After several months of soaring beef prices, values have come tumbling down over the past four weeks, as a result of the cold weather and subsequent reduction in demand for barbecue cuts. While average prices in Scotland reached 430+p per kg a month ago, latest figures show that while values remain above the critical £4 per deadweight kg bracket, they have slipped below that south of the Border. Data for the final week of May, show that finished steers averaged 412.2p in Scotland, down 4.4p on the previous seven days, while those in England and Wales levelled at 388.5p, which represents a 3.6p decline.
A fourth processing site in the UK has won approval to export its beef to the US – marking a major leap forward for the business and for the red meat sector.