Exports of Irish live cattle show substantial increase

The exports of live cattle jumped 94% last year, according to the latest statistics from the Irish Food Board.

More than 286,000 head of cattle were exported last year, with an overall value in excess of EUR157 million (US$216 million).

The live trade consisted of two main components. Firstly there were exports to continental Europe, which comprised for the most part calves to the Netherlands and Belgium and weanlings to Italy and Spain. The second category was the export of forward stores and finished cattle to the UK. This market recorded the greatest increase in 2009, rising by 159%.

Almost 80,000 cattle were sent to Northern Ireland and 10,000 to Britain, up from just 33,000 and 2,000 respectively for the previous year.

Gerard Brickley of Bord Bia told the Dáil agriculture committee that the key reason for the increase in live exports to the UK was the widening in the differential paid by processors for slaughter-ready cattle in the Republic compared to Northern Ireland.

"The average price paid for standard grade cattle in Northern Ireland was 3.5% higher last year than in the South, compared to an only 1% higher the previous year," Brickley said.