The temporary closure of McDonald's premises from Monday evening and the announcement of further closures such as Supermac's temporarily ceasing trading from Thursday is resulting in a greater nervousness entering both the beef and sheep trades.

Factory agents have reduced the period for which they are willing to quote on the beef side, with many not quoting a price beyond Wednesday or Thursday for cattle being purchased from Monday onwards.

Cattle are still being booked in for slaughter, but without a guarantee on what price will be on offer.

Prices for cattle moving at the start of the week have reduced by 5c/kg in cases, with steer and heifer prices ranging from a base of €3.60/kg to €3.65/kg.

Agents say the move to restrict quotes to a shorter window is being taken to see how export markets perform in the coming days.

Sheep trade

A similar scenario is evident in the sheep trade, with a number of plants this evening not quoting beyond Tuesday's kill.

This comes after markets appeared to be strengthening at the end of the last week and over the weekend on the back of tighter supplies. Sheep purchased for the start of this week are trading at a range of €5.65/kg to €5.85/kg.

The upset in the market has occurred on the back of a number of orders being cancelled or reduced following tighter restrictions being put in place on the movement of people in key European markets and market disruption.

Factories are hopeful that markets will respond favourably in the coming days and provide more stability and a platform for deals to be completed.

An update on the trade and a better handle on where prices are will be published on www.farmersjournal.ie on Tuesday morning.