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Farmers remain on the front foot when it comes to selling cattle, with factory agents eager to lock in supplies.
Official quotes have increased for the third consecutive week, as an additional 2p/kg puts U-3 grading animals on 466p to 476p/kg.
Higher quotes have increased the value of cattle sold through breed schemes, such as Aberdeen Angus, although the prices paid at local plants still fall short of deals for conventional cattle.
An uplift in beef prices in Britain has also seen NI cattle sold through the Tesco Angus scheme rising in value, with R3 grading animals currently returning close to 520p/kg for hitting all bonus specifications.
For conventional cattle, prices are positive, with multiple reports of deals from 490p to 494p/kg on in-spec steers and heifers. Larger finishers handling bigger numbers and able to deliver animals on a regular arrangement have indicated deals of 500p/kg have been paid.
Young bulls are returning 484p and 486p/kg for animals meeting age, conformation and carcase weight limits.
Some factory agents have tried talking the trade down on the back of poor weather over the past week.
While marts did see more cattle offered for sale, it generally applied to light and mid-weight stores and prices were unaltered.
Mart managers state slaughter-fit cattle are in short supply and prices above 300p/kg are being paid for good-quality animals.
Weather is set to improve over the next two weeks and should relieve the pressure to offload cattle earlier than planned on beef units.
Last week, the average price paid on steers and heifers of all grades increased by 2p to 480.1p/kg. Steers at U3 conformation eased by 0.2p to 488.3p/kg, with heifers fractionally lower on 492.6p/kg, while bulls were up 1p to 481.9p/kg.
Cows
Quotes for cows are up 5p, with 375p/kg available on O+3 animals and deals running to levels between 380p and 400p/kg for good-quality suckler types.
NI sheep: factories try to pull lamb prices
Bigger shows in the marts this week had little impact on lamb prices, with most sale averages unchanged or marginally lower.
That hasn’t stopped plants from pulling quotes by 10p/kg to 600p/kg, although reports indicate 615p is available midweek.
Marts
In Gortin, a good trade saw lambs sell to £153.50 for 25.5kg, £150 for 32kg, with 22.5kg at £127.50.
Kilrea sold a big show of 1,500 lambs from 555p to 616p/kg, down 7p/kg for heavier sorts. The best lambs at 24.5kg made £148, 23kg at £138.50 and stores at 17kg made £96.50.
In Markethill, a big sale saw 1,790 head make 540p to 586p/kg, no change on last week, with £126.50 for 21.5kg and 21.2kg at £120.
Heavy lambs at 24.9kg made £137, 25.1kg at £136, with light store lambs at £76 and £100.50 and 17kg at £102.
In Saintfield, 960 head sold from 545p to 600p/kg, down by 10p for heavier lambs. Prices hit £140 for 30kg Suffolks, £139 for 26kg Charollais with the main run from £120 to £139.
In Ballymena, lambs at 24kg made £127, 22kg at £118 and 21.5kg at £118.
Fat ewes
The mart trade for fat ewes is strong this week. In Gortin, ewes topped £270, with a run from £140 to £240. In Markethill, top price was £200, with good-quality sorts from £120 to £188, with plainer lots from £80 to £110. In Saintfield, top ewes made £218, with a run from £155 to £210.
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