Live export trade set to grow markedly in 2013
This wasn’t a big surprise, because high cattle prices here in Ireland made a lot of our cattle too expensive for shippers.
It may not be feasible to keep live exports at a high level every year. After all, it was the large increase in live export of calves during 2009 and 2010 that left a reduced supply of cattle in Ireland in 2012. The supply of finished cattle fell to a 10-year low, and with good demand for beef, 2012 prices rose enough to dampen the live trade.
