The beef price is being pulled back in many plants this week, as abattoirs blamed coronavirus for cutting capacity in plants. Some abattoirs have pulled 5p to 8p off their price, with many paying £3.75/kg to £3.85/kg for R grade continental cattle. While COVID is still affecting some abattoirs, the numbers are rising, with 17% more steers and 14% more heifers processed in Scottish plants week on week.

The official Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) price for R grading steers for the week ending 28 November was £3.94/kg, up 1p/kg on the week. Same-grade heifers fell 1p/kg to £3.92/kg and young bulls were up 1p/kg to £3.75/kg.

Finished cows were reported by the AHDB at £2.41/kg for an O-4, which is a fall of 7p/kg.

There are few store cattle coming to the market at the moment, with United Auctions’ Wednesday sale last week selling only 535 animals, with 303 steers averaging £2.11/kg (back 4p/kg) and 195 heifers averaging £2.04/kg (back 5p/kg). Dairy steers were making £1.67/kg and store young bulls were averaging £1.85/kg.

There was a sale of 348 store cattle at Thainstone last Friday, where steers averaged £2.18/kg, which was down 6p/kg. Heifers averaged £2.16/kg, which was back 2p/kg.

Caledonian Marts in Stirling had its fortnightly sale at the start of the week where it sold 286 cattle. Steers averaged £2.05/kg and heifers averaged £2/kg.

The lamb trade continues to go from strength to strength as abattoirs pay out £4.70/kg for R grade lambs up to 21kg. The official AHDB price for R grade lambs was £4.76/kg, which is a jump of 13p/kg. Across the UK, just under 50,000 lambs were killed, which is similar to last week.

The live trade in the ring looks to have steadied, with prices of £2.20/kg at St Boswells, £2.21/kg at Lanark and £2.16kg Ayr on Monday. Last week’s prime lamb sale at Thainstone averaged £2.07/kg and at United Auctions it was £2.16/kg.

According to AHDB figures, the average price of a deadweight lamb has risen £8.40/head on the year and is sitting at over £15/head more than the five-year rolling average.

The store lamb trade has also followed the upward trajectory. Speaking to one store lamb buyer this week, he sat at the ringside for nearly three hours and didn’t make a bid as the prices were so high. The sale at United Auctions Stirling he attended had 35kg lambs typically making £87/head, which is up £11 on the week.

Texel-cross lambs at the sale averaged £83.09/head, which was a rise of £13.24 on the week. Even mule store lambs were making £79.60, which is up nearly £10/head on the week.

Thainstone sold over 2,400 store lambs on 1 December, which averaged £78.68/head for mainland and £73.18/head for island sheep. The average price was up £13/head compared to last year.