Downward price slide easing

THE downward slide in beef prices has eased at the factories, with quality heifers showing a marginal recovery for last week, and the average fall in bullock prices easing to the smallest weekly decline in more than a month.

Farmer pay sheet returns from the factories showed R3 bullock prices dropped by an average of around 0.5p/lb and the average for R3 heifers was marginally higher than the week before.

However, the average for O3 grade was down 1p/lb for bullocks and over 2p/lb less was paid for O3 grade heifers, which overall showed that on the mix, the factories paid less for the intake than the previous week.