Weekly cattle & sheep market wrap – 30 January 2025

Thursday, 30 January 2025

Key points

Prices for week ending 25 January

  • GB deadweight cattle prices rally again amid fervent demand, with more cattle forward. R4L steers averaged 602p/kg for the week.
  • Sheep prices meanwhile showed more muted movement amid stable supply and a more mixed demand picture.
  • Beef and lamb market outlooks are to be released in the coming weeks.

Cattle

GB deadweight cattle prices rallied again in the week ending 25 January. R4L steers averaged 602p/kg across GB for the week, up sharply (+15p) from the week previous. R4L heifers averaged 598p/kg, up 14p from the week before. Meanwhile, R3 young bulls averaged 581p/kg for the week. The measures were between 94-99p up on the same weeks a year ago.

Cow prices also showed a sharp uplift; the overall average deadweight measure gained 18p on the week to stand at 425p/kg. This was 83p ahead of the same week a year ago.

More cattle continued to come forward as an estimated 34,300 prime cattle were slaughtered in GB, up 400 head from the week previous.

Market reports suggest fervent demand for available cattle at present, with demand firmly outstripping supply. National cattle inventory data paired with recent slaughter figures points to lower supplies available for production in 2025, likely fuelling demand.

Sheep

Deadweight sheep prices showed more muted movement, with the GB old season lamb SQQ easing by 5p to average 731p/kg in the week ending 25 January. Nevertheless, the measure was still 99p/kg up on the same week a year ago.

Estimated slaughter remained largely stable on the week but ahead of the same week a year ago, at 214,200 head.

Market reports point to mixed demand. Lamb volumes suffered somewhat over Christmas period due to fewer promotions, but performance of lamb still exceeded that of previous years. Elsewhere and more recently, export price indicators have shown somewhat sideways movement of late, following periods of growth.

The next edition of our beef and lamb market outlooks will be published over the coming weeks, which outline our expectations for supply for the rest of the year in more detail.

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