Strong export demand underpins UK beef and sheep prices

A strong appetite for red meat on the Continent is helping to support domestic prices, with export volumes and values up on the year.

Europe remains the largest market for UK sheepmeat exports, with prices elevated and EU sheepmeat production forecast to fall by a further 5% in 2026.

Speakers at the AHDB’s Red Meat Export Conference on 4 June suggested that the EU’s breeding flock was in decline and this was leading to a greater reliance on imports.

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Hannah Clarke, lead livestock analyst at the AHDB, suggested that UK sheepmeat exports had risen back in line with pre-Brexit volumes.

Ms Clarke said: “We’ve got an increasing export volume, and the industry is becoming more reliant on that export trade for returning value back to the domestic market, so we’ve seen volumes rising.”

She added that UK lamb had been priced competitively, and tight supplies in European markets were improving the UK’s export prospects, particularly in France and Belgium.

In the UK, a higher carryover of hoggs this year and heavier carcass weights have been supporting production volumes, although longer term the breeding flock remains in decline.

Lucille Brillaud, who works for the AHDB in France securing markets for UK red meat, said that the French market offers a high price point for lamb and UK producers are able to capitalise on this.

“We want to be the import option of choice,” said Ms Brillaud.

Further afield, the US is offering a significant opportunity for lamb exports, although the UK is yet to fully establish its place in the market.

Will Surman, UK agricultural attaché at the British Embassy in Washington, said: “Lamb prices are going gangbusters in the US and demand is also going really well.

“There is a 6% growth in the demand and consumption of lamb across the US, and price rises have been more than 50% just in the last year.”

Mr Surman estimated the value of the market at £37m and suggested that there could be a huge future opportunity for British lamb in the US.

Beef exports

The AHDB estimates that roughly 15% of UK beef production is exported, but anticipates that UK beef production will continue to steadily contract in 2026.

Ms Clarke said exports were still crucial for maintaining carcass balance and maximising value.

Beef exports to the US are now able to take place, following the introduction of a reciprocal zero beef tariff last year, with a ring-fenced country specific quota of 13,000t.

Mr Surman explained that beef prices in the US are at record highs, and they were not showing any sign of softening.

He added that the full export quota to the US was unlikely to be filled this year with only a handful of plants currently approved for export, but it offered strong opportunities for future growth.