Cattle

Deadweight prime cattle prices were generally pressured in the latest week, with the GB all-prime average measure down by 2p/kg to 487.7p/kg for the week ending 30 March. The measure is now in-line with the same week last year.

Breaking the prime category down, overall steer and heifer prices saw declines of -2.7p and -2p respectively on last week, while overall young bull prices grew by 3.4p. Overall cow prices saw growth on the week, up by 4.1p to 352.7p/kg, the highest price seen since mid-July in 2023.

All regional steer and heifer averages saw declines to varying degrees. Meanwhile, for young bulls and cows, Northern prices were the only averages to decrease on the week.

Sheep

GB deadweight sheep prices have fallen from highs last week, to 816.3p/kg. This is a fall of 22.5p (-3%) from the week ending 23 March but remains 233p (40%) higher than prices seen during the same week in 2023.

Supplies continue to be tight, as AHDB estimated GB kill sits just over 8% lower in the year to date compared to last year. For the week ending 30 March, throughputs fell 30% from the previous week, as Easter reduced kill days. More generally, industry commentary suggests that wet weather is impacting turn out and quantity of feed available.

UK lamb remains at a premium to its European counterparts at a farmgate level. Despite this, French markets have remained firm, albeit some stability in prices in recent days and softening in prices for more covered lambs. This points to sustained demand on the continent following Easter, with Eid Al-Fitr predicted for the 10 April.

 

Isabelle Shohet | AHDB

 

Brecon & Radnor Express

 

See also: UK’s native sheep breeds in spotlight following US taste test

Defra has confirmed that grant funding for checks for illegal meat imports at Dover will be withdrawn at the end of April, after which it will be up to the Port Health Authority (PHA) to start charging offenders to recover costs.

The information is set out in a letter from biosecurity minister Lord Douglas-Miller to Sir Robert Goodwill, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Efra) committee chairman, responding to a number of questions raised by the committee last month.

In particular, Sir Robert wanted to know if media reports of a planned 70% cut in the funding were true, how many checks were currently being made, and what would be the implications for UK biosecurity from reducing such checks.

In his reply, Lord Douglas-Miller explains that the budget for such spot checks – designed to look out for meat contaminated with African swine fever – was only ever intended as a temporary measure, until such time as the new Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) came into force.

“Once phase two of the BTOM is introduced in April, this transitional grant funding scheme will end as intended,” he said.

 

Philip Clarke | Farmers Weekly

 

See also:

UK industry fears disruption from new post-Brexit border checks

‘Unprecedented’ volumes of illegal meat seized at Port of Dover

UK Pigmeat export volumes, including offal, fell by 20% last year to 298,000 tonnes, as a result of lower UK production and subdued demand in Asia.

The value of pigmeat shipments fell by a lower proportion, 9% to £570 million, due to higher prices.

Most export categories were down, with fresh and frozen export volumes plummeting by 30% to 130,000t, bacon exports by 21% to 13,400t, although values were only slightly down, and sausages volumes by 12% to 4,600t, as the value of these shipments rose. The exception was processed hams, shoulders and other pieces, which were up by 4% in volume.

Offal shipments were down 8% to 133,000t and accounted for 45% of pigmeat export volumes, the highest share.

Overall red meat exports from the UK in 2023 were worth £1.7 billion, similar to 2022, largely driven by strong demand for UK lamb on international markets.

The total value of red meat shipments to the EU during the period was up 2% on the year at £1.3 billion while volumes fell by 12% on the year.

Sheep meat exports to France, the UK’s largest market, increased by 23% in value to £292 million and 23% in volume on the year to 45,000 tonnes. Beef exports decreased by 15% in volume and 9% in value.

 

Alistair Driver | Pig World

Weekly pig prices and slaughter data for Great Britain. 

The EU-spec SPP was down by a further 1.62p during the week ended October 14 to stand at 220.12p/kg, after stabilising the previous week.

This was the second biggest fall of the year, meaning the SPP has now lost 5.5p since mid-August and currently stands 20p ahead of a year ago.

Following the previous week’s loss of 1.5p, the APP, which includes premium pigs, lost another 0.61p to stand at 221.08p/kg during the week ended October 7. This meant the gap between the two price indexes increased once again, with the SPP now 0.65p ahead of the APP, as the reversal of the usual relationship continues.

One of the biggest drivers in the decline of UK prices is falling EU prices. The EU reference price dropped back by a further 2p during the week ended October 8 to stand at 193.78p/kg, led by falls of 4p in Spain, 3p in Germany and 2p in France.

EU prices are falling much more quickly than in the UK. The EU reference price is now nearly 22p down on its mid-July high and the latest drop has increased the gap between the UK and EU reference prices to beyond 25p, compared with low of just 6p during the week ended July 23. Prices in a number of EU countries, led by Germany, fell back further last week.

Estimated GB slaughterings remain well below year earlier levels. The figure for the week ended October 14 was down by more than 1,000 on the week, and at 160,300, it was 27,500 down on the same week in 2022.

It also needs to noted that AHDB’s estimated slaughterings going back for a few weeks have been significantly revised downwards, including the figure quoted last week for the week ended October 7, 169,000, which has been lowered to 161,600, also 27,000 down year-on-year.

 

 

Pig World / AHDB

THE news that Black Brow abattoir near Wigton is closing has shocked producers and butchers.

 

 

By Maureen Hodges | News & Star

There is ‘more positivity’ across the pig sector following two years of crippling losses, the National Pig Association (NPA) has said, although longer-term concerns remain.

Farmers summed up the sector’s mood during recent NPA meetings, as sustained higher pig prices, tight supplies and generally bearish trends in the feed ingredient markets bring relief after years of losses.

The past two years have seen one crisis follow another, with pig production losses estimated at £750m.

The NPA met online last week during the regional round-up, with one producer saying: “In general, there is a lot more positivity within the independent producers left in in the area around here.

“Everyone is down in numbers from where they have been historically. We are still feeling the impacts of the terrible summer and autumn infertility we had last year. A lot of producers have had similar issues.”

“Health wise, there have been some repercussions from the backlog, but I think that’s started to improve over last three months.”

 

by Farming UK

Sales of meat-free products declined this ‘Veganuary’ compared to the year before, according to analysis by the AHDB.

More than a million fewer households bought meat-free products this January compared to 2022, with only 13.7% of households buying one.

This compares to 96.4% of households buying meat, fish or poultry (MFP) in the first three weeks of the year, AHDB said in its new report.

Research from IGD suggests 7% of shoppers started taking part in Veganuary at the start of last month.

However, this uplift appears to have been short lived, with seven out of 10 failing to make it past the two-week mark.

Of those who stopped, 40% said it was due to alternatives being too expensive, while a further 40% claimed they couldn’t find food or drink they enjoyed.

Grace Randall, AHDB retail insight manager, said that despite new product development and heavy promotions from retailers, the taste and price of meat-free products were still the major barriers for shoppers.

“Meat-free remains a small part of the market, maintaining the 2% volume share it has seen over the last four years,” she explained.

“This decline in shoppers means overall value and volume for meat-free has declined, with volumes down 12.9% and value down 6.3%.”

 

Farming UK

Deadweight lamb prices increased for four consecutive weeks during November and early December.

GB prices rose to average 561.1p/kg deadweight in the week ending 3 December, up by almost 50p/kg on month-earlier levels.

Despite this growth, prices are 57.5p/kg below the same week last year.

Jonny Williams, operations director at livestock marketing group Farmstock, said there is a lot of New Zealand lamb coming in, both to the UK and into Europe, which is making it challenging and taking the edge off the trade.

“UK lamb is competitive, but not currently as price competitive in Europe as New Zealand lamb,” said Mr Williams.

“Lightweight lambs are very tricky as they are generally exported to southern Europe and that trade does seem very difficult. Standard weight lambs are selling OK, but maybe not as high as people had hoped,” he added.

Charlie Reeve / Farmers Weekly

Accusations that the Food Standards Agency (FSA) is dragging its feet on support for small abattoirs gathered pace this week, after it rejected proposals for a dual system of meat controls for export and domestic consumption.

Introducing separate regulatory regimes would exempt smaller processors from some of the more onerous regulations required for those which export, but in a new update, the regulator outlined its concerns about the impact of these changes on trade.

The agency claimed that because animal by-products which are sold domestically may end up as ingredients in products which are exported further down the supply chain, the introduction of a dual system would require agreement from international partners and uptake could be limited.

It also suggested the meat industry in Northern Ireland would be put at a competitive disadvantage because the Brexit protocol requires producers to apply EU controls, and warned complications around compliance and traceability within the UK market could arise if there were different regimes in England, Scotland and Wales.

Plans for a dual system were discussed at a meeting attended by Farming Minister Mark Spencer, the FSA, parliamentarians and industry bodies last week.

Christopher Price, chief executive of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, said: “It would be useful if the FSA could give some indication of what they can do to help the sector, rather than constantly coming up with reasons for doing nothing.

“For the first time in a long time, in Mark Spencer, we have a Minister who seems to understand the crisis in the sector and who wants to do something about it. AHDB already says we are losing 10 small abattoirs a year.

“But that means having to take difficult decisions, recognising it will not always be possible to please every organisation and every vested interest.”

 

Abi Kay / Farmers Guardian