‘Factories want cows, just not big numbers right now’

The recent heavy rains will flush out at least the same average again for another few weeks. Photo: David Creedon/Alamy

Martin Coughlan

October 26 2021 02:30 AM

While the message from factory agents over the weekend on prices was one of ‘as you were’ the reality is that factory bosses have tightened the reins in relation to how much latitude they are willing to give their agents on price when negotiating.

This has seen most consolidate their offers around €4.15/kg for bullocks and €4.20/kg for heifers meaning in effect that it has got harder to get that extra 5c/kg that up until now helped sweeten the pot for the seller.

With numbers continuing strong what we’re seeing at present is the difference between ‘factories getting cattle as opposed to having to buy them’.

This consolidation is based around their belief that after a run of five weekly kills, from September 13 to October 17, that averaged 35,991 and culminating the week of the 17th with 36,521.

The recent heavy rains will flush out at least the same average again for another few weeks.

That said, there is significance in the fact that the bottom base price the factories have been operating off of for over two months of €4.15/kg for bullocks and €4.20/kg for heifers remains untouched.

How many times over the years have we seen factory prices tumble in the late autumn once the numbers went up and the rains came down?

That does not appear to be their agenda this year with reports indicating that some plants are already planning to work longer weeks as they work up the numbers for the Christmas market.

Chief among those Christmas markets will be that in the UK where data from the Agriculture and Horticultural Development Board (AHDB) shows that for the last three weeks their numbers at 30,000-31,000 are running around a thousand a week behind where they were last year and up to two thousand per week below their five year average.

All of which helped maintain the overall British prime cattle price for the week ending October 16 at £407.7p/kg (€4.81/kg)

Here at home, as I said above factories have managed to claw back that extra 5c/kg that they were giving for bullocks and heifers while on the cull cow side prices are reported to be back around 10-15c/kg over the last two weeks.

“It’s not that they are not wanted, it’s just they are not wanted in numbers just now,” was the comment from one agent.

This has left R grading culls on €3.85/kg with continental O’s and P’s on €3.60 and €3.50/kg respectively with Friesian types 10c/kg further back at €3.50 and €3.40/kg.

With the number of young bulls processed over the last six weeks averaging just over 1,500 per week factory quotes for bulls remain unchanged at €4.30/kg for Us back to €4.10/kg for Os and €4.20/kg for R grades. U16 month bulls are also steady on a base of €4.15/kg.

‘Factories want cows, just not big numbers right now’

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