Beef finisher farmers are in desperation, as some abattoirs cut another 5p/kg off the price paid for R4L steers, bringing it to £3.30/kg. Lack of demand for beef and poor value for the fifth quarter are being blamed by the processors for the depressed prices. Some abattoirs have trimmed the numbers of cattle on the kill line to help deal with the backlog of beef.

The official price published by the AHDB at abattoirs fell 7p/kg to £3.47/kg for R4L steers. The discrepancy between the paid price and the AHDB official price is, in part, down to same-grade Angus cattle getting £3.70/kg, with black cattle accounting for one third of the kill in Scotland’s larger abattoirs. The premium over the northern English price more than halved to 4p/kg for same-grade steers from 12p/kg.

Deadweight cow prices reported at abattoirs rose 3p/kg on the week, with the AHDB reporting a Scottish price of £2.54/kg for an O-4L carcase, which is the same as northern England. Around 1,200 bulls were slaughtered in Scottish abattoirs last week, with abattoirs paying under £3.10/kg for R grades. The AHDB reports the official price dropped 12p/kg again to £3.25/kg for an R4L.

One-hundred days since the start of April, lots of lambs are hitting weights on farm ready for killing. The AHDB official lamb trade tumbled 18p/kg to £4.33/kg for R3L new-season lamb in UK abattoirs. There was a rise of over 1,000 lambs coming on to the market, with almost 52,000 SQQ being killed across the UK. Numbers of new-season lambs sold through the live ring in Scotland were the same as last week, with 8,308 lambs. The average price for medium-weight lambs fell 4p/kg to £1.89/kg liveweight. Cast ewes through the ring were down 1,000 on the previous week at 3,800 head, as the average price didn’t change on the week at £67/head.