Cattle
It feels like there is a bit more demand for cattle with abattoirs busy on the festive run in. Some firms have put money into cattle in the last week to keep pace. 640-650p base covers most published prices in the last week with strongest demand coming from South of Hadrian’s wall due to much tighter finished cattle numbers.
The cow trade is remarkable for October! Cows in the last week 560-570p base. More needed, quick pickup in most cases. Normally at this time of the year, there are large numbers coming forward and abattoirs are choked up with them, but what is becoming clear is that the trade is unlikely to significantly falloff. There are several factors at play…
· Dairy and suckler beef herd is reasonably young-producers have culled hard in recent years, so aren’t carrying as many passengers.
· Farmers sold passenger cows early in the summer and we’ve had an open autumn delaying housing.
· Strong global demand for VL (Value Lean) – mince.
· Cattle are a making money and members are looking to increase their herd sizes.
The only negative on the horizon is the actual and projected fall in the milk price which AHDB reports as being due to increasing global and UK supply- UK production is 217million litres up (5.2% above last year.) Any prolonged and significant fall in milk price may lead to more cull dairy cows coming forward.
Store cattle remain in huge demand. We have a retained list of farmer members looking for store cattle and suckled calves on a farm to farm basis. Please get in touch if you would like to discuss the process
Sheep
Its feels like the prime lamb trade has finally bottomed out, a month later than the historic norm- mostly due to the overdue impact of the drought in the summer combined with a shift to later lambing. UK slaughter figures showing a small decline compared to the previous week. Lambs in the last week have been in the region of 630-655p/kg, dependent on location and specification. Looking back12months, the lamb trade this week last year was 600-620p, with the gap closing. Members are commenting on how well lambs are responding to dry feed and forage crops in terms of increased killing out %.
More lambs wanted every week now!
We continue to move batches of cull ewes, with specific requirements for small-medium types. Please note ewes must by fleshy to maximise returns.
Good batches of store lambs wanted 200-300lots.
Most abattoirs but not all are requiring lambs to be belly clipped before slaughter. This can be done in the abattoir if required. Please speak to your fieldsman to discuss the options. Thankyou for shutting lambs off grass before uplift, your attention to detail is greatly appreciated.
Organics
In the run up to Christmas we have excellent demand for good batches of organic prime cattle, especially out of Eastern and Central areas. Please speak to your fieldsman to discuss the options available. After several tricky weeks, volumes of organic lambs have eased relative to the demand. Strong demand for organic mixed store lambs.
For sale
53 Angus & Blue grey stores HM
60 Organic tup lambs 31kg JW
Organic blackie ewe lambs JW
Simental x suckled calves LB
Angus x Jersey calves. Off milk HM
50 Lleyn feeding ewes HM
Angus & Saler stores 450kg NG
Charolais Heifers 500kg NG
Wanted
Angus & Blue x dairy calves on and off the milk HM
Charolais suckled calves MG
Regular aged Cheviot ewes HM
Organic store lambs-not horned AN,LB
Scottish Angus Store cattle 350-450kg AN, DM, JW, NG
Contacts
Jonny Williams Acting Managing Director 07817702 988
Alex Norval Acting Procurement Manager 07787826 355
Nikki Gilbertson Senior Livestock Procurement Officer- Northumberland 07595313 040
Lucy Bell Livestock Procurement Officer -Borders 07879602 962
Mandy Grierson Livestock Procurement Officer – Peebles & Lanarkshire 07831741 994
David Marshall Fieldsman for Farm Stock 07808 329 719
Colin Mair Fieldsman for Ayrshire Country Lamb 07976 605 130
Ian Douglas Fieldsman for Lothian Lamb 07885367 151
Helen Marsden Fieldsman for Dumfries and Galloway 07778 799 261
Matthew Nicolson Fieldsman for Shetland 07795 144 404
