Beef finishers have experienced a decimation of their returns

'It would be a safer bet putting your money on a horse at Ballybrit this week than trying to turn a few euros on finishng cattle'

The base prices have further weakened this week, with the steers opening the trade at 465 cents/kg.

The unrelenting downward pressure of the beef processors on prices is becoming a serious concern for all categories of the sector as trade heads into the autumn.

Any confidence that had been regained via the strong prices in 2022 has been wiped out over the past two months during which the finishers have experienced the decimation of the returns they had expected.