Price increases across all grades

Marts: Beef prices increased by an average of 3c/kg (1p/lb), while individual factories paid up to 6c/kg (2p/lb) more for cattle, despite an upward trend in supplies for last week.

The average for R4L bullocks increased to 286c/kg (102p/lb), while the average for R4L heifers increased to 292c/kg (104p/lb) after more than half the factories increased prices by 3c-6c/kg (1p-2p/lb)

Beef prices benefited from an immediate reaction to the foot-and- mouth outbreak in Britain which resulted in a ban on meat exports, creating increased demand in home and export markets for Irish processors.