Beef price: A review of the erratic changes in 2022 in Ireland

Most beef farmers will look back on 2022 as a positive year overall for beef prices, despite significant price fluctuation throughout the year. Factory quotes opened in January 2022 at approximately €4.30/kg on the grid for heifers, with 5c/kg less being quoted for steers. Fast forward to the last week of May 2022 and factories were quoting as high as €5.35/kg and €5.40/kg on the grid for heifers. This marked an increase of over €1/kg in beef price in less than five months. Factory quotes then began to gradually decline and bottomed out at the start of November at €4.55/kg on the grid for bullocks (steers). Advertisement Coming into the end of December, factory quotes have bounced back to €4.95/kg on the grid with €5.00/kg and above on the grid being paid for steers and heifers in some cases. Early indications would suggest the upward cattle-price trajectory will continue into 2023 as supplies of finished cattle are predicted to be scarce, for the opening few quarter at least. ...