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There were 1,398 prime cattle imported from the Republic into Northern Ireland for slaughter last month, compared with 234 in January 2018.
With another 198 head coming from Britain, cattle coming from outside Northern Ireland accounted for 5% of the country's prime cattle kill in January, according to the Livestock and Meat Commission.
Cow imports are also on the rise, with most coming from Britain.
Frustration
The Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) has expressed frustration that some meat plants have increased direct imports of cattle for slaughter when there are plenty of high-quality local cattle available.
“Farmers have been finding it difficult to book cattle into plants and now we know why.
"We understand meat plants make commercial decisions, but this demonstrates bad faith when the supply is there and processors still choose to import.
"Farmers are already struggling with margins and increased imports add to unnecessary queues and depressed prices,” said UFU beef and lamb chair Sam Chesney.
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