Scottish lamb price in abattoirs is up to £6.40/kg this week for R grading carcases up to 22kg.

Prime sales in marts were back 5p, with most sales averaging between £2.64/kg and £2.80kg liveweight.

The official Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) price for R3L lambs across the UK is £6.33/kg, which is up 13p/kg for the week ending 11 December.

The price this December is 31% up on the year and 50% on the average of the last four years.

Currently, 64% of carcases were grading E, U, R and 2 or 3L compared with 52% at the same time last year.

Islay Mart sold 2,485 sheep, where store lambs averaged £89/head, up £20.

The cull ewe price in Scotland averaged £91/head for last week, up £6 for the 7,819 sheep sold.

Beef price down

It was another week of decline in the beef price. One slaughterhouse tried to get the price down to £4/kg, but had to settle for a price of £4.04/kg for R grading carcases.

The rest of the processors look to be paying £4.05/kg to £4.12/kg.

The AHDB beef price for an R4L steer is down 5p to £4.18/kg. Same-grade heifers were £4.20/kg, down 1p. The young bull price is £4.05/kg deadweight, down 3p. Cows grading O-4L were £2.79/kg, which is up 4p on the week.

Thainstone sold 452 store cattle, with steers averaging £2.30/kg, up 3p, and heifers £2.14/kg, down 9p.

Islay Mart sold 560 store cattle at its last sale of the year. Bullocks averaged £752/head or £2.33/kg, while heifers averaged £638 or £2.11/kg.

The auctioneer said: “In keeping with recent trends, cattle failed to maintain last year’s firm values. Nevertheless, all classes sold to a good ringside of buyers at values comparing favourably to current mainland levels.”

St Boswells sold store cattle, with steers averaging £2.16/kg and heifers £2.15/kg. Ayr Mart sold 124 steers for an average of £2.19kg or £969/head, 132 heifers for £2.13/kg or £962/head and 28 Friesian steers for £1.83/kg or £942/head.

Cull cows in Scotland averaged £1.36/kg liveweight for beef-bred cows, which is up 5p again on the week, and £1.03/kg for dairy-bred cows, which is up 3p.

At Thainstone Mart, beef finished cows averaged £1,309/head, down £8 on the week, feeding cows averaged £965/head, up £1, and boning cows averaged £553, up £53. Cull bulls averaged £1,178.

Steers in the prime ring averaged £2.40/kg, down 5p, and heifers £2.43/kg, down 2p.

Crop sale

At Carlisle’s crop sale, mini hestons of wheat straw were selling at £81/t, which is a fall of £5/t on the week. Barley straw was £26/bale, unchanged on the week. Oat straw in mini hestons went for £65/t with round bales of silage £23/bale.