Factory buyers have turned to the mart sales to secure supplies

'Some of the factories are going outside their regular area and paying over the odds to get cattle, but the word is spreading and all finishers are adopting a tougher selling policy,' one source said

Prices continue to rise week-on-week as the factories struggle to source sufficient to meet the market demand and competition between the plants has intensified in their efforts to get finished cattle.

The demand for beef for the post-Christmas trade to supply consumer purchasing has reached an almost unprecedented level for early January, putting the processors under extreme pressure.

The supply for last week fell slightly shy of 30,000 head, which dropped short of the general requirement for market demand adding to the pressure on the factories to get more cattle.