The average Irish R3 heifer price is back 9.2c/kg from the 400.3c/kg paid in the week ending September 20, 2015, the latest figures from the Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC) show.

Ireland holds sixth place on the LMC’s EU deadweight cattle prices league table.

This latest heifer price placed it 0.4c/kg above the EU average price and 43.9c/kg lower than the equivalent price in Northern Ireland.

In the North for the week ending October 18, 2015, the average R3 heifer price was the equivalent of 435.0c/kg.

This latest heifer price is back 15.5c/kg from 450.4c/kg in the week ending September 20, however, the North continues to hold second place on the league table.

Looking to Britain, which retains the number one spot on the league table, the average R3 heifer price was the equivalent price of 475.2c/kg for the week ending October 18, 2015.

This was a decrease of 12.5c/kg compared to week ending September 20, when the heifer price was the equivalent of 487.7c/kg.

The decrease in British R3 heifer price resulted in the British/EU price differential widening from 95.2c/kg in the week ending September 20, 2015 to 84.5c/kg in the week ending October 18.

The euro was up at €1= 74.1p in the week ending October 18, 2015, according to the LMC.

EU deadweight cattle

Image: LMC

CSO figures put cattle slaughterings down by 9.5% in September

The number of cattle slaughtered in September 2015 was 9.5% lower than in September 2014, latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show.

A further comparison of September 2015 and September 2014 slaughtering figures also shows that sheep slaughterings decreased by 1.6%.

Looking at the figures for he first nine months of 2015 and comparing them to the corresponding period in 2014, there was a decrease in cattle slaughterings of 4.5%.