We have experienced three droughts in the last five years in most parts of the UK. Producers seem to have come to terms with managing drought conditions, although that isn’t to say that dealing with low feed stocks is ever straight forward. The droughts have shown us that while it’s very dry in mid summer, we tend to have wet and good grass-growing autumns with the ground still warm and the nutrients still in the soil, after the dormant grass growth. Let’s hope that trend continues this year.

The wheat and barley harvest in most areas is completed with producers reporting good yields of grain and straw. The turmoil in the world has led to high feed costs and this will impact on finishers returns.

Organic store cattle prices have remained surprisingly strong during the summer, reflecting the high demand for finished cattle. The trend is likely to continue, although small store cattle prices are likely to be under pressure with feed availability limited and costly.

Store lambs have come onto the market early this year, and in a lot of cases, too early for drought-stricken finishers to be ready to take them in. Demand is now increasing and we are looking for more supplies, particularly of quality lambs.