Beef marts: Beef price picks up as supply trend changes

Beef processors’ willingness to concede on prices in order to attract supplies of cattle this week indicated strong demand on export markets for Irish beef.

After record cattle intakes in February and early March, there has been a slight easing in the flow of cattle to factories over the past two weeks, which appears to have been sufficient to put some pressure on processors to improve price offers to farmers.

Quoted base prices for steers this week are 380-385 cents/kg, with the lower end of the scale more applicable in the south of the country.