Confident beef trade blows away autumn blues at Stirling

Relief was palpable at Stirling on Monday 6 February as buyers returned with renewed optimism after a challenging October sale.

Cautious buyers who had stayed away from the autumn sale returned to the spring event, resulting in a recovery in the averages and numbers sold.

Angus and Limousin trade was particularly buoyant, helped along by strong commercial demand, although a more selective trade was reported for Shorthorns.

See also: Charolais hit £7,599 average and three big calls at Stirling

This was the assessment of Raymond Kennedy, cattle auctioneer for United Auctions, who told Farmers Weekly that the sale’s “buzz” was back.  

Mr Kennedy cited an average price of £6,689 and 93% clearance for the Limousins, as well as a 77% Angus clearance, as signs of strong demand.

He listed the following as factors behind the improvement in trade:

• Forage concerns have eased owing to a kind autumn, and some buyers opted to buy bulls in February rather than feed them all winter
• Additional demand in February due to more herds switching to spring calving or dropping the autumn block
• A strong store cattle trade, with deadweight prices at 467.8p/kg for R4L steers last week in Scotland, up 19.4% (76.3p/kg) on the year
• Cows are up even further – many fleshy beef-bred suckler cows have made £2/kg liveweight at Stirling this year. Cows (R4L) have made 408.5p/kg deadweight in Scotland – 31% above the same week last year.

Strong commercial bids

Angus trade topped the sale. A bid of 24,000gns secured Tonley Endgame, consigned by Neil Wattie (pictured). Shorthorns topped at 16,000gns for Millerston Ramsay from the Thornbers.

Commercial bids fuelled a firm Limousin trade. Purchasers readily went to £8,000-£10,000 to secure a commercial sire, said Mr Kennedy. A 15,000gns bid secured Elrick Shogun from the Massies.

Numbers sold compared favourably with the February 2022 sale. There were nine fewer Angus bulls sold, but the Shorthorns and Limousin rings saw similar volumes sent to new homes.

“Commercial buyers were competing with pedigree breeders throughout the day,” said Mr Kennedy.

“Buyers were able to spend their cull cow income on bulls for the future. Plenty of strong, well-fleshed beef-bred culls have made £2/kg or more in recent months.”