THE EXPORT of live cattle jumped by 94 per cent last year, according to the latest statistics from the Irish Food Board. It said more than 286,000 head of cattle were exported last year, with an overall value in excess of €157 million.
It said 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 is the export of forward stores and finished cattle to the UK. This market recorded the greatest increase in 2009, rising by 159 per cent.
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.
Earlier this week, 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 per cent higher last year than in the South, compared to a only 1 per cent higher the previous year,” Mr Brickley said.