Lower prices at factories after producer resistance

Marts: Beef prices have dropped by an average of 3c/kg (1p/lb) at the factories after resistance from producers succeeded in holding returns above the quoted rates by the processors, with some of the 38,701 kill last week bought forward at the previous week’s prices.

Farmer paysheet returns show that the smaller processors continued to pay the strongest prices for stock, paying an average of 3c/kg (1p/lb) more than the larger processing groups for similar grade animals.

Nearly half of the factories paid at least 283c/kg (101p/lb) for R4L bullocks, with most of the remainder above 280c/kg (100p/lb) below which there were two factories.