Farmers have been advised to sell hard this Christmas period when doing deals with factories.
"Demand is outstripping supply and they're [factories] still very active for cattle. The market indicates that there's room for improvement in terms of price so sell hard is our advice," IFA livestock chair told the Irish Farmers Journal on Wednesday.
Hanrahan has advised farmers to know exactly what price they're getting due to large variations in quotes.
"Farmers need to be clear on the price because there are so many deals being given with the likes of transport being added to it," he said.
Demand
ICSA secretary general Hugh Farrell has said that factories are in "desperation for numbers".
"I think they're killing a lot of store cattle at the minute and I think if they were honest with farmers, they would have been feeding them all along. They're taking cattle that aren't fit for another few weeks. I think we need to know the kilos of the kill and not the number of heads," he said.
Quotes
Beef quotes for bullocks are working off €5.45/kg to €5.50/kg, while heifers are coming in at €5.50/kg to €5.55/kg.
When all factory, in-spec and breed bonuses are paid, some farmers may get as high as €6.15/kg for Angus heifers this week.
Flat deals of as high as €6.10/kg are also being done for bigger loads of continental heifers.
Cows
Quotes are increasing by the day for cows, with huge appetite out there for well-fleshed heavy cows, Adam Woods reports this week.
O+ suckler cows are generally working off €5.10/kg to €5.20/kg, while O grading dairy cows are being bought at €5.00/kg to €5.05/kg.
Bulls
Under-24-month bulls are still working off a €5.70/kg to €5.90/kg base price for U grading bulls and higher where larger numbers are involved.
Last week’s kill remained at 39,497 head, which is a similar number to the previous week.
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