Weekly cattle & sheep market wrap - 24 October 2024

Prices for week ending 19 October

Key points:

• Prime cattle prices continue to move upwards, with R4L steers and heifers sitting above 524p/kg on average
• Cow prices have seen further reductions as more come forward ahead of winter housing
• GB SQQ lamb price rose by 1p as fewer lambs came forward compared to the previous week

Cattle

The GB average prime cattle price continues to move upwards, with the average R4L steer price growing 0.7p from the previous week to sit at 524.5p/kg. The R4L heifer price kept pace with the steer equivalent, moving up 1.8p from the previous week to 524.4p/kg. The overall young bull category declined by 0.5p/kg from the previous week, still however sitting at 497p/kg.

Prime estimated slaughter grew by 1,400 head from the week prior to 35,800 head for the week ending 19 October. The majority of this growth came from steers, up 720 head, and heifers up 580 head from the previous week.

Meanwhile, the overall cow category recorded a decline of 2p from the previous week, to 353.6p/kg. Cull cow estimated kill hit new heights for 2024, with growth of 800 head from the previous week to 12,600 head. This represents an increase of 1,300 head from the same week in 2023, as we see more cows come forward ahead of the winter housing period.

Seasonal demand continues to outpace supplies of cattle, as we move through procurement for the Christmas period. Demand is reported to be strong across both retail and foodservice sectors. Data from Kantar for the 12 weeks ending 29 September highlights this, with an additional 2,100 tonnes of beef purchased compared to 2023. Like lamb, burgers and grills drove this increase in volumes purchased.

Sheep

The GB new season lamb SQQ price sat at 618.5p/kg for the week ending 19 October, an increase of 1p from the previous week. As prices have dipped in prior weeks, we have seen the difference between 2023 values close up, currently sitting 48p higher than last year.

Looking into GB estimated clean sheep kill, just over 204,000 head came forward. This was a large weekly decline of nearly 14,000 head from the previous week, and marked the lowest week of kill since mid-August. This brings the estimated total so far for 2024 to 8.46m head, a fall of 8.5% compared to the same period in 2023.

Numbers forward may have been affected by poor weather across parts of the country. Meat and weight are in the spotlight, reportedly easier to place than lighter, plainer lambs, as has been the case for some weeks now.

According to the latest Kantar data (12 weeks to 29 September), lamb has outperformed the total grocery market, with annual growth of 5.5% in volume of sales. Burgers and grills drove this growth, as consumers start to look for more variation in their meals.

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