Livestock Price Data
Organic Livestock Prices
January 2021
 |
£ / kg Data courtesy of OLMC |
| Beef - Finished (under 30 months) |
£4.27 (R4L Base) |
| Cull Cow (OTM in spec) |
£2.80 (R4L) |
| Beef - Stores | See store cattle report below |
| Lambs - Finished OSL | - |
| Lambs - Finished NSL | £4.95 (R3L Base) |
N.B. Prices serve as a guide only and are averaged from information collected from key producers and traders.
Market Summaries
(January 6th)
Courtesy of OLMC. For further information on the marketing of finished stock, please call: 01763 250313 / 07850 366404 www.olmc.co.uk
Please note prices accurate when report was written but due to the volatility currently prices may alter.
Organic Prime Beef Cattle
The market held steady through to the end of 2020, demand and supply for the most part kept in step with signs as we got right on top of Christmas that the numbers of cattle were getting shorter.
Generally, finishers have seen good returns for cattle meeting specification. With shortages of both bedding and feed, concerns as to the quality coming to the market is always real. Yet we have not seen this and as best as possible will ensure that OLMC producers will continue to maintain the standard of finished cattle we supply to our abattoir customers.
Organic Cull Cows
The cull cow market weakened as we came into the autumn for both conventional and organic cows. Demand was not swift and many were looking to shift cows due to low feed and bedding stocks.
As we moved closer toward Christmas numbers became scarce and the trade started to lift a little. The likely forward position will be one of increased demand for cow meat through to the spring with shorter numbers about. Hopefully, we will see a push in price back to the levels attained last summer.
Finished Lambs
Media instigated fears of the lamb market falling out of bed with Brexit looming proved to be unfounded. The lamb trade both organic and conventional have enjoyed good price levels throughout last year, this looks to continue into 2021.
Scarcity of numbers to meet demand will be the real issue, as to price levels, we could well see organic lambs at an all-time high.
Store Cattle Report
(September 17th).
Courtesy of Peter Jones (working in conjunction with OLMC). For further information on the marketing of organic store cattle, please contact Peter Jones or Rachel Cooke: 01829 730580 / 07720 892922 www.peterjoneslivestock.com
In most areas of the UK grass is still in plentiful supply and consequently forage stocks harvested this summer have been good. There are however parts of the UK, particularly the South East, where this is not the case and grass silage and hay are in very short supply. The South East has seen a number of very dry summers in recent years and if this trend is to continue the livestock producers in these areas will need to re think their management and that inevitably means reducing stocking rates.
We have lived through unprecedented times and we have some time to go before we see our lives back to ‘normal’ as a second wave of Covid 19 seems likely. There is no doubt that eating at home has changed the dynamics of meat supply and let’s hope this continues to be the ‘new normal’.
The ongoing debates and negotiations over Brexit continue and economists are making variable predictions on the likely effect on meat prices. Some are predicting large rises in the meat trade whilst others are predicting a less dramatic rise.
The organic beef price has been largely flat for the last 2 to 3 years with only a slight rise however this year the finished price for beef and lamb has risen since mid April. Although we have in recent weeks seen some downward pressure in price but as I speak the prices are still good and giving producers a good return for their stock which I think will continue. Store cattle prices have reflected that of finished stock with a lot of store cattle achieving returns for producers of between £50 to £150 more than 12 months ago.
Lamb prices have also seen substancial rises with both finished lambs and store lambs making £10 to £15 more than 12 months ago. Going into the back end I predict that prices will remain firm for store cattle for this time of year. The lamb trade in theory should be most vulnerable to downward pressure from export tariffs post Brexit but the underlying strength of continued demand may just overcome the difficulties in exporting the product.
Demand for dairy stock continues to be strong with cross bred type grazing cows and heifers being particularly sort after by organic producers expanding and for new organic milk producers setting up.
For advice on the marketing of organic store cattle, store lambs and dairy stock please ring the office on 01829 730 580 or myself on 07720 892 922
If you are looking for any of the above please do not hesitate to contact us.
Peter Jones
17/09/2020
Scotland
Market information can be found at:
http://farmstock.org.uk/market-report/
