Kills were steady during March and despite slaughterhouses complaining about losing significant amounts of money by having to pay high prices for live cattle, the kill levels were higher than had been anticipated.
Furthermore the indications are that the kills will be strong until the end of April. After that time the seasonal downturn is expected to kick in.
Despite the increased hides available we have seen a slight increase in prices across the different categories. This is believed to be due to firm demand for finished leather.
There has been much speculation in Ireland about kill levels from August onwards as live birth registrations from 2005 were 8% lower than 2004. Normally this ought to result in the kill falling by 8%. However, there is a school of thought that says that the change in farming methods over the past few years, where the average age of an animal has fallen from 28 months to 22 months, means that there will not be the expected shortfall.
It will be interesting to see how this works out from August onwards due to the effect on the market that an 8% drop in kill would have.
It has been fascinating to note that the recent scare in the UK over turkeys with bird flu has not resulted in extra significant demand for red meat. Some retailers are attributing this to the fact that red meat is much more expensive than poultry and the consumer would not switch to red meat because of the cost.
After months of static prices for cows there was an across the board interest for cows which has pushed the price of cows up significantly.
Prices at the middle to end of March were as follows:
36kg+ …………………………………………………… 87p
31/35.5 …………………………………………………. 95p
26/30.5 ……………………………………………….. £1.08
22/25.5 ……………………………………………..… £1.15
Cows went for £30.
Fellmongering hoggetts also increased in price during March due to the bigger size of skin with longer wool. They went from £1.80-£2.20.
Interest will soon switch to new season doubleface lambs but it will be at least another month before any become available.
