The beef trade is starting the week largely unchanged, with steers trading in the main on base of €3.70/kg with deals at the top of the market at a base of €3.75/kg.

Meanwhile, heifers continue to trade on a base of €3.80/kg, with supplies running above normal and restricting the potential for producers to secure an additional 5c/kg.

Numbers tightening

There are clear signs of numbers tightening, with agents in the west and midlands reporting the frequency of calls slowing in recent days.

On the other hand, numbers coming on stream in the east and south are, to date, picking up any flack with throughput remaining high.

Some agents forecast that when numbers do tighten significantly in the coming weeks, there could be a sharp decline in throughput, with many producers taking advantage of grass supplies and opting to turn out cattle to finish at grass rather than retain indoors.

Cows

There is more bite in the cow trade, with agents and specialist feeders increasing the intensity of competition in mart sales.

This is leaving good cows, in particular, a better trade in many sales than can be achieved by farmers sending small numbers direct to the factory.

P+3 grading cows range on average from €2.65/kg to €2.75/kg, with O grades from €2.80/kg to €2.90/kg.

However, there is a differential slowly opening up between what different plants are paying to dealers and finishers handling larger numbers.

R grading cows range on average from €3.00/kg to €3.10/kg, but 5c/kg to 10c/kg higher is being secured.

Likewise, U grading cows are tight in number and trading anywhere from €3.20/kg to €3.40/kg, with wholesalers driving the trade for young suckler-bred cows.

Bulls

The bull trade is stagnant. U grading bulls killing under the desired weight limit are trading from €3.55/kg to €3.65/kg, with bulls deemed overweight (440kg to 480kg-plus) facing cuts of 15c/kg to 30c/kg.

R grades range from €3.45/kg to €3.55/kg, while a high percentage of O grades are trading from €3.25/kg to €3.35/kg, with a 5c/kg shift either side of this price range.

British trade

The British trade is slowly turning a corner, with the latest AHDB price update recording prices increasing marginally by 1p/kg.

This leaves average steer prices running 10p/kg (12c/kg) behind prices paid in February 2019 and 25p/kg (29c/kg) behind the corresponding week in 2018.

Prices paid in March 2019 are running over 20p/kg behind March 2018, while the AHDB highlights average heifer and bull prices are running 24p/kg and 30.7p/kg behind 2018 levels, respectively.

R4L steers are currently trading at a base of close to £3.40/kg (€4.16/kg incl VAT at 5.4%) in the south of England to £3.50/kg (€4.28/kg incl VAT at 5.4%) in north England and Scotland.

Meanwhile, prices in Northern Ireland remain at a U-3 base of £3.32/kg to £3.36/kg, with regular sellers securing returns at the higher end of the market rising to £3.40/kg to £3.44/kg.