Beef / Lamb & Pig Price Tracker

Location
Devon
Maybe.
9 years out of ten price drops in Dec regardless. Won't take long to see whose right/wrong!

True but this year the prices have been back to front all the way thru since the end of March....

Untill we know what is going to happen ref Brexit i can see trade for both beef and lamb staying very strong!

And normally when the plants are talking the price down it normally goes the other way!
 

Frank-the-Wool

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
East Sussex
Anyone who is close to the retail end of the meat business will know that trade is difficult at the moment. Beef sales have been sluggish except mince and stewing steak. One of the butchers I supply had a pallet (600 kg) of Scotch rib eyes off the bone. He is knocking out rib eye steaks at £6.75 a pound for excellent quality. He told me that he was buying these for the same price as Chuck steak so if they don't sell he will just put them through the mincer. For the last month he has had cheap steak which would have gone to the catering outlets. Fillet steak was £6.00 a pound for a while. It is no surprise that live beef prices are slipping, all the Christmas orders from the real butchers were filled this week so they can hang it long enough.

The only reason lamb is holding up is due to export demand so limiting the amount available for the home market, however butchers will tell you that they are not making much on lamb at the moment and if the price increases any more they will look to sell more pork (which is on the floor at the moment) and meat like venison which is also terribly cheap at the moment.

I am confident that lamb will stay a good price until Xmas (probably not enough for those that have paid top dollar for stores!) but after that who knows. Ewes have been a better trade this week and is a reflection of the demand for takeaways which will continue for most of the country as not many people will be eating out.

As one of the larger livestock buyers said to me this week the job is on a knife edge!
 

Highland Mule

Member
Livestock Farmer
Anyone who is close to the retail end of the meat business will know that trade is difficult at the moment. Beef sales have been sluggish except mince and stewing steak.

Doesn’t seem to be around here. Retail red meat is flying at the moment.

 
Anyone who is close to the retail end of the meat business will know that trade is difficult at the moment. Beef sales have been sluggish except mince and stewing steak. One of the butchers I supply had a pallet (600 kg) of Scotch rib eyes off the bone. He is knocking out rib eye steaks at £6.75 a pound for excellent quality. He told me that he was buying these for the same price as Chuck steak so if they don't sell he will just put them through the mincer. For the last month he has had cheap steak which would have gone to the catering outlets. Fillet steak was £6.00 a pound for a while. It is no surprise that live beef prices are slipping, all the Christmas orders from the real butchers were filled this week so they can hang it long enough.

The only reason lamb is holding up is due to export demand so limiting the amount available for the home market, however butchers will tell you that they are not making much on lamb at the moment and if the price increases any more they will look to sell more pork (which is on the floor at the moment) and meat like venison which is also terribly cheap at the moment.

I am confident that lamb will stay a good price until Xmas (probably not enough for those that have paid top dollar for stores!) but after that who knows. Ewes have been a better trade this week and is a reflection of the demand for takeaways which will continue for most of the country as not many people will be eating out.

As one of the larger livestock buyers said to me this week the job is on a knife edge!
Crickey.
Prices for beef and sheep meat of all descriptions are either at a record high or higher than they have been for some time and regardless of whatever else high for the time of year and you conger up something like that!
 

Frank-the-Wool

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
East Sussex
Doesn’t seem to be around here. Retail red meat is flying at the moment.


It is true that butchers share has remained strong, however the carcass balance has shifted to the lower value end of mince and stewing steak, which is good but if they are buying whole carcass they need the steak market to make good profit.
 
Location
Devon
I will be getting up around 3.30 to check the calving pens after the midnight look around
I will give you a knock and discuss why then.

I totally agree with you that store cattle need to be making what they currently are making to make all the hard work/ cost etc worthwhile rearing them.

My point was that if the big store buyers thought the beef price was going to drop much they would not be pushing so hard to replace them straight away.
 

Highland Mule

Member
Livestock Farmer
It is true that butchers share has remained strong, however the carcass balance has shifted to the lower value end of mince and stewing steak, which is good but if they are buying whole carcass they need the steak market to make good profit.

I can’t say that reflects my retail experience. I don’t sell much, but I sold out the steaks and premium roasts a whole animal ahead on pre orders this month. Still some mince left, thank goodness, as Mrs HM makes a wicked cottage pie.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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