Prices ‘into the red’

MORE pain was inflicted on cattle farmers, and their profit margins further cut, as factories reduced beef prices another 1p or 2p per lb, despite farmer protests.

Most factories this week quoted 88p and back as far as 83p/lb for R and O grade cattle, amid reports that some were attempting to impose even deeper price cuts.

But, as prices dropped to their lowest for 2004, and many farmers “moved into the red”, there were some slightly hopeful signs of a tightening in supply of under-age beef cattle.