Beef Report: Factory intake rises on higher prices and grass scarcity

Most of the stock going through the factories' kill line this week is expected to hold last week's prices.

The heatwave sunshine has dulled across the landscape, and so too is the brighter look on the beef prices at the factories that shone over the past few weeks as supply continues to increase.

Intake last week was up 2,700 head on the previous week, and 5,000 head on 2025, with a combination of availing of higher prices and grass scarcity bringing out stock.

While the footballers of Mayo brilliantly defied the odds to bridge a 75-year hoodoo to win the Sam Maguire Cup on Sunday, the odds against beef finishers winning a battle on beef prices with the processors are shaping to be a little higher for the weeks ahead.

The July boost on prices at the factories, which was very welcome, is now coming under challenge from the processors trying to reclaim the ground as more finished cattle come to the market.

After a move to apply the brakes to the upward trend on prices last week, the processors' approach this week is to begin a clawback of the ground on prices which they conceded earlier in the month to secure supplies.

Most of the stock going through the factories' kill line this week is expected to hold last week's prices, but a reduction of 10c/kg is the order of the day from the factory bosses for steers and heifers being booked in this week.

There are some variations between the factory quotes across the country, but the general run for new bookings of steers is 650-655c/kg and heifers on 660-670c/kg.

The R grade cows are being quoted at 630c/kg and R grade young bulls maintaining a lead on steers at 670c/kg in general for R's.

"The processors are likely to adopt a softly-softly approach to cuts this week and maybe next week because this week the Mayo celebrations and Galway Races will likely impact on supply, and the August bank holiday on Monday means a short working week also," one analyst summed up.

They added: "After that, my belief is that producers will be facing a battle to hold on to the current run of prices as supply strengthens into the autumn weeks and the processors will be more in control".

The next couple of months are critical for the summer-autumn grass finishers who paid high prices for the forward stores earlier in the year on an assumption the trade would equal or better the run in 2025.

The fear is that the next couple of months will be a challenge for them as they battle with the processors on returns, but a bad outcome a disaster for confidence in the sector.

The supply of 29,688 last week included 11,005 steers, 8,499 heifers, 7,703 cows and 1,815 young bulls.