Factory pressure on farmers to take less money for cattle continued this week as the kill increased to just under 32,000 head following the previous bank holiday week.

Bullock quotes are in general around €5.20/kg, with heifers being quoted at €5.30/kg, though some farmers are managing to dig in and squeeze a bit more.

Cows remain a strong trade and, as always with cows, there is a big gap between factories that are active in the cow trade and those that are not.

Upwards of €5/kg is available for U and R grading cows, with O grades 10c/kg less and P grades a further 10c/kg back.