The Beef Carcase Classification and Price Reporting Annual Report for 2025 was recently published by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).

The report contains a huge level of data on the Irish beef industry and shows different trends that have been materialising over the past decade.

The report gives details on carcass pricing, grades and fat scores on an annual basis and gives comparison tables for annual data over the past decade.

As well as breaking down the percentage of cattle in each grade and fat score by category (ie: young bull, bull steer, cow heifer), the report also gives detail on the numbers of cattle falling into each category.

The key areas covered in the report include:

Annual cattle slaughter and export data;
Carcass weights;
Carcass classification results;
Summary of prices reported;
Beef carcass classification and price reporting inspections;
Data on pig carcass classification checks.

The report notes that the number of cattle slaughtered at DAFM beef plants reduced by 226,860 in 2025 to 1,592,861 compared to 2024's 1,819,721.

Key data in the report

The 2025 beef kill was the the lowest since 2015, when there were 1,564,055 cattle slaughtered.

The percentages of the 2025 beef kill were composed as follows:

Steers (38.7%);
Heifers (30.8%);
Cows (22.1%);
Young bulls 6.5% .

The number of young bulls slaughtered in 2025 was 103,716, this decreased by 3,911 compared to 2024 when 107,627.

Young bull slaughtering accounted for 13.9% of the overall adult male cattle slaughter in 2025 compared to 13.9% in 2024.

The report notes that number of young bulls slaughtered peaked in 2019 at 210,158.

The number of steers slaughtered in 2025 was 617,070. This marked a decrease of 69,137 compared to 2024, when 686,207 steers were slaughtered.

Steers accounted for 83.0% of the overall adult male slaughter in 2025 compared to 83.5% in 2024.

The number of heifers slaughtered in 2025 was 491,237. This was a decrease of 32,261 on 2024 when 523,498 heifers were slaughtered.

Heifers accounted for 58.25% of the adult female slaughter in 2025.

The number of cows slaughtered in 2025 was 352,022. This marked a decrease of 99,199 on 2024 when 451,221 cows were slaughtered.

The number of veal carcasses at DAFM-approved plants fell by 17,263 to 5,815 in 2025 compared to 23,078 in 2024, with a large drop of 17,545 in the under-8-month (V) category.

The total number of bovines slaughtered in low throughput plants in 2025 was 83,627.

Live exports, carcass data and pricing

The report states that 29% of bovine slaughtering took place in the first quarter of 2025, compared to 25% in the previous year.

Live exports of calves (0-3 months) increased by 22,613, while exports of weanlings, stores and finished cattle all reduced in 2025.

The 2025 average cold carcass weights for steer, heifer, cows and young bulls increased in all categories.

In 2025, 59.8% of steers, 52.8% of heifers, and 43.9% of young bull carcasses weighed between 280-380kgs, while 19.1% of steers, 6.0% of heifers, and 35.5% of young bull carcasses were greater than 400kg.

The majority of steers (62.6%), heifers (52.5%), and young bulls (54.3%) fall into fat class 3.

A total of 61.7% of cow carcasses were graded P, compared to 65.1% in 2024.

Beef price increased in all categories in 2025, with 'U3' young bulls, 'O3' steers, 'P3' cows, and 'O3' heifers rising by 37.2%, 41%, 50.5%, and 38.2% respectively in 2025 over 2024 prices.

The average steer price difference between conformation class 'E' and 'O' is 30c/kg while the average steer price difference between conformation class 'O' and 'P' is 35c/Kg.

Stay tuned to Agriland for further updates and analysis on this report.