Factories are finding it a small bit harder to get stock, as farmers take advantage of the weather and catch up on field work that they couldn’t get to over the last number of days.

This hasn’t affected prices a huge amount.

Steers are selling at base prices between €3.75/kg and €3.80/kg. There are a small number of deals where steers have sold for up to €3.82/kg.

Base prices for heifers are generally around the €3.85 to €3.90/kg mark, with some heifers reaching €3.95/kg.

Cows

Cow prices remain on a par with last week, with P+3 grading cows continue to trade anywhere from €3.10/kg to €3.25/kg.

O grading cows continue to trade in the main from €3.25/kg to €3.35/kg.

R grades are selling from €3.35/kg to €3.45/kg in general, while U grade cows are selling from €3.50/kg to €3.60/kg.

Bulls

There’s a very small number of bulls trading this week and are coming mostly from specialist finishers.

There has also been a fair bit of variation in price. Generally, R grades are selling at €3.80/kg, while U grades are selling at €3.90/kg.

Some specialist finishers are seeing prices 5c to 10c higher than those quoted above.

The top U-grade bulls are breaking through the €4.00/kg barrier.

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In pictures: weather hits cattle price in Drumshanbo

In pictures: cull cows sell to €2,240 at Balla Mart