The country basked in sunshine over the weekend and the good weather has helped the beef trade stay on a positive course.

Monday’s quotes are unchanged. As one agent put it to me, it’s a case of steady as it goes with nobody rocking any boats at the moment.

Bullocks are working off €4.10-€4.15/kg, while heifers are generally being quoted at €4.15/kg.

Bigger, more regular customers are still able to squeeze more out of the market, with €4.20/kg on the table to these bigger suppliers.

Angus and Hereford bonuses are also available, with between 10c/kg and 25c/kg being paid for suitable in-spec cattle.

Flat prices of as high as €4.60/kg have been paid in the last week to secure a load of Aberdeen Angus progeny.

Shed cattle

Shed cattle are expected to be finished over the next week or 10 days and this has made some factories more anxious to keep in with some of the bigger bull feeders.

Under-16-month bulls are a little livelier, with more factories quoting €4.15/kg to get them.

There are still a few managing to buy bulls at €4.10/kg but higher quotes are available if you shop around.

Under-24-month bulls are also going well, with €4.25/kg generally being quoted for U grades and €4.15-€4.20/kg being quoted for R grading bulls.

I have heard of €4.30/kg being paid for U grades where bigger numbers were involved.

Cows

The cow trade is also steady, with factories still competing very strongly for finished cows in marts.

Wholesalers are the main opposition here, with NI agents still active for good-quality suckler-bred cows.

Good R grade cows are generally being quoted at €3.70-€3.80/kg, with suckler O grades working off €3.60-€3.70/kg.

Friesian O grading cows are back at €3.50/kg, with P grades generally working off €3.30-€3.40/kg depending on flesh and cover.

Finished cattle

Finished cattle numbers remain in short supply, with a four-day kill this week helping factories to manage supplies for this week and next.

A pinch in numbers is expected as we get to the end of June, with a number of factories currently planning ahead for numbers from the second half of June onwards.