Don’t hold older steers

SUPPLIES of under 30 months cattle are continuing to tighten this week, but there is no such problem for the factories in securing over 30 months animals, with some processors getting more of these than they would welcome.

The lack of younger cattle has led to factory prices recovering 1p-2p/lb this week. But the over-supply of “over-age” steers will certainly put a lot of pressure on the prices for these animals, because of the limited market outlets for them and worries that there are even more of them out there waiting to be sold. The south of the country is faring worst in this regard, with some factories hinting at reluctance to take “over-age” cattle, if they are more than a minor percentage of a bunch of cattle.

Given that the number of steers slaughtered year to date is down over 10%, it is reasonable to assume that there is still a lot of older steers on farms. It is therefore advisable for producers with animals coming up to 30 months to weigh the risk in holding them against a high risk of increased price penalties, if supplies increase sharply over the remaining weeks of the year.