An uneasy truce between farmers and beef factories has seen the meat factories hold the price they are paying for steers at above €2.52/kg (90p/lb) yesterday and on Monday.
There was a very low level of trading in cattle over the past two days since the ending of the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) protest at the Kepak factory in Athleague, Co Roscommon, over the company's attempt to pay less than €2.52/kg for steer beef.
There is unease in the processing industry that the IFA believe it has established a base line price for cattle before the annual autumn slump in prices which normally happens from the end of September.
Over 35,000 cattle were killed in Irish factories last week, about 5,000 more than in the previous week but by early October, this figure could go well above 40,000 per week.
That is when farmers no longer have grass to fatten their cattle and would have to supplement grass feed, which would cut into profits.
While there has been major advances in addressing this seasonality problem in the industry, the autumn markets here are over subscribed with cattle despite a drop in the number of cattle in the country.
However, the four major factory groups operating in the State are very aware that beef farmers can be volatile and so can their leadership, especially as an IFA election year approaches.
In 2000, the IFA mounted its famous "pickade" on the beef plants, shutting them down for over a month but incurring the wrath of the courts which fined the organisation heavily.