Finished steers in Britain are making over €190 more than Irish cattle this week. Irish prices for R3 steers have a base quote of €3.85/kg for normal sellers, while R3 heifers are being quoted €3.95/kg.

However, R grade cattle are trading around €4.48/kg (inc VAT) in Britain. Allowing for the Irish QA premium to be applied, this would bring an R3 Irish steer to € 3.97/kg this week. With a price differential of 51c/kg on a 390kg steer carcase, cattle slaughtered in Britain are worth €193 more than Irish steers. On a 320kg heifer carcase, the price differential is around €130.