Firmer start to the year for finished beef and lamb prices
© Tim Scrivener Finished deadweight steers have started the year on a high, with prices up by about 40p/kg on January 2023 levels.
GB deadweight steers and heifers averaged 489p/kg deadweight and 487.3p/kg deadweight, respectively, for the week ending 6 January.
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Industry reports indicate that British beef has been holding a premium above prices in Europe, with some improved demand coming from the Continent in recent months.
Finished lamb prices have also started the year higher, with GB deadweight lambs at 615.6p/kg for the week ending 6 January, the highest price point since mid-July last year.
Festive boost
Liveweight prices were also more supported during the festive period, but auctioneers say trade has since settled back in line with prices seen before the Christmas spike.
The liveweight SQQ for England and Wales dropped by 5.8p/kg to 282.5p/kg for the week ending 6 January, according to figures from the Livestock Auctioneers Association.
Looking further ahead, AHDB analysts have forecast that sheep numbers and production may continue to contract in 2024, which would leave fewer breeding ewes available to produce the 2025 lamb crop.
Auction market prices
Livestock price reporting from auction markets is now being provided directly by the Livestock Auctioneers Association (LAA) and is no longer available from the AHDB.
Some of the data will continue to be freely available, such as weekly prices, but subscription plans will be needed to access daily or up-to-date data.
The platform should allow farms to see prices in real time, benchmark stock against others, learn about what is trading well and use forecasting.
Platform launch
At a launch event for the new markets platform on 9 January, LAA development officer Zanna Dennis said: “It provides real-time trader-based support for farming businesses to make informed decisions, knowing when and where to sell livestock, to improve and monitor performance based on local, regional and national trends, and to stay ahead of the competition by understanding market requirements to maximise returns.”
Will Alexander, auctioneer at Bentham Auction Mart, said: “As auctioneers, we use the market prices to see the number of stock that is about.
“It’s supply and demand. If the demand is high, but supply is low, it’s going to increase the prices, but if supply is high, it can pull back demand a little bit and it helps farmers know whether to sell or wait another week.”
Lancashire-based beef and sheep farmer Mark Townley said access to market information helped him to decide when to trade lambs and cull ewes.
“A few years ago, you were taking lambs weekly and didn’t know any different from what they were making the week before. Now there is a platform to know whether to market or not to market, and how many to take – it’s a valuable thing to me.”
He added that farmers also have to be able to market lambs at the right time of the year to match demand from events such as religious festivals.
More than 11 million sheep, cattle and pigs were sold at auction markets in England and Wales in 2022, with a turnover in excess of £2bn.