Business and Policy October 2025 – Beef

Finished beef prices have recently plateaued, with prices for week ending 20 September 2025 sitting at 652p/kg/dwt for R4L grades, down 5.2p/kg/dwt from the previous week.  

At the time of writing, prices have since dropped further, with processors quoting around 645-650p/kg/dwt.  At the start of September, the price quoted for R4L steers was 658p/kg/dwt, up 1.4p/kg from the end of August and up 28% from the same week in 2024.  However, there has been little movement in prices over the past month.  Since peaking in May, finished beef prices have fallen back by 60p/kg, although prices remain 129p/kg higher than this time last year. 

Numbers forward throughout September have been plentiful with AHDB reporting weekly prime slaughterings at a three-month high. Reports suggest that this has reportedly led to several processors being more selective when choosing cattle. 

 

Christmas is Coming! 

Several processors have increased Angus prices by 5-10p/kg recently, possibly an indication of Christmas buying starting earlier. Looking ahead, consumer demand and spending will dictate if prices rise in the coming weeks. It is anticipated, however, that prices will increase, with processors stocking up for the Christmas season.  

 

Store Cattle Trade  

Store cattle trade remains strong, with several markets reporting price increases recently, with yearling stores averaging 410-420p/kg.  There are, however, slight regional differences in demand for stores, with some parts of the country reporting a slight ease in prices, likely to be associated with finished prices dropping back and the availability of winter fodder.      

Weaned calf sales have started strongly with record prices being reported so far.  Dingwall & Highland Marts’ Fort William and Portree calf sales are some of the first weaned calf sales of the season, with the sales averaging a phenomenal 505p/kg. To put this into perspective a pen of Charolais cross heifers averaging 248kgs liveweight, achieved an average price of £1,380 per head. Bullocks at Fort William, averaged 516p/kg, up 170.8p/kg on the year; while heifers traded at 182.2p/kg more than compared to 2024.  

With many suckled calf sales due to take place in the coming weeks, auction marts across the country are anticipating that there will be good demand for suckled calves with feed prices lower and more simply, cattle numbers are less, so there is competition to secure beef bred suckled calves.  

 

Dairy Beef calf numbers rising 

A recent report from AHDB highlighted the increased prevalence of dairy-beef animals in the supply chain.  A seven-year comparison of prime cattle carcases has found that carcases have become leaner as well as gradually achieving lower confirmation grades. Although market factors such as feed price also greatly influence carcase weights; the number of dairy beef calf registrations has risen significantly, up 74% since 2014, with beef sired to dairy dams making up 44% of total registrations to beef sires in 2024, compared to just 33% in 2019.  

 

Great Britain Calf Strategy 2025-2030 

Earlier this month, AHDB launched a new 5-year strategy – The GB Calf Strategy 2025–2030 to challenge the dairy beef sector and build on the successes of outcomes already delivered from the 2020–2023 GB Dairy Calf Strategy which involved farmers, vets, processors, retailers, and industry bodies. This is a critical step in ensuring a sustainable and high welfare beef and dairy industry going forward. 

The Three Key Themes of the 2025-2030 GB Calf Strategy are:
1. The Right Calf	Focus your breeding policy on the end market – replacement or beef retail?
2. The Right Start	Focusing on stockmanship, health and welfare for all calves.
3. The Right Route to Market	An integrated scheme, direct sale or auction market, which works best for your business?

 

Sarah Balfour, sarah.balfour@sac.co.uk

 

Scotland prime cattle prices (p/kg dwt) (Source: drawn from AHDB and IAAS data)

Week Ending	R4L Steers (p/kg dwt)			-U4L Steers			Young Bulls -U3L		Cull cows
		Change on week	Diff over North Eng.		Change on week	Diff over North Eng.		Diff over North Eng.	R4L	-O3L
6-Sep-25	658.0	1.4	8.3	654.9	1.1	5.8	641.7	-1.7	570.8	529.8
13-Sep-25	657.5	-0.5	5.1	656.1	1.2	9.0	645.9	5.3	570.5	542.9
20-Sep-25	652.3	-5.2	1.0	651.5	-4.6	3.0	644.4	1.9	589.3	541.4