AIBP pays top beef price increases
Four AIBP factories - Rathkeale, Nenagh, Bandon and Waterford - improved the average price paid for R4L bullocks by between 1.6p/lb (Rathkeale) and 1.1p/lb (Waterford), which brought the group average up to par with the national average of 107.5p/lb.
The farmer pay sheet returns from the highest individual factory price within the group was almost 108p/lb at Clones and the lowest was just over 107p/lb at Rathkeale.
The returns showed the average paid was slightly lower at just over 109p/lb. Overall 10 factories paid an average of 108p/lb or better, a further 10 paying over 107p/lb, while five purchased their supply for less than 107p/lb against a national average of 107.5p/lb, which gained 1 cent/kg on the previous week.
The top prices paid for bullocks was 111p/lb for U4H at Kildare Chilling just ahead of Donegal Meats. The average for O4L bullocks was 105.5p/lb. Contrary to perceptions of a tightening in supply, intake of bullocks climbed by a further 2,000 head to 19,420, out of a total kill of 36,709, but the stronger supply did not deter the upward price trend.
The average for R4L heifers was almost identical to that of the bullocks at 107.6p/lb with a top price just short of 111p/lb at Kepak, Clonee. Prices for O3 heifers averaged 105p/lb.
The trade for cows reached a new peak at 98p/lb for R grade animals at Euro Foods. Liffeys paid 95p/lb for O/P grades.
