Double punched prices soar
Top of the league was an outstanding Charolais Bullock double punched and weighing 916 kg sold for a whopping €1,720 at Ennis Mart on Thursday amounting to a record €804 over €/kg. Taking into account that the animal on offer was exceptional, it is still an eye opening price of the expectation on beef prices over the coming weeks. The majority of the double punched at Ennis sold for €400 over €/kg while the forward single punched topped at €420 over.
A remarkable feature of the trade has been prices for the heavy double punched bullocks, selling for close to parity with the forward single punched animals, the latter with a premia worth €150, a slaughter premia worth a further €80, and the potential to add another €80 for extensification going with their ID card.
But the restriction on the single punched is the mandatory minimum retention of two months to qualify for these payments, which would push the slaughter date into the latter days of June.
At a superb sale for the double punched at Athenry Mart, up to €510 over €/kg was paid for the tops. One 590 kg Charolais sold for €1,100. Most sales of double punched realised €400-€500 over.
At Kilkenny Mart, the forward single punched animals topped at €1.68/kg equal to €442 over for a 650 kg animal while the heavy punched out bullocks made up to €1.75/kg, which works out at €480 over for a 650 kg bullock.
At Mountrath Mart, the double punched made up to €440 over €/kg, up to €395 over at Nenagh Mart, peaking at €350 over at Kilmallock Mart and €300 over at Cahir Mart. Beef prices must increase further for these animals to pay their way.
