Beef stabilises near £6/kg deadweight after price fall

Beef finishers have endured a sharp fall in prime cattle prices during recent months, although signs are emerging that the market is beginning to stabilise.

After falling by more than 30p/kg in May, prime cattle prices have steadied in recent weeks, averaging 592p/kg deadweight in mid June.

Becky Smith, senior livestock analyst at the AHDB, said: “Cattle prices appear to have begun to level out, with the average deadweight prices for both steers and heifers flat on the week.”

She added that the average cow price had also remained steady, at 483p/kg deadweight, closing the price gap to the same week last year to 26p/kg.

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Prices in the live ring are also showing signs of recovery, with prime cattle edging up on the week to average 345.8p/kg liveweight at auction markets in England and Wales.

Livestock auctioneers say trade is starting to pick up again and demand is stable.

Overall, throughputs have tightened with 1,200 fewer cattle coming forward in the past week, totalling 31,100 head.

This fits a broader long-term trend, with UK beef production slightly below year-earlier levels during the first five months of 2026.

The domestic suckler herd also remains in decline, contracting by roughly 3% last year.

Volatile prices

At NFU Council on 23 June, Livestock Board chairman David Barton raised concerns over price volatility within the beef sector and called for long-term support for producers.

Mr Barton said there had been a “really disappointing” drop of about 70p/kg in the beef price in the past three months.

He said: “These short-term corrections just really don’t help confidence, and I think the processing sector should have been able to manage this better than they have.

“It’s a critical period, farmgate returns are challenged by increased cost of production of key inputs, such as fuel and fertiliser, exacerbated by the conflict in the Middle East.”

He added that confidence across the sector remained low, and the sector needed a resilient home-grown beef supply, and a fair and transparent agri-food supply chain.

Global supplies

Global beef production is expected to fall by 2.2% in 2026, according to major international agricultural banking co-operative Rabobank.

It suggests that beef production was already down by 2.5% during the first quarter of 2026, and major contractions expected in the US, Brazil and China were likely to continue to drive this overall reduction.

Angus Gidley-Baird, senior animal proteins analyst at Rabobank, said: “Price movements are reflecting the different supply cycles at work around the world, but overall the market remains supported by tight global fundamentals,”

“In a high-cost environment, consumers focus on value – which means trading down to cheaper cuts or alternative proteins.”

“In a market where beef prices are already elevated, any softening in demand could place margin pressure across the supply chain, limiting the ability to pass on further cost increases.”