There is mounting pressure in the cattle trade, with another cut to factory prices for prime beef and cows.

Official price reports over the past week indicate that R4L steers were paid 378.5p/kg, a drop of just under 1p/kg.

Beef heifers are not faring any better, with little in the way of a price premium being paid compared with steers.

Prime heifers grading R4L were paid 378.6p/kg over the past week. Reports indicate there is little change to factory prices this week, as processing demand for cattle remains weak throughout Britain.

To add further problems, there is an oversupply of finished cattle coming on to the market at present.

Balance

With factories able to source cattle with ease, finishers are in a take-it-or-leave-it scenario until the supply balance corrects itself.

Cull cows, in particular, are an extremely difficult trade. Reports indicate that plants have sufficient numbers of cows coming forward for the rest of this year, meaning there will be a sizeable carryover of animals into January.

Official price reports indicate that factory prices on O+4L animals were down 2p last week, with 241p/kg on offer.

Lambs

While the beef trade is dull, there is plenty of life in the lamb trade, with buying agents noticeably active across all marts. Prices are running from 400p to 405p/kg on R3 lambs, with 10p/kg more on U grading animals. In the live trade, lambs sold earlier this week are holding at 180p to 185p/kg, with store lambs making £60 to £65 per head.

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