The liveweight lamb price rose 1p on average in a flat market, as lambs typically made £1.91/kg.

Prices around the marts ranged from over £2/kg in Lanark to £1.77/kg in Caithness.

Heavier lambs dropped 2p/kg to average £1.78/kg liveweight.

Numbers dropped around 1,000 lambs to 17,829 through the live ring in the last seven days.

The deadweight market reports the price of R3L lambs rose 2p/kg to £4.28/kg across the UK.

Cast ewe through the ring were up 800 head to 7,290, with the average price steady at £55/head.

Meanwhile, global lamb supply looks tight in 2019 as Australia is estimated to have its lowest slaughter numbers since 2012. The extremely dry conditions last year led to a 27% increase in sheep slaughter, as producers looked to reduce stocking rates and manage feed costs.

As a result, the Australian sheep flock is estimated to have contracted by over 6% to 67.7 million head by June 2018 and is expected to shrink further in 2019.

Beef

The beef market appears to be steady, as price continues to sit at £3.57/kg for R4L steers, with heifers around the same price. The ADHB-reported price for the same grade steers is £3.65/kg, the same price as northern England, but nearly 10p/kg more than the south.

Beef-sired cows are up 4p/kg in the live ring to £1.14/kg liveweight, with dairy cows slipping 1p/kg to 84p/kg. Deadweight prices for cows in Scotland are the same as last year at £2.32/kg for O-4L.