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In the last normal week of trade before Christmas, the price difference between Irish R3 steers and their British equivalent was 66c/kg, which works out at €250/head on a 380kg steer. This compares with a 90c/kg gap in the same week last year.
The gap between Northern Ireland and prices in Britain closed to 7p/kg (8.2c/kg) in the middle of December 2016 compared with the same period last year when the gap was 29p/kg (39c/kg @73p=€1).
On heifers, the gap between prices in Ireland and Britain closed to 53c/kg in December 2016, while on cows there was a reverse trend of a positive difference, with Irish O3 grade cows worth 13c/kg more than their British counterparts.
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