Despite little promotion of hindquarter roasting cuts by UK supermarkets in the run up to Christmas, beef has been moving well in recent months with no major backlog of stocks.

With factories well supplied with cattle it unfortunately didn’t lead to much of a price rise for farmers though it has in the north such is the demand for UK origin beef.

The reluctance of French retailers to display non-French beef has meant that market has been weaker in 2016 than we would have hoped while the overall weakness of the Italian economy plus plentiful supplies of cheap Polish beef has undermined that market for Irish beef.

Despite getting approval for manufacturing beef for the US, no product has been shipped yet as protocols on testing aren’t finalised and in any case the market has collapsed in value over 2016.

However elsewhere it is a more positive picture with Irish beef selling well in Germany, the Netherlands and Scandinavia.

The strong international demand, particularly from Hong Kong and the Philippines has meant more value coming into the lower value bulkier products with 70vl trims in particular recovering value in the second half of the year. Cold stores that had beef full are now seeing a steady outflow of product.