Not six months back. If they gave a fixed price they may or may not be ok. Larger FL get gauranteed rates, however many are on prices linked to the market. They may be getting 20ishc/kg over the market average. However many are not these are the lads with 100-150 cattle feeding.
As well because there is so much shed cattle about the processes have slaughtered there own feedlot cattle and those that are gauranteed forward prices to limit there liability to them. Now they are trickling the rest through the system.
Would many of these shed cattle have a contract price agreed with the factories back six months ago? Mind-boggling if they didn't to go and pay record prices for stores with feed at record prices in the hope the factories wouldn't burn them alive.
Edit to add, if you believed what the Irish farming media where saying beef prices in may/June were going to the moon so I guess these lads believed that and are now caught. Blinder by the factories is right, get the media to get lads all excited only to catch them in the honey trap.
Factory agent told me the same last week - he claimed he has a few lads ringing him trying to get cattle killed and all are still in the shed.
No doubt the agent was adding a bit to the story but it wasn't 100% lies either.
I am not really shocked. a lot of lads get a horn from feeding cattle indoors. They tend to use any excuse to feed indoors. Neighbour has calves in a small paddock feeding them from an adlib feeder. It takes work to manage cattle outside. you need paddocks fences and you have to move troughs. There was a definate horn on these lads early in the year. They paid through the nose for cattle and when they could not turn out in March they started feeding ration. Now the processors have them in a noose of there own making. They have to keep feeding untilthe processors hang them
Speaking with a big finisher the weekend...lots of shed cattle still there..I was shocked.
There is supposed to be a problem planting in Ukraine and Russia this year. Credit is impossible to get and the flooded Khearson region is not helping. The Russian ammonia pipeline that has been blown up will effect fertlizer later this year. Beef supply world wide is dropping 1-2% per year and we are supposed to be in a beef deficit at present. Pressure is comming on large brands like Nestle not to use Brazilian beef.
I amnot saying everything is honky dory but I am not overerly negative either.
If there is a good supply prices will only go one way. My gut feeling is we will be in for a year or two of poor prices right across the board.
Looks like a break in the weather over the next week. will they just stop at 4.9/5/kg or will they drop to below 4.8/kg which was the general price paid late June tp September last year.Not too sure if they have worked through the shed cattle. Still alots of them being fed in places.Last of the U16 bulls will not have to be gone until the end of this month.
If you were relying on the beef game as your only income, you'd have my every sympathy.....
Hopefully not but if there's not a bounce in price in the next 6 to 10 weeks, I wouldn't like to be selling weanlings in the Autumn.
Dairy farmers have already been culling heavily in the past two weeks.
With estimated 200,000 less suckler calves and more dairy beef which generally aren’t sold as weanlings would there be much of an impact?
They were badly stung this time last year and were not going to get caught the same way this year. In saying that, I presume they were involved in buying what were perceived to be expensive cattle early this year in order to have a supply in May and June. They will have a supply of farmers cattle coming up on 30 months from July onwards. The weanling man is the man that will take the beating again this Autumn.
They have no shortage of cattle currently, end of story, I'm not sure the reason why, but it's the factory rules at the moment.
When the dairy lads start killing cows in a few weeks if rain doesn’t come the factories will have a field day.
The are still backing them up at the moment. 2 1/2 weeks to get cattle killed in Larry's Local Liarage. Looked to book some in last week and was shocked
The price for p grade cows has collapsed in the past fortnight. Must be some number of cows being offloaded out of the parlour with drought fears
The factories are playing a blinder and if we get drought ,it game ,set and match to the pr!cks for the rest of the year.Marts are small at the moment so factories wont pick up much fat cattle there ,you woud think with fine weather there woud be a bit more demand and they must have worked trough all the cattle they backed up all along and all shed cattle must be gone at this stage but what do I know
How does that 60/45 percent relate to 3-4 years ago?
Lots of underfinished cattle is good overall. More heads for less meat keeps supply down a little.
Depends if farmers panic and off load cattle now or not
I see. What is the likely trajectory over the next 6-8 weeks I wonder.....
If the price was decided by market rather than cartel.
Our competition. No need to grade them.
I perhaps stupidly assume that should mean prices should be going up not down!
The beef kill is back 36,300 hd on this time last year. 60% of bullocks and 45% of heifers graded O+ or less.
Bullocks Foyle donegal,
5.00 this week
4.95 next week....
Any quotes for next week, Bullocks?
It's hard to second guess ATM... UK beef seems to a law onto themselves... any Irish factory supplying them with a large proportion of their kill is creaming it. It suits them to have a higher UK price in more ways than one. Supermarkets are starting to kick now...interesting times.
Where are the Northern buyers this summer ,with uk prices so far ahead you would expect them to be more active driving on mart prices
Speaking to an agent this evening and he said agents are paying less in general for fatstock in the marts.
What are fatstock doing in the marts now?
