Beef quotes continue to improve with demand now outstripping supply in most factories.

Steers have moved to between €3.85/kg and €3.90/kg with heifers moving to between €3.95/kg and €4/kg this week.

Cull cows have also moved up with as much as €3.70/kg paid for good-quality, well-fleshed, suckler-type cows.

Driven by northern customers, southern factory agents have upped the ante paying big money for factory-fit cattle in marts this week.

MartBids data shows that 600kg-plus cattle saw a further rise of 2c/kg on the week to settle at €2.47/kg this week. This is the equivalent to €4.49/kg at the factory gate on a 600kg animal with 55% kill-out.

Cattle to the UK

Situated along the border, Ballybay Mart in Monaghan has seen an influx of Northern Ireland customers in recent weeks and has recently exported cattle to the UK for direct slaughter. Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, mart manager Adrian Grimes said: “We are sending huge numbers north for direct slaughter every week to NI. It’s just a hop and a skip across the border so our location is a big benefit to us. The strength of sterling and a better NI beef price has also meant NI finishers have been very strong in purchasing cattle for further feeding over the last few months.”

Record retail demand and the British government’s plans to reopen hotels and hospitality in May has led to huge demand for beef

Across the water, the beef trade continues to improve with the price differential still over €300/head better compared to the Irish price. Larger finishers are currently getting €5.20/kg for in-spec bullocks with ADHB reporting prices almost 50c/kg ahead of last year. Record retail demand and the British government’s plans to reopen hotels and hospitality in May has led to huge demand for beef as food service supply chains start to restock.

Meanwhile, Cork-based livestock exporter Curzon Livestock is assembling Friesian bulls for a shipment to Libya later this month. The contract is for bulls weighing 250kg to 650kg.