The Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC) has found that cattle throughput in Northern Ireland plants during the first half of 2024 was up 3.3% on 2023 levels.
LMC said that when looking at the details, the rise consisted of an increase of almost 2% head of steers, 6% head of heifers and 4% head of young bulls. It also found that cattle slaughterings had totalled 249,806 head between January and June 2024.
Agricultural market analyst Claire McAnearney said: “The heifer category reported the largest increase in slaughterings year-on-year with 4,506 head more processed in NI plants.
“The increased supply of heifers may have played an influential factor on the slightly softer trade which saw prices fall by 1.4p/kg to an average paid price of 480.7p/kg for a R3 heifer during the first half of 2024.”
Also worthy of note, said LMC, was the differential in the average price paid for an R3 heifer between NI and the Republic of Ireland (ROI). It observed that it had increased “significantly”, with NI reporting a 32.1p/kg lead on average over that of ROI for 2024 to date when compared to the same period in 2023.
A year-on-year increase of 708 head of cows brought the 2024 cow slaughter total to 54,862 head for the first half of this year, with LMC reporting that the category had a “major shift in trade”. McAnearney supported this, stating: “Cow trade in NI has weakened significantly this year to date, when comparing the average price paid for an O3 grading cow over the first half of 2024 to the first half of 2023, O3 cow prices have dropped 48.2p/kg on average.”
LMC set this out in real terms, explaining that for an O3 cow with a carcase weight of 280kg, a producer would have received £1,085.28 during the first half of 2023 compared to £950.32 this year for the same animal - a reduction of £134.96.
McAnearney concluded: ”With increased throughput of cattle presented for slaughter and depressed consumer demand recently due to the poor weather conditions so far this summer, the deadweight cattle trade in NI has effectively weakened over the first half of this year. Ultimately, producers are getting reduced returns for their produce in 2024 than what they earned during the same period last year.”
