In the week ending 8 July, the GB all prime average climbed for the 15th consecutive week, to the highest level since January 2014. At 368.19p/kg, the measure is currently nearly 3p up on the week and over 39p higher than the same period in 2016. Similar to last week, prime cattle supplies remain tight, with reports of some processors still running just four days a week.
The R4L steer price gained just over 1p week on week, at 380.1p/kg, while the overall steer quote recorded a larger increase of nearly 3p in the week ending 8 July at 368.5p/kg. Young bulls meeting R4L and R3 specifications gained nearly 6p and 5.5p respectively on the previous week, to stand at 363.3p/kg and 364.9p/kg respectively. R4L heifer prices recorded a gain of 3p on the week to stand at just under 380p/kg.
Cows meeting -O4L specification gained 1p on the week at 278.8p/kg, with anecdotal comments suggesting that beef cow trade has remained strong. On the other hand the overall cow measure lost nearly 3p, to stand at 253p/kg which could be partly due to a reported rise in dairy cattle coming to market.