DairyCo

UK Cow & Heifer Prices

Published 12 July 10

Demand for dairy animals remains strong, with market reports showing dairy heifer prices holding their high values.

• The Carmarthen auction on 23/06/10 reported an average price for dairy cows of £1,230/head, with top prices reaching £1,500.  Dairy heifer prices averaged £1,420/head at the same auction, with a top price of £1,920 for one dairy heifer.
• The Frome auction on 30/06/10 reported at total trade of 20 dairy cattle, with prices for calved heifers reaching £1,870 and calved cows peaking at £1,320.
• At the Bentham auction on 23/06/10, black & white cows averaged £1,474/head, with a top price of £1,690/head achieved.   Dairy heifer prices at the same auction averaged £1,650/head, with the highest price for one animal reaching £1,980/head.  
• The Gisburn auction on 01/07/10 reported 71 dairy cattle traded, with newly calved heifer prices reaching £2,300, with an overall average of £1,654/head at the auction.  The price for a newly calved cow reached £2,080/head, with an average for the auction of £1,540/head. 

Monthly Average Market Prices

These monthly price averages are sourced from Defra and are calculated using weekly figures collated by AHDB Meat Services.

Weekly figures are still available click here, but please note that weekly averages collated by AHDB Meat Services are from a number of markets around the country, with the number of auctions used for the data varying from week to week. As with any average, unusually high or unusually low figures will skew the results especially when the sample size is small.

• The average price of a (Friesian/Holstein) freshly calved heifer remained virtually unchanged between May and June, at an average of £1,268.53/head.  The number of animals traded over the period increased 49 (5.8%) to 892 in June.
• There was a fall in the average price of a freshly calved (Friesian/Holstein) cows over the period, by £19/head (1.7%) to £1,108/head. The number of freshly calved cows traded fell by 524 over the period to 939, a drop of 35.8%

Dairy Cattle

Please note that these figures are changed retrospectively as reports from dispersal sales come in.

Source: Defra

Calf Prices

• In the calf market, Friesian/Holstein bull calf prices fell by £8/head (14.5%) to £49/head between May and June.  The number of animals traded rose sharply by 73.5% to 1,093 over the same period.

• Hereford Cross heifer calf prices decreased by £5/head (4.1%) from May, to an average of £124/head in June.  Over the same period the number traded rose from 140 to 188, equivalent to 34.3%. 

• The average price for a Continental Cross heifer calf fell by £11/head (5.6%) between May and June, to £188head.  The number traded over the period increased by 122 (27.8%) to 561.

Source: Defra
Note: The number of pedigree sales varies each month and this affects the average price.