2023 Steer and heifer prices finish year up almost 5% on 2022
Beef throughput for the year is expected to reach around 1.73m head for the year, which is a decline of around 40,000 head on 2022.
The country's beef processors paid an average of just shy of 5% more for steers and heifers across 2023 production, while young bulls returned a slightly higher increase to suppliers and the cow prices averaged only marginally more than the previous year.
While some of the production costs - mainly fertilisers - were lower than the previous year, the poor weather throughout most of 2023 severely impacted on animal performances and finishers struggled to make a decent margin.
