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Quotes largely unchanged despite factories’ best efforts

Despite repeated efforts by factories over the last two weeks to pull prices, quotes remain unchanged.

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Grass shortage lifts numbers of forward stock but prices only slip a small bit

Trade on the mart circuit last week was dominated by increased numbers of forward and beef cattle, with a corresponding fall-off of lighter animals in many areas.

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Lambs quotes steady as cull ewes rise by 5-10c/kg

There appeared to be conflict among the factories yesterday morning about how well the retail market was performing.

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Marts bounce back with bullocks up by 8-14c/kg while heifer trade remains steady

After a run of weeks when prices eased back, last week saw the trade at marts across the country bounce back with ringside returns on the bullock side seeing overall averages rise by 8-14c/kg while on the heifer side, trade tended to remain steady with some limited upward movement.

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Factory prices unchanged as strong weekly kills reported

Although some processors tried quoting suppliers a reduced base prices for bullocks over the weekend, it appears this latest attempt to reduce quotes got laughed out the door.

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Are we at the bottom of this downward price cycle at the sheep factories?

Factory quotes for sheep held yesterday — so does this levelling out in prices signify that factories think we are at the bottom of the downward section of this price cycle?

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Lamb prices: Wipeout of 40-55c/kg in just a week

Those of you who read my articles regularly will know I’ve a liking for classic films and rock music. Yesterday morning, as the factory quotes came in, the 1979 Nick Lowe song Cracking Up came into my head. It’s a song about the world and its stresses, stating at one point: “This ain’t funny no more”.

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Cull cows again equal price paid for prime beef at factories

I’m a soccer fan. That means I watched most of the Women’s Euros over the last month. Initially, I was sceptical — not anymore. Once you got to the quarter-final stage the level of technique, skill and stamina demonstrated was very impressive.

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Mart prices fall for the seventh week in a row

Maurice Brosnan of Gortatlea noted that while factories continue to talk down the trade, he saw a strong upswing in demand and prices for beef of all types last week. He said that after a fall in prices, well-fleshed cull cows were again equalling bullock prices in the ring, meaning beef demand is very strong.

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Lamb price down 10-15c/kg in latest blow to farmers

The price pulls continued yesterday, with another 10-15c/kg slashed off lamb quotes and cull ewes back 10c/kg.

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Factories bring halt to price cuts as heatwave boosts demand

A few weeks ago a mart manager in the north-west told me one of his feedlot finishers had few concerns about the strong prices he paid that day, even though factory quotes had started to drop.

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Rain brings stability as farmers move ahead of grass

Last week’s mart trade was characterised by small sale numbers and a slight strengthening of prices in some sections, notably among heifers.

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Lighter steers get a lift while heavier stock drop back

Of the 150 cattle on offer at Listowel last week, a third were cull cows, a third were bullocks and the balance was made up of heifers and stock bulls.

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Regular farmers hit hard as quotes fall 40-50c/kg in just six weeks

Over the last six weeks factory quotes have declined by 40-50c/kg — yesterday the general run for bullocks and heifers was €4.90-4.95/kg, with bigger feeders still reported to be on €510-5.20/kg.

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Anger at Bord Bia as another 35-40c/kg slashed off lamb quotes

Factories cut another 35-40c/kg off their base prices for lamb yesterday, leaving them at €6.80-6.85/kg — a full €1/kg less than they were a five weeks ago.

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Factories turn the screw with cuts of up to 30c/kg

Those in sheep trade are nothing if not quick-witted. When I asked one factory agent for a quote on prices yesterday morning he replied: “I came, I saw, I conquered.”

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Smaller farmer takes the biggest hit as factory price slide continues

The factory price slide continues, with base prices of €4.80-4.90/kg quoted by agents yesterday.

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Trade starts to move in right direction as heavier steers gain 12c/kg

With the good weather, mart managers across the country noted a fall-off in numbers last week as farmers busied themselves with other business.

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Tumbling Irish cattle prices rumoured to hit €4.90/kg

The Voynich Manuscript from the early 15th century has baffled generations of linguistics, scholars and cryptographers — even modern computer programs have failed to give definitive answers as to the meaning of its mysterious contents*.

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Slashed prices call into question the future of beef

Beef finishers have been left reeling after 40c/kg has been slashed off beef prices in the last three weeks, wiping €140 off the value of your average bullock or heifer.

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Price slump bites as heifers now 41c/kg below June high

The data on the ringside tables this week clearly shows that mart averages continue to fall across all categories as buyers adjust further to factory price pulls that started in early June.

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Eid al-Adha may provide a temporary reprieve from falling lamb prices

After last week’s slash and burn of between 50-60kg in relation to lamb quotes, yesterday saw the majority of the factory representatives I spoke with predicting a possible improvement in prices as this week goes on.

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Price slide continues with drops of up to 15c/kg

There is no sign of an end to the price slide that started three weeks ago. The heifer trade, which had escaped being seriously affected by buyers tightening their purse strings, is now suffering as badly as the bullocks.

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Factories fluctuate but overall direction is firmly downhill

Outside Carrick-on-Suir is a junction known as Glenbower. Recently Tipperary county council erected two signs there indicating that the distance to Carrick is 8km; but the existing signage 50m closer to the town tells the traveller that it is 9km away.

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Processors slash another 50-60c/kg off lamb quotes

The factories further tightened their grip on the trade as they slashed 50-60c/kg off their quotes for lambs and 80c/kg off hogget.

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Prices take a hit as silage keeps farmers out of marts

Lots of sales remain very big for the time of year, but some did report a fall in numbers — many farmers were preoccupied with silage in the good weather and stayed away from the sales ring.

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Farmer woe as 10-20c/kg slashed off lamb quotes

Last week despite complaining that the trade had become difficult at the sales end, factory bosses actually raised their quotes for spring lamb and cull ewes by 5-20c/kg.

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Beef Prices: Factories gain upper hand, but numbers may still be in finishers’ favour

‘We all get a turn. Now the factories are getting theirs — however long that will last.”

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Factories play the poor mouth but quotes rise by up to 20c/kg

By 7.30 yesterday morning I had two messages on my phone from factory representatives indicating that sheep prices were about to come under pressure.

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Mart numbers stay high as more cattle come out early

Joe Clune of Sixmilebrige mart notes that more cattle are coming out earlier than expected and keeping supplies ahead of what would be normal for this time of year.