GB deadweight sheep prices

This survey has historically collected prices from a voluntary sample of abattoirs across Great Britain and aims to provide an indicative price for deadweight prime sheep, classified on the Europ grid and falling within the SQQ weight band.

In 2026 new legislation will mean abattoirs across Great Britain killing over a certain number of sheep are legally required to report deadweight sheep prices.

The prices on this page will continue to be based on the voluntary sample until the end of February 2026.

From March 2026, this deadweight price page will switch to use information from the larger sample of abattoirs which are required to report prices under the new legislation.

Please note in the graphs above that old season lambs are shown from 1 January to the third Monday in May and new season lambs thereafter.

Additional information

The AHDB deadweight sheep price series is collected from a voluntary sample of abattoirs in Great Britain. The data is collected weekly and published every Wednesday for the previous week (Sunday to Saturday). Abattoirs submit the price, weight, fat class and conformation of all their prime sheep procured deadweight, regardless of scheme, breed or organic status. The prices shown are in pence per kilogram, excluding VAT and represent the average payable for the animal upon delivery to the abattoir, before deductions (e.g. procurement, transport, insurance, inspection, levy).

When viewing prices, it is important to consider how carcases are dressed at abattoirs. From week ending 25 November 2023, AHDB introduced a change to report deadweight sheep prices based on a standardised dressing specification with kidney knob and channel fat (KKCF) and diaphragm skirt removed.

Prime sheep are reported as new season lambs (male and female clean sheep from this year’s crop) or old season lambs (male and female clean sheep from last year’s crop) sometimes referred to as hoggs or hoggets. The price graph above shows old season lambs from 1 January to the third Monday in May and new season lambs thereafter.

The Standard Quality Quotation is a GB industry standard weight band for the carcase of dressed prime sheep weighing between 12 kg and 21.5 kg.

Please note that there was a change in sample size from week ending 1 September 2018, 10 October 2020 and 20 August 2022 and 13 July 2024.

Further details on this methodology change can be found here

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This dataset was produced by our Data and Analysis Team. If you need further help, please email the team at econ@ahdb.org.uk 

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