmer who took a flat price of €4.20/kg for continentals only to then discover that more than half of his sale when slaughtered graded from R+ to U-. I suspect this man may have dealt directly with the factory on price and didn’t use an agent.
Moving to the dairy side, cull cows continue to be in demand and with prices reported to have strengthened. That said, it seems more a case of the laggards catching up with the trade on average than any further price increases.
As it is, R grades continue on €3.70/kg with €3.80/kg possible, O grades €3.50-3.60/kg and better P’s €3.40-3.50/kg.
Bigger operators with numbers of well-fleshed P’s and O’s are, however, reported to be getting up to €3.60/kg flat.
On the young bull side, it's more less also as you were with U grades reported as continuing at €4.10/kg with €4.15/kg speculated, R’s are on €4.00/kg with 4.10/kg occurring when mixed with U’s while your coloured O grade continues on €4.00/kg.
In conclusion, while the factories stuttered on price last week, they continued to set records at your local mart for beef.
