Beef prices have risen as supply continues to tighten. R-grade 4L steers are making around £3.87-£3.90/kg up to 400kg. Heifers are similarly priced, with premiums of 10p for U grades. Young bulls are still making a strong trade, with R-grade bulls getting around £3.78/kg, meaning there is only a 10p premium for heifers and steers.

Beef-sired cows were making £1.38/kg liveweight in marts over the last seven days, 2p back on last week.

The highest average price was at Thainstone where cull beef cows were going for £1.50/kg liveweight. Dairy-sired cows were making £1.07/kg liveweight up a penny on the week. The best trade for dairy cows was Dumfries, where they averaged £1.14/kg.

Over the last week there were 1,916 store cattle sold, a rise of over 300 head. As numbers slowly build, the price is holding steady, with an average of nearly £1,000/hd.

Continental steers between 10 and 14 months old at Forfar last week averaged £1,193/hd.

Elsewhere, figures from the Polish Institute of Agricultural Economics and Food Economy (IERiGZ-PIB) and AMI in Germany suggest that the Polish beef production could be slowing after a number of years of growth as Europe’s “low cost” producer.

The strong growth reported a few years ago of 13% is estimated to be only 1% in 2017. The Polish dairy herd was culled hard in the 2017 as the milk price dropped. But this has turned around as milk prices rise again, restricting beef supply. The smaller suckler sector in Poland is killing more cattle at home, as few are sent to Germany or Demark for finishing or slaughter. Nevertheless, most of the beef leaves the country, as the average Polish person eats only 2kg of beef a year.