prices,
cattle trade,
exporters,
heifers
Cattle trade continues to strengthen
IFA National Livestock Chairman Angus Woods said the cattle trade continues to strengthen with strong demand for cattle from the factories, live exporters and also at the marts.
He said, at the factories the base price for steers is moving towards €4.10/kg and some factories are paying €4.20/kg for heifers for next week. He said in general this week €4.05/4.10 was the base range for steers and €4.15/4.20 for heifers.
The official Department of Agriculture prices for week ending 30 April show that the factories paid an average of €4.17/kg for R3 grade steers and €4.29/kg for R3 grade heifers.
He said some strong prices for bulls have also been offered with a flat R/U price of €4.15/kg. In general he said U grade bulls are making up to €4.20 and R grades on €4.05. Cow prices are also strong at up to €3.70 for R grades, €3.45/3.50 for Os and €3.35/3.40 for Ps.
Mr Woods said feeders selling cattle should push agents and factories hard on price as numbers are very tight and in high demand. He said factories are very concerned about the availability of numbers over the next two months before the grass cattle are available.