Finished cattle numbers coming on to the market continue to increase, as more farmers look to offload animals before the start of the winter housing period.

Cattle supplies are also being inflated by a surge in cull cows coming from dairy and suckler herds. With an abundance of cattle on offer, cattle agents indicate they are fully booked for the next two weeks.

Priority is being given to farmers killing cattle on a regular basis and to those with a good supply of in-spec animals.

Factories are working at capacity to try to deal with the oversupply of cattle. Some plants have reduced their lamb kill to focus more on processing cattle.

With farmers looking to book cattle facing delays, some cattle agents are reluctant to commit to a price on animals that are unlikely to be slaughtered until late October.

Where cattle agents are giving a price, the outlook is for the beef trade to remain reasonably steady, with the usual deals on offer for larger finishers.

Plants continue to work on a range of quotes from 348p to 352p/kg for U3 grading steers, with some plants offering a base of 354p/kg on heifers.

To be fair to processors, steady prices are to be welcomed given the oversupply of cattle in the market at present.

Last week, the average price paid on steers and heifers was 352.08p/kg, down by 0.7p/kg on the previous week.

The average price paid on U3 steers was steady on 359.9p/kg, with U3 heifers on an average of 364.8p/kg.

Imports from Ireland totalled 317 head last week and is similar to previous weeks. Exports of slaughter cattle to plants in Britain totalled 83.

Cows

Supplies of cull cows have increased significantly in recent weeks, putting pressure on price. Quotes have slipped by 5p/kg to 275p/kg for R3 animals with O+3 cows on 265p/kg.

Lamb trade

With bigger numbers of lambs on offer, the plants are hesitant on quoting this week. Where available, quotes are on 370p/kg, making a lamb worth £77.70 at the 21kg limit.

In the marts, there were smaller shows and while prices were down slightly on Monday, they increased by 6p to 16p/kg on Tuesday when compared with last week.

Kilrea sold 320 lambs from 320p to 328p/kg, unchanged for heavier lambs, but down 19p/kg for lighter sorts.

Massereene sold 896 lambs making from 325p to 360p/kg, down by 5p/kg.

In Saintfield, Tuesday’s sale saw 444 lambs making 326p to 365p/kg, up by 6p to 15p/kg.

At Rathfriland, 977 lambs sold from 318p to 402p/kg; averaging 338p/kg, up by 10p/kg on last week. The best lambs at 25kg and 26kg made up to £85/head. Store lambs were a very strong trade, with 19kg to 21kg making up to £74.

Ewes

The fat ewe trade has improved, with top prices up at some marts. Top price in Newtownstewart was £120 and, in Omagh, it was £75. Swatragh sold 480 head to £89. Top in Massereene was £92 for 187 sold. Saintfield sold 90 ewes to a top of £80. In Rathfriland, they made £90 for 170 sold.

In Ballymena, forward store lambs were a very good trade. The best Texels made from £70 to £75, with Suffolks selling to £70. Suffolk and crossbred hoggets for breeding sold to £145, with Cheviots and Blackface hoggets to £136.

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