Loss of export refunds spoils party

STRONG demand for beef is continuing to push up cattle prices paid by the factories. The supply of cattle to processors eased this week, after a very strong run over the past five weeks, but factory requirements remained high.

Quoted prices for cattle remained unchanged, and the prices actually paid were on a par with last week, at 280 cent/kg (100p/lb) for R grade, and 274 cents/kg (98p/lb) for O grade. However, some factories paid a flat price of 100p/lb for good mixes of R and O grade animals, where supplies were particularly high, and farmers bargained hard in direct deals to get a price which few managed to get last week.

It is a very strong ending to the year for cattle farmers, with the peak weekly intake for the year not being reached until December, and a continuous improvement in price from early November. The throughput of more than 44,000 head in the second week of December was the highest weekly kill since 2003.