In the week ended 23 December, the GB all prime cattle measure gained 0.71p on the week, to 362.64p/kg, which is 6.42p and 10.58p above the 5 year average and the same week in 2016 respectively. During the week ending 30 December, the measure recorded further gains to stand at 363.89p/kg. The measure now stands 4.91p and 10.09p above the 5 year average and the same week in 2016 respectively. Estimated prime cattle slaughterings for the week ended 23 December totalled 29.5 thousand head, 0.2 thousand head above the previous week. During the week ended 30 December, estimated prime cattle slaughterings totalled 18.6 thousand head, 3 thousand head less than the same week last year.
The overall steer price has remained reasonably steady over the past two weeks, standing at 363.6p/kg for the week ending 30 December, while those meeting the R4L specification fell slightly to 375.5p/kg. The overall young bull price has performed strongly, gaining 4.1p over the past fortnight, to 339.4p/kg, with those meeting the R3 specification gaining 6.2p over the fortnight, standing at 362.7p/kg. The overall heifer carcase prices recorded a 2.3p gain over the two week period, to 366.6p/kg. Heifer carcases meeting the R4L specification recorded a gain of 0.3p week-on-week in the week ended 23 December to 376p/kg, before falling by 0.9p week-on-week during the week ending 30 December, standing at 375.1p/kg.
The overall cow price performed strongly over the Christmas period gaining a total of 13.4p over the fortnight, to stand at 241.6p/kg in the week ending 30 December. Those cow carcases meeting the –O4L specification gained 9p during the two weeks, to 266p/kg. Estimated cull cow slaughterings totalled 9.3 thousand head in the week ended 23 December, a similar number to the same week in 2016. During the week ending 30 December, estimated cull cow slaughterings totalled 5.4 thousand head, 0.9 thousand fewer than the same week in 2016.