Cull cows fetch 82p/lb in strong trade

Marts: A strong trade for cull cows at the factories contrasted sharply with lower prices for prime beef as the margin narrowed to a historically narrow difference of 10p/lb last week.

Farmer paysheet factory returns - compiled by the Department of Agriculture - confirmed that a factory average of up to 82p/lb was paid for R grade cull cows, while prime R3 bullocks average a fraction under 92p/lb and the average for R3 heifers was marginally higher, with one factory paying an average of 89p/lb for R3 heifers, which was only 7p/lb more than that paid for R grade cows.

Producers cannot recall when - if ever - the margin between prime beef and cull cow beef narrowed to 7p-10p/lb as beef producers’ anger increases following an accelerated drop in bullock and heifer prices of more than 1p/lb for last week’s kill. The average paid by the Dawn Group and the Kepak Group was down 1.3p/lb on the previous week at 91.7p/lb and 91.8p/lb, respectively. Prices for the AIBP Group were 0.8p/lb lower at an average of 92.3p/lb.