Base quotes on prime beef cattle remain on £3.30 to £3.35/kg for R4l grading animals.

The official price report from the ADHB shows the average price paid on an R4L steer fell by 1p/kg to £3.45/kg last week.

Same-grade heifers stayed at £3.43/kg and same-grade young bulls tumbled 13p/kg to £3.18/kg. Cows grading O-4L fell again this week by 3p/kg to around £2.44/kg.

Lambs

The deadweight price on factory-fit lambs is holding steady around £3.72/kg for R grading animals, a rise of 2p/kg on the previous week.

Finished sheep in the live ring rose 6p/kg to £1.62/kg for medium-weight lambs.

Heavier lambs were also up 5p/kg to £1.57/kg.

In total, 18,869 lambs were sold through the prime live ring, which is up 1,000 on the previous week.

Over 8,700 ewes were sold, which is a drop of around 300 on the previous week, with an average price of £52/head, a rise of £4/head.

Thainstone held the biggest sale last week, with over 5,000 store lambs sold to an average of £53/head.

Across Scotland, continentals made £53/head, up £3/head; Cheviots made £42/head, down £1/head; and Blackfaces made £37/head, down £5/head.

The national average for store lambs was £48.80/head, down £4/head for the 24,770 lambs sold last week, which is an increase of 3,000 on the week.

Over 4,500 store cattle were sold last week, with United Auctions and St Bosewells both selling over 1,000 head.

The national average was £740/head, down £140/head on the week.