Given the increase in the number of finished animals being sold through marts in recent weeks and months, some beef factories have chosen to instil some confusion into the criteria for meeting the in-spec bonus payment.

There have been a number of calls to the Irish Farmers Journal over the last few weeks around the criteria being employed by some factories.

The question around whether a mart movement in the case of the animal not being sold and returning back to the owner’s farm counts as one of the four farm residencies has come up on a number of occasions.

Some factory agents have highlighted to finishers that this could pose a problem.

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, Bord Bia’s Joe Burke clarified the situation. “Regarding qualifying for the in-spec bonus, in this scenario, this would not be classified as a new farm residency. It’s also not normally viewed as a resetting of the clock for the 60 days on a quality-assured (QA) farm. The animal’s QA status would not be affected in that case.”

Factory agents have been more active around mart ringsides this week as they turn to marts once again to find numbers.

Factories have tried to exert more pressure on the trade this week, with some talk of €4.80/kg being quoted for bullocks but very little being bought at that price. Most bullocks are moving at €4.90/kg with heifers being bought from a base of €4.90/kg to €5/kg.

The British beef trade continues to improve with R4L heifers hitting €5.70/kg last week which is now 50c/kg to 60c/kg ahead of the Irish price or almost €200/head on a 380kg heifer. Prices have also steadied across Europe after coming under pressure for the last few weeks.