Beef price tracker 2

Gave up finishing cattle out of a shed 3-4 years ago. Record prices for beef are match by record prices for ration and fertlizer. Silage takes a lot of fertlizer and ration has increased by 60% in 5 years. As well a finishing animal takes twice the space of a store.

TBF for the first time in ten+ years factory prices have not declined in February. But f##k that 5-6 years of sh!the was enough of Larry keeping the margin to himself.

Yee are entitled to your in the sun. For the last four years I have had no stupid meal bill in the spring.....do you know what neither will I this year. Larry will have to work hard to get me back to that sh!t.

Went to the Kerry Donegal match today. Got up any 7.15, ate the porridge and fed the cat (30 minutes) went to the farm (20 -25 minutes away) fed the cattle,( lucky only had to give out one bale) went to the shop.on the way home got the PAPER+ a brown roll and home for 9.15. I put on the air fryer with a couple of sausages, a rasher a few mushrooms, poached an egg.

F@@k February cattle prices.

38,000 cattle killed last week. Plenty must disagree with you.

All the talk of low numbers being finished this spring hasn’t happened. Though they would have tightened by now.

1500of them were calves. 40-50% are on contracted prices. Loads of cattle slaughter from late November to late January with no price rise. Assuming a base price of 4.5/kg it's 25-30c/kg of a rise. On a 350kg carcase, it's 80-100 euro a head. How much of that margin is go on extra feed costs. And as I said it's the first year in a.long while that prices have rises throughout February.

Most of any prices rise is swallowed in the rise in inputs. As one lad days every lads expects the other lad to cut back. This is especially true of winter finishing. It's one rat race I glad I am gone from.

you forgot limestone flour, that Chinese consortium must be back buying.

A lot of smaller operators that were slaughtering 10-30 cattle each winter have exited winter finishing. Processor's paying contracted finishers 20&30c/ kg extra means the independent finisher has to pay for this.

The new proposed 100/ head U24 months slaughter premium along with AIBP's proposed bonus scheme is a way to go entice in smaller lads again.

Ya if you can pick there Continentals that have huge growth rates and grade Our better at 8-12 months there is a margin there. But for average cattle it's a waster if time

is 4.50 for heifers freely available this week?

The lad that usually takes ours said 4.40…..I was like “paper seems to be quoting 4.50”.

Hard to bargain when you only have 1 at a time.

10 cent a kilo is still 40 quid on her head. Would like to get it!

Bit yeah. She has to go either way. She slipped a calf and has very little feed eaten and is in good trim and is 10 days from 30 months. Plus she is a bad feeder so is a nuisance to feed separately. She would be a wile getting back the 12 cents per kilo she will lose by going overage.

20c/ kg under 30 months.

@893bet with a single lady like that would you not chance her in the mart? Age/Movements seem to be making little difference there and you could always bring her home?

893 I would be more incline to show her in the mart, wouldn't really worry about her going over age going to the mart, I know the lads buying the likes of her locally in the mart don't seem to get to caught up in it (yes it could knock €30 - €40 off her price from a similar animal at 24 months). But I do think you would get more for her in the mart than the factory. She looks like the sort of animal that could take 3 -4 more months of good feeding to get her into a good weight / grade. Like you haven't been feeding her to kill her plus she slipped a calf which would knock her back a bit.

There are plenty at it looking at the numbers. Forward bought all our meal for this winter so doing alright. Try to never let the meal bill go over a month or two.

Passing it back to the store man alright. Tipping away buying bulls again for grass. Probably €80 to €120 more than last year at a glance.

Sadly it’s very common, heard of a lad lately making €350 in a week. No point been a soft seller