The lamb price cooled again this week, with most abattoirs paying around £4.90/kg for R grades with up to 22kg carcase weight.

The live market price spread has tightened, with most sales between £2.10 to £2.20/kg for lambs. The official Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) price for R3L lambs across the UK is £5.08/kg, down 7p.

At UA Stirling’s store lamb sale, Texels averaged £80/head, down £6; Mules £81, down £4; Mules £81, up £2; Suffolks £83, down £2; Beltex £83, down £5; Cheviots £72, down £1; and Blackfaces £60, down £4.

Dalmally Mart held a sale of 1,966 sheep, with store lambs averaging £55/head, up £4 on the week. Lochboisdale on North Uist sold nearly 2,000 sheep last week, with store lambs averaging £58/head, up £5 on the last sale.

Cheviot store lambs averaged £72/head, unchanged on the year, with Texel store lambs averaging £72, which was up £11

Newton Stewart held a sale of 791, with 465 Blackface ewes averaging £99/head, up £9 on the year, with a top price of £118 for a pen of 37.

Cheviot store lambs averaged £72/head, unchanged on the year, with Texel store lambs averaging £72, which was up £11. The Blackface lambs were selling at £49/head, which was unchanged on the year.

Caledonian Mart in Stirling held a sale of tups last week. Texel shearlings averaged £547, up £83 on the year.

Texels were £798, up £126; Suffolk £842, up £212; and Beltex-cross £673, up £58

Blueface Leicester shearlings averaged £804, up £194 on the year. Beltex and Beltex-cross shearlings averaged £487, which was up £136.

United Auctions held its tup sale, with shearling prices for Blueface Leicesters averaging £1,060, up £186 on the year.

Texels were £798, up £126; Suffolk £842, up £212; and Beltex-cross £673, up £58. Bluefaced Leicester ram lambs sold for £504, up £12; and Texels £562, up £192.

The Lleyn society held a special sale on the day too, where ewe lambs averaged £134, gimmers £180 and shearling tups £658.

Lanark held its Border Leicester sale of 113 sheep, with ram lambs averaging £561 and a top price of £3,000.

Steady beef trade

The beef price in Scotland looks static again, as farmers get paid between £4.10 to £4.20/kg for R grading steers.

The AHDB beef price for an R4L steer is at £4.22/kg, no change. Same-grade heifers were £4.22/kg, which is down 2p on the week.

The young bull price is £4.08/kg deadweight, down 1p/kg. Cows grading O-4L were down 6p to £3.08/kg.

United Auctions sold 994 store cattle, with steers averaging £2.25/kg and heifers £2.22/kg

Thainstone sold over 1,000 store cattle, with steers averaging £2.27/kg, up 4p; and heifers £2.28/kg, unchanged.

At the sale, native-bred steers averaged £2.18/kg and Aberdeen Angus averaged £2.37/kg. Native heifers were £2.16/kg and Aberdeen Angus £2.14/kg.

United Auctions sold 994 store cattle, with steers averaging £2.25/kg and heifers £2.22/kg.

Lawrie and Symington held its fortnightly sale at Lanark Mart, with 558 store cattle sold.

The steers averaged £2.15/kg and the heifers £2.10/kg.

Caledonian Mart Stirling held a store cattle sale, with 243 sold. The steers averaged £2.22/kg and the heifers £2.12/kg.

Fodder sale

The auction at Carlisle this week saw 4ft round bales going for £20/bale and Heston bales of wheat straw going for £80/t, which is down £5/t on the week.