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Weekly cattle & sheep market wrap – 07 March 2025
Friday, 7 March 2025
Key points:
- GB cattle prices continued to climb in the week ending 1 March, with the GB overall all-prime average rising by 5p on the week to hit 640p/kg.
- The OSL SQQ price edged up again this week, to sit at 738p/kg, despite an increase in throughput.
- Lamb throughputs have increased over the past two weeks, as 2024 carryover lambs come forward to serve the seasonal demand peak.
Cattle
We continued to see price rises across all cattle categories in the week ending 1 March. Steers hitting R4L specification reached 652p/kg, up 5p on the week, whilst heifers of the same category were priced at 651p/kg (+6p/kg week-on-week). The overall young bull price saw a larger gain, up 8p/kg on the week to sit at 623p/kg.
Prime cattle numbers saw another weekly rise, with GB estimated slaughter totalling 35,800 head in the week. An increase in steer kill drove the uplift, with the weekly total slaughterings at their highest for this week in five years.
The overall cow price also lifted, up 5p/kg to 484p/kg in the week ending 1 March. Cow throughputs eased slightly in the week, back 200 head to sit at 9,800 head.
Exceptional demand continues to push cattle prices higher, which in turn is incentivising supplies forward. Market reports indicate the continued strength of the beef trade despite significant price rises, with solid demand for available cattle. However, price transfer to the beef consumer, particularly in retail, continues to be a key watchpoint for demand going forward.
Sheep
The GB OSL SQQ deadweight lamb price grew by 9p in the week ending 1 March, to sit at 738p/kg. The measure now sits much closer to year ago levels, up just 2% (16p) year-on-year.
This price lift was despite greater numbers forward, with estimated GB kill at 233,000 head, up 4% and 9,000 head on the week before. Carryover of 2024 lambs into this year’s supply has begun to show in the kill figures, with the week’s slaughter significantly higher than year ago levels for the first time this year.
The sheep market is now moving towards its demand peak, with Ramadan starting in the first week of March and suppliers looking forward to Easter procurement. It is expected that supplies will continue to increase over the coming weeks to meet both domestic and export demand for these key festivals.
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