Cattle prices withstand weather deterioration

THE rapid deterioration in the weather which has seriously affected the western half of the country over the past two weeks has boosted supplies of cattle to the beef factories.

Although the intake last week jumped 4,000 head higher than the same week in 2010, the higher supply is likely to be very short-lived, and prices for cattle have hardened at a number of the factories this week.

The base price quoted for steers ranges from 350 to 353 cent/kg (125p to 26p/lb) and processors are generally paying up to 3 cent/kg (1p/lb) on top of the quotes.