Beef trade: Hints of imminent price drop fail to materialise

Herdsmen are having to weigh up the balance between holding on to stock longer to add a few kilos against the risk of a lower return if the processors are successful in tightening prices

Three February '21 born Angus-cross bullocks with an average weight of 345kg sold for €880 each at a sale in Skibbereen Mart. Picture: O'Gorman Photography.

The trade for beef remained steady at factories across the country as processing resumed for a shortened working week following the Bank Holiday on Monday.

The factory bosses appear to have tightened their rein on further upward movement in the cost of animals and suppliers are holding out against any reversal in their returns from the processors in the knowledge that the need for cattle has not changed.