Demand for lamb has increased this week, with some abattoirs offering £6.05/kg this week for R grading carcases up to 22kg.

Prime sales in marts remain strong, with many averaging close to £2.80kg liveweight.

The official Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) price for R3L lambs across the UK is £5.01/kg, which is up 2p/kg for the week ending 20 November.

Thainstone sold 2,292 store lambs to an average of £89/head, down £3.

The top price was £123/head for a pen of Texels.

Orkney Mart sold store lambs for an average of £84, down £3.50.

Lochboisdale in the Outer Hebrides sold store lambs for an average of £69/head. Oban Mart sold 1,563 store lambs to a top of £104/head.

The cull ewe price in Scotland averaged £79/head for the week ending 20 November, again unchanged on the week, for the 9,193 sheep sold.

Beef price

Many beef farmers are getting a rise of 2p/kg in abattoirs this week, with slaughterhouses offering close to £4.20/kg for their R grading continental steers.

The AHDB beef price for an R4L steer is up 2p to £4.23/kg. Same-grade heifers were £4.24/kg, up 2p.

The young bull price is £4.02/kg deadweight, down 2p. Cows grading O-4L were £2.80/kg, which is unchanged on the week.

Again, better-grading cattle are getting more per kilo in England and Wales than Scotland, which is a change from the historic trend.

Thainstone sold 542 store cattle, with steers averaging £2.31/kg, down 2p, and heifers £2.20/kg, down 11p. They also sold 113 breeding cattle to a top price of £1,780 for a Limousin-cross and calf. In-calf heifers topped at £1,950/head.

United Auctions sold 722 store cattle, with steers averaging £2.26/kg, up 15p, and heifers £2.11/kg, down 1p.

Lanark’s store cattle sale averaged £2.17/kg for steers and £2.14/kg for heifers. Breeding cattle sold to a top of £1,960 for a Simmental cow with a Charolais-cross bull calf.

At St Boswell’s, its store sale averaged £2.04/kg for steers and £2.03/kg for heifers.

Lochboisdale sold store cattle for an average of £768/head for steers and heifers were £640/head.

Across Scotland, steers weighing 370kg to 464kg averaged £2.39/kg, up 38p; 465kg to 555kg were £2.50/kg, up 8p; and over 555kg were £2.53/kg, up 39p. Heifers weighing 330kg to 399kg averaged £2.03/kg, down 14p; 400kg to 480kg were £2.55/kg, down 23p; and over 480kg was £2.28/kg, up 19p.

Cull cows in Scotland average £1.23/kg liveweight for beef-bred cows, which is up 3p on the week and 90p/kg for dairy-bred cows, which down 6p. Steers in the prime ring averaged £2.47/kg, up 25p, and heifers £2.40/kg, up 18p.