A combination of tightening supplies and producers busy at fieldwork is leaving factory agents needing to work harder to maintain throughput.

As such, sellers are gaining more negotiating power, with a rising number of cattle traded today selling on a base of €4.10/kg for steers and €4.20/kg for heifers.

There are still significant numbers moving at the lower base of €4.05/kg to €4.15/kg, but this is becoming more confined to sellers handling low numbers.

Others are securing an in-between base of €4.08/kg for steers and €4.18/kg for heifers or allowances on transport.

Cow trade

Greater life is also being felt in the cow trade, where numbers on offer are the driving force in determining price.

P+3 grading cows continue to sell in the main from €3.30/kg to €3.35/kg, but sellers handling higher numbers have secured up to 10c/kg higher.

The same can be said of O grades, with the general run at €3.45/kg to €3.50/kg, but rising to €3.60/kg for large groups.

R grades are selling from €3.50/kg all the way to €3.70/kg, with cow-specialist plants really stepping up their activity in recent days.

Bull prices are slower to rise across the board, but it should be noted that a high percentage of those currently traded are coming from specialist finishers, who are securing well above quoted prices of €4.00/kg for R grades and €4.10/kg for U grades.

Prices 10c/kg higher are being paid, while bulls less than 16 months and trading on the grid have, in many cases, moved up to a base of €4.10/kg.

Rising UK trade

British beef prices continue to improve, with steers and heifers lifting a further 2p/kg to 4p/kg in the last week to 10 days.

The AHDB reports prices now running about 40p/kg above last year’s level, when prices followed a downward trajectory until the start of May. R4L steers are averaging around £3.65/kg (equivalent of €4.53/kg including VAT) with heifers 2p/kg lower.

Northern prices are holding strong, with agents looking to source numbers ahead of Balmoral Show later this week. Base U-3 quotes in most plants are starting at £3.50/kg (€4.34/kg), but most sellers are securing returns 5p/kg higher, while those trading at the top of the market are securing prices rising into the late £3.50s and early £3.60s.

Read more

In pictures: store heifers hit €1,400 in Balla Mart

In pictures: bullocks make €2.90/kg in Macroom Mart