There’s a more positive mood to the beef trade this week.

After four or five weeks of pulling quotes, this week has seen a lot of factories on the same quotes as last week.

There was a thought in factory circles that quotes would bottom out at €7/kg, but the drop has stopped just short of that, with €7.10/kg freely available again this week for bullocks and €7.20/kg at the lower end of quotes for heifers. Higher quotes are available to farmers with numbers.

The tide turned over the weekend, with agents on the phone looking for cattle and on strict instructions to lose no cattle for this week.

Supplies of finished cattle remain very tight on the ground and a combination of improving weather conditions and the mood music pointing to more positive markets ahead left farmers with more confidence to hold on to cattle.

Bonuses

Flat prices of as high as €7.70/kg are back on the table for good-quality continental cattle.

Aberdeen Angus cattle are also in demand, with bonuses of 25c/kg available for in-spec stock.

The cow trade has also steadied up, with agents actively sourcing slaughter-fit cows in marts and buying cows for direct slaughter.

R grading cows are generally trading at €6.90/kg to €7.10/kg, while O grading cows are coming in around €6.80/kg to €6.90/kg, depending on weight and flesh cover.

P+3 grading cows are back to €6.50/kg in some locations, but €6.60/kg is available, especially where numbers are involved.

Bulls

Up to €7.50/kg is available at the top end for U grading bulls where numbers are involved, working back to €7.20/kg to €7.30/kg for O grades.

Under-16-month-old bulls are working off a base price of €7.10/kg, with a little more going to those with numbers.