Factories try to hold at 308 to 311c

BEEF prices have made a strong start to the New Year, as supply tightens and cattle farmers adopt a harder sell approach.

The price improvement is also being fuelled by strong demand for cattle at the factories, to supply orders to replenish depleted stocks after Christmas.

Although prices are at least 10 cents/kg up on the same time last year, this has to be measured against a much higher cost of production this winter, following the substantial increase in the cost of concentrates on top of all round increases in most farm inputs over the past six months.