Last week's national beef kill has fallen by over 3,000 head of cattle when compared to cattle throughput figures from the previous week.

The figures, released by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), show that the number of cattle killed at DAFM-approved plants last week stood at 30,997 head of cattle - a drop of 3,042 head on the previous week.

Last week's drop in throughput can be attributed mainly to the fact that last Monday was a bank holiday and therefore left a four-day week.

However, this week's kill figures (published next Tuesday, August 17) will make for an interesting reading, because if the cattle throughput bounces back to a high enough extent, price cuts will likely remain in place.

The flow of beef cattle generally becomes stronger from now, towards the back end of the year by default, as grass cattle generally come factory fit in droves.

Despite this, throughput figures are significantly behind last year's levels and if weekly kill figures fail to bounce back to a reasonable level, price cuts would likely be reversed and an increase may even be back on the cards.

As expected, a reduction was seen across all categories as a result of the short week following the bank holiday.