Beef market report: Immediate Brexit blow of 5-10c for cattle sellers

The sharp fall in the sterling exchange rate, following the British referendum on EU membership, had immediate effect on livestock prices for Irish farmers.

Because of the reliance on the British market for about half of Ireland’s beef exports, there was beef price uncertainty in the air as soon as the value of sterling against the Euro plummeted, when the referendum outcome shock filtered through on Friday morning.

Speculation on the extent of the impact for the beef price raged over the week-end, as cattle farmers nervously awaited the weekly beef price quotes on Monday.