The Irish factory cattle supply is forecast to fall by approximately 87,000 head this year according to Bord Bia projections.

Speaking at the Bord Bia Meat Marketing Seminar which took place at the Killashee Hotel in Naas, Co. Kildare, today (Friday, January 17), the Bord Bia beef sector manager Mark Zieg highlighted that beef supplies are expected to fall by 5% this year.

He said that in 2024, the total beef kill stood at 1.8 million head which was up 22,000 head or 1% on 2023 kill numbers.

The increase last year came from a rise of 3,000 head in the prime kill, a rise of 29,000 head in the cow kill and a drop of 9,000 head in the other category (Veal and bulls over 24 months).

Looking to 2025, Zieg said that the supply of prime cattle is forecasted to drop by 64,000 head with a drop of 8,000 head forecasted in the cow category and a further drop of 15,000 head forecast in the other category this year.

The bar chart below details the Irish beef kill from 2017-2024 and the forecasted beef kill for 2025:

The majority of this drop in supply is expected to materialise in the first half of the year with the reduced supply less apparent in the second half of the year.

The table below details the forecasted 2025 beef supply for each of the four quarters of the year compared to 2023 and 2024:

As the table above indicates, supplies are forecast to drop by 8% and 7% in the first and second quarters of this year respectively followed by a less severe 1% and 2% in the final two quarters of the year.

Zieg also outlined that average carcass weights declined across all categories in 2024 with steers and heifers falling by 6.3kg and 6kg respectively and young bulls and cows back by 2.6kg and 3.4 kg respectively.

Average grades have also declined in 2024 with 71% of cows grading a P, 18% of cows grading an O and 10% of cow grading an R in 2024.

Looking at the 2024 steer kill, 50% of steers graded an O with 28% grading an R and 10% grading a U.