Weekly cattle and sheep market wrap – 17 July 2026

Deadweight prices cover Great Britain (GB) for the week ending 11 July. Liveweight prices cover England & Wales (E&W) for the week ending 12 July.

• Further upward gains were recorded for deadweight GB cattle prices as throughput fell back.
• Finished sheep prices continued to fall seasonally, with the GB deadweight SQQ back 27p and the E&W liveweight SQQ back 5p in the latest reporting weeks. Prices remain at record highs.
• UK beef and sheep meat production levels were steady year-on-year through the first half of 2026, as heaver weights have boosted meat supply despite lower throughputs.

GB finished deadweight cattle prices moved upwards across most headline categories in the week ending 11 July. Overall, steers gained 2.4p to average 600.6p/kg, heifers gained half a penny to average 600.5p/kg, while young bulls gained 4.8p to average 589.4p/kg.

Estimated prime cattle slaughter in GB totalled 29,900 head, down 2,000 head from the week prior. Declines were noted across steers, heifers and young bulls. Young bull throughputs appear to have just passed their seasonal peak, recorded at just over 5,000 head in the week ending 4 July.

Meanwhile, cow prices gained across all regions, with the GB deadweight average lifting by 4.1p on the week to 491.4p/kg. Cow throughputs were estimated at 7,000 head for the week in GB, steady on the week before.

The latest official production figures for the UK from Defra show that for the first half of 2026 (January – June), steer slaughter fell by 2% year-on-year to 493,000 head, heifer slaughter was 3% lower at 414,000 head, while young bull slaughter has increased by 3% to 87,000 head. Cow slaughter fell by 3% year-on-year to 267,000 head for the six-month period.

Prime cattle carcase weights have been on average 10kg heavier than in 2025, offsetting lower cattle numbers. This has supported total UK beef production levels, with 443,000 tonnes produced in the six months to June, unchanged from the same period a year ago.

Finished sheep prices maintained their seasonal downward trajectory but from historically high levels.

The GB NSL deadweight SQQ lost 27p on the week to average 804p/kg. This was still 73p up on the same week a year ago.

Estimated GB slaughter totalled 169,300 head for the week, slightly lower (-3,700 head) on the week before.

Elsewhere, price declines in live markets slowed up in the week ending 12 July. The E&W NSL liveweight SQQ lost 5p to average 384p/kg, still up 36p on the year. Auction market lamb numbers dropped back on the week by 16% to 48,000 head, down 18% on the year, according to the LAA.

Meanwhile, store lamb throughputs began to tick up in the week ending 12 July. Just under 4,000 new season stores were recorded for the week across E&W marts, with the overall average price of £124.00/head up £17.90 on the same week a year ago.

Defra figures show that UK sheep meat production totalled 134,000 tonnes during the first half of the 2026, broadly steady (-0.3%) year-on-year. Clean sheep slaughter fell by 2% to total 5.47 million head, while adult sheep kill fell by 4% to 626,000 head. Average clean sheep carcase weights were 0.3kg heavier at 21.1kg.

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