In-spec heifers are top of the starting quotes this week, with most factories working off a €3.65/kg base for heifers.
Bullocks are being quoted 5c/kg lower at €3.60/kg, but deals are being done at €3.65/kg where bullocks and heifers are involved.
There is still good appetite in the trade for Hereford and Angus stock to fill retail orders and bonuses of between 10c and 20c/kg are being paid on top of the in-spec bonus of 20c/kg.
Bulls are a similar trade this week, with under-16-month bulls trading off €3.55/kg to €3.60/kg on the grid.
Older R grading bulls are at €3.50/kg to €3.55/kg, with U grades coming in on average 10c/kg higher at €3.60/kg to €3.65/kg.
Appetite for lower-grading bulls is poor, with €3.40/kg to €3.50/kg being quoted by some processors.
Cows in demand
Cows are still in good demand, with P+3 cows trading at €2.90/kg to €3.00/kg. O grading cows are generally moving at €3.00/kg to €3.10/kg, with good R and U grading cows trading for as high as €3.40/kg in some plants, depending on numbers and quality.
The mart trade appears to be back a little over the weekend, with plainer cattle easier to buy. Dry cows are also back, with high-end cows back closer to €1.90/kg, down 20c/kg on recent weeks' activity.
Export numbers
Numbers being exported across the border have fallen back to 225 prime cattle and 126 cows for the week ending 4 September 2020, from highs of over 800 weekly a number of weeks ago.
Last week, the Livestock and Meat Commission for Northern Ireland (LMC) has issued a warning to Northern Ireland farmers importing live cattle for further feeding from the Republic of Ireland to beware of the 'nomad' cattle issue and to make sure that farmers have talked to processors about processing these cattle before any purchases are made.
During August 2020, there were 3,194 cattle exported from ROI for further breeding and production on NI farms, which takes total cattle exports from ROI from 1 January 2020 to 31 August 2020 to 26,055 head.
This level of cattle import for breeding and production recorded during 2020 to date is almost double the 13,267 cattle exported from ROI during the same period in 2019 and is the highest level of export recorded since 2010.
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Watch: gearing up for annual in-calf heifer sale on Tullamore Farm