QMS Market Report – July 2010

The average deadweight price for a steer is 5.5% below the start of the year and 5% down on a year ago.

Cull cow prices in contrast are little changed from the start of the year but have slipped in the past month. Beef sired cull prices remain some 8% below year earlier levels, but dairy cull cows are marginally more expensive than in the same week of 2009.

Lower cattle prices in 2010 than 2009 may be explained by UK and Irish slaughter statistics. In the first five months of 2010 UK abattoirs slaughtered 5% more prime cattle than last year and 10% more cull cattle. In contrast the Scottish prime cattle kill fell 0.6% in the first half of 2010 while the cull kill was up by more than 6%. Irish cattle slaughterings in the first third of the 2010 were more than 15% higher than last year. Higher slaughterings have meant that more product is available on the market and, combined with weak consumer confidence, this has held back prices.

The recent strengthening of sterling, from €1 = 90p in March to €1 = 83p in early July, is placing downward pressure on market prices by making Irish product more competitive at home and Scottish product less competitive in the European market.