A combination of robust retail beef sales, empty cold stores and reasonably tight finished cattle numbers has pushed factories to again lift their base cattle quotes this week to 358p/kg, which is a rise of 12p/kg over the past month.

However, while base quotes are rising, there is still a sizeable gap between quoted prices and actual prices paid. With cattle in demand, farmers have found themselves in a strong position to negotiate on price.

Deals are being made well ahead of base price with several farmers indicating that processors are working from a starting price of 360p/kg. Farmers who are more regular sellers are reporting deals being made at 364p/kg to 366p/kg for prime cattle.

Beef finishers with larger numbers of prime cattle, especially heifers, have been most successful when negotiating on price. Several larger finishers report deals of 370p/kg being paid towards the top end of the trade.

Market reports show that the average U3 price paid for cattle last week was 361.3p/kg for steers and 364p/kg for heifers, while official quotes were, at best, 356p/kg.

In the north of England, quotes for R4L cattle start around 366p/kg for steers and 368p/kg for heifers, while in Scotland, steers are on 373p/kg with heifers on 380p/kg.

Cattle forecasts in Britain indicate that kill figures for the second quarter of 2017 are expected to be well down on the first quarter, with only a slight increase coming from July to September.

The total kill for 2017 in Britain is expected to be down by 2% on last year, which should help to keep a firm floor in domestic prices in the short to medium term.

This time last year, beef markets were in a slump, with NI factories working off a base quote of 310p/kg. With a 50p/kg to 60p/kg increase in beef price since then, finished cattle are currently worth £175 to £210 more than 12 months ago.

The total yearly cattle kill in NI to date stands at just over 159,000 head, similar to the cattle kill for the same period last year.