Scotland’s initial hard fought-over Scotch premium has eluded Scottish beef producers for almost four months now and is unlikely to return.

That was the stark warning from Neil Shand, chief executive of the National Beef Association, who told The SF that the Scottish premium has all but disappeared.

“The north of England is now driving the price and it is hard to see how market forces will come into play to reverse this when increasing numbers of top quality cattle from Scotland are heading south of the Border to be sold either live or deadweight,” he said.

“There appears to be far more flexibility on the weight ranges for prime cattle in the North of England when you see vastly out of spec cattle making significantly higher prices than they would in Scotland. The exact same cattle would be heavily penalised in this country,” said Mr Shand.

Such has been the trade for cattle in the North of England, that some producers have been known to receive up to 20p per deadweight more than their Scottish neighbours, and a growing number of beef farmers are now heading south of the Border to sell both prime and store cattle.

Another interesting trend is the increase in number of finishers from Yorkshire and the North of England, who are heading up to Scotland to buy some of the best quality stores at United Auctions, Stirling and other markets, when they have more money in their pockets to spend.

Meanwhile, the most up to date figures from AHDB show increased supplies of all types of prime cattle throughout GB, have pulled down overall cattle prices.

Latest figures reveal the total number of steers and heifers sold through Scottish abattoirs for the week ending January 15, were up a massive 53.5% and 52.1% respectively. As a result, the 3711 bullocks killed averaged 411.1p per deadweight kg, down just 3.4p on the previous seven days, while 2571 heifers, stood on at 412.7p.

Young bulls and cull cows followed a similar thread, with throughputs up a massive 47.6% and 94.2% respectively, and values of 385.7p per kg (-6.7p) and 286.3p (+0.4p).

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Values also slipped in the North of England, with steers and heifers levelling at 412.4p and 411.4p, respectively while young bulls and cows, cashed in at 391.9p and 270.2p.

North of England cattle still command a premium over Scottish too, with R4L steers attracting prices in excess of 10p per dwkg and heifers at 7p plus. Young bulls are also selling for 2p per kg more.

With staff numbers getting back to near normal within the processing sector, Mr Shand is nevertheless optimistic that beef prices will start to improve in the near future.

“There is plenty of demand for beef and especially when the weather is cold like this. There are also six of the main supermarkets in the UK re-affirmed their commitment to buy British beef, so Asda’s decision to renege on their commitment is unlikely to have any effect on prices,” concluded Mr Shand who added that retail shelves in supermarkets are never packed to capacity.