Strong start to 2006 for beef prices

Marts: There has been a very strong start to the year on beef prices with an average of over 104p/lb being paid by the factories for R-grade animals - and almost 110p/lb for U-grade - for the first week of operation in 2006.

The margin between factories for similar grade animals has tightened, with the top price paid for R4L bullocks slightly more 1p/lb above the average for the grade and the highest individual factory average less than 2p/lb above the national average.

The strong export market has been underlined by the factory demand for cattle resulting in a kill of 22,415 head for the first week of 2006 compared to 5,906 head during the opening week of 2005.