Prices back 3c/kg at factories

Marts: It has been a disappointing week for beef producers, during which the average price dropped 3 cent/kg (1p/lb), the largest decline in several weeks.

The turnaround in the trend has come at a time when producers were anticipating that strong markets for beef and tight supplies would deliver improved returns to compensate finishers for the higher production costs in 2008. Instead, processors cut into producer margins for last week’s kill, during which there was a slight reduction in supply — total intake down around 1,000 head at 28,321, and bullocks back to 12,725.

The pattern of decline was uniform across the grades. Exception to the trend was U grade bullock prices at Donegal Meats, where the average increased by 2c/kg to 356c/kg (127p/lb). The top price for U-grade heifers dropped 8c/kg to 352c/kg with Dawn (Midleton) paying the leading price.