Carcases grading R4L are being paid £4.22/kg for steers in most abattoirs, which is back 10p/kg on last week.

The official Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) Scottish beef price is again the highest on record at £4.32/kg for an R4L steer, which is a rise of 6p/kg.

Same-grade heifers were £4.35/kg, which is up 7p on the week. The young bull price was up 12p/kg to £4.26/kg.

Finished cows were reported by the AHDB at £3.07/kg for an 0-4L, which is up 3p/kg on the week.

Across marts in Scotland, cull cows averaged £1.53/kg, a rise of 2p, with 799 sold through marts.

Thainstone sold 1,720 store cattle last Friday, with steers averaging £2.54/kg, unchanged on the week, and heifers £2.52/kg, up 4p/kg.

United Auctions in Stirling sold over 2,000 stores, with steers averaging £2.53/kg and heifers £2.45/kg.

Lanark Mart sold 595, with steers averaging £2.69/kg, heifers £2.53/kg and dairy steers £2.13/kg.

Lamb price

Scottish abattoirs are paying £6.40/kg for lambs this week, as the price steadies.

The live ring for hoggets steadied at £2.80 to £3/kg at Monday’s sales at Ayr, Lanark and St Boswells, which all averaged £2.82/kg to £3/kg, and Tuesday’s sales all under £3/kg.

New-season lambs are making £3.30 to £3.70/kg liveweight for the few that are being sold.

Last Thursday, United Auctions at Stirling sold nearly 5,000 hoggets, which averaged £2.82/kg, down 15p/kg, and 139 spring lambs, which averaged £3.35/kg.

Across Scotland, the average for the week ending 1 May was £2.84/kg for medium-weight hoggets, down 13p/kg. Spring lamb averaged £3.37/kg for the 144 that were sold.

The AHDB price for across GB for the same week was £6.50/kg for an R3L carcase, which is down 30p/kg.

The kill across the UK is down to 17,500.

The new-season lamb price is £6.85/kg for an R3L for the 4,340 killed last week.

The ewe price in Scotland is £100/head, which is up £3 on the week for just near 4,000 sold.

Thainstone sold over 2,200 ewes with lambs at foot this week, which averaged £67/life, down £10, with a high of £114/life.

ANM ran a sale of 20 rare breed pigs, with a highest price of 80gns for a Saddleback sow.

Fodder sale

Snowy weather and cold temperatures are delaying turnout across much of Scotland.

Thainstone sold 1,845 bales of fodder, with 4ft inside barley straw selling for £16/bale, up £1.50, and hay £15/bale, down £2.50.

Carlisle Mart was selling mini hestons of wheat straw at £120/t, which is down £30/t on the week, and round bales were making £25/bale.