The beef trade shows no signs of slowing down this week with quotes up another 10 cent/kg this week across the board.

A number of finishers have been quoted a €6.50/kg base price this week for heifers with €6.40/kg on offer to anybody with cattle so sell.

Bullocks are working off base prices of between €6.30 and €6.40/kg. Flat prices of €7/kg and over have been paid for larger loads of continental heifers this week in the south of the country.

Factories are also very active looking for Aberdeen Angus heifers with breed bonuses of as high as 30 cent/kg on offer for in-spec heifers.

Cows

Top quality U grading cows are selling for as high as €3.70/kg in marts with factory agents very active for well-fleshed cows.

O+ suckler cows are generally working off €5.70/kg to €5.80/kg, while O grading dairy cows are being bought at €5.60/kg to €5.70/kg, depending on the factory.

R grading cows are being quoted at €5.90/kg to €6.00/kg and higher money is available where numbers are involved.

P+3 cows are working off €5.50/kg to €5.60/kg, depending on weight, age and flesh.

Well-fleshed U grading cows continue to command top prices of €6.00/kg to €6.20/kg and over for young, fleshed heavy cows. Factory agents are paying the equivalent of €6.40/kg deadweight and over it in marts to secure top-quality fleshed cows.

Bulls

Under-24-month bulls are still working off €6.60/kg to €6.70/kg for U grading bulls and higher where larger numbers are involved.

R grading bulls are at €6.50/kg to €6.60/kg, while O grading bulls are being bought at €6.40/kg to €6.50/kg.

Under-16 month bulls are working off a base price of €6.20/kg to €6.30/kg before any QA bonus or grid payments are added.

Quotes in England and Scotland have also kicked on in the last week, with Scottish quotes for R4L bullocks coming in at 630p to 640p/kg (€7.97/kg to €8.10/kg incl VAT).

Strong beef prices in NI and a scarcity of forward store cattle is also driving more and more finishers south of the border to purchase store cattle with some very big prices paid for heavy cattle in marts in the last week.