The new year has seen changes to the cattle purchasing team at Liffey Meats beef processing outlets.
Co. Offaly man, Robert Cole, has departed from his role as head of cattle procurement at Liffey Meats headquarters in Ballyjamesduff, Co. Cavan.
Cole was a familiar face to farmers supplying cattle to the factory, and he had been based there for the past 14 years.
He stepped into the role in 2010, replacing Jonathan Forbes who was moving to join the procurement team with Kepak at the time.
It is not yet known what Cole’s next move will be, and it remains to be seen if he will stay in the livestock procurement business, or if he will move into a different field of work.
Meanwhile, Co. Roscommon man, Sean O’Beirne has stepped into the lead cattle procurement role at the Ballyjamesduff site.
O’Beirne will be a familiar face to many Liffey Meats suppliers, as he was previously based at the Liffey Meats site near Ballinasloe, Co. Galway, but also worked at the Ballyjamesduff site from time-to-time.
Filling in for O’Beirne in Ballinasloe, is Co. Galway man Ian Connelly, who previously worked at both Liffey Meats and Kepak.
Cattle trade news
Looking at beef prices for this week and the new year has started off on a positive note for Irish beef price, with further increases seen in the price offerings from a number of processers across the country.
Procurement staff have said that the demand for beef was “good” over the festive period, and this is helping to add further increases to the beef price.
January of last year (2023) seen steer price open at approximately €5.00/kg on the grid, and this had increased to €5.20/kg on the grid by the end of the month, generally speaking.
It remains to be seen whether the same trend will materialise this year, but the mood is certainly one of optimism for prices going forward.