Many finishers’ cattle are now being put on a two-week waiting list

The meltdown in beef prices at the factories continued this week with further cuts across most of the categories, knocking another slice off the returns to finishers.

Most processors have reduced the base price for steers by a further 5 cents/kg to 350 cents/kg, and the prices for heifers have been cut as much as 10 cents/kg, bringing the base to 355 cents/kg at some plants.