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Since mid-November the prices paid for beef cattle in NI are up by around 6p/kg to 7p/kg, and this has coincided with a slight softening of the trade in Britain, meaning that the gap in prices between NI and Britain has narrowed in recent weeks.
Steers
In the second week of November official price reports put steers across Britain 16.8p/kg ahead of NI, but by the week ending 17 December this difference had narrowed to 7p/kg.
A similar trend is seen for heifers, with the difference falling from 12.2p/kg to just 3p/kg in favour of farmers across the Irish Sea.
However, it is the cow trade where the biggest change has occurred.
In mid-November the average in Britain was 27p/kg ahead of NI, and this has since fallen to under 10p/kg, mainly due to higher prices being paid at local factories.
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