GENERAL
Most sections have improved in numbers this year. The advent of the Single Farm Payment together with removal of headage payments for finished stock has obviously affected marketing patterns. In the early part of the year store cattle were still being sold so that purchasers had the advantages of an all be it reduced headed sum on green or blue carded animals. It’s indicative of how quickly things change in the livestock world that already within a few months we have completely forgotten about green and blue cards. Politicians keep talking about radically altering the common agricultural policy. It is very annoying that no mention has been made in the current debate about how the system has been completely altered this year and how there has been a complete reform of the common agricultural policy already with production support being removed and being replaced by environmental stewardship and other tools.

Ludlow Livestock Market has adapted and will continue to adapt to the new conditions in which it finds itself. The introduction of over thirty month cattle into the food chain has taken place relatively smoothly but we still have the hurdle of the removal of the OTMS for cattle born after 1996 to contend with and what the demand for plain cows will be is as yet an open question. During the last year buyers have attended the market from a wide area for both fat stock and store stock and we have continued to strive to push the market forward not only to the benefit of McCartneys but to the wider agricultural community in general.

FINISHED CATTLE – 24,941 (480 PER WEEK + 10%)
The fat cattle market has continued its revival after foot and mouth. More vendors have been prepared to travel a considerable distance to use our services and we have had a very strong contingent of buyers. Buyers that can take numbers. It has been our continued objective to have buyers for all types of stock and this is where the livestock market still has a vital role to play. A vendor can bring us 10 cattle and they may go to six different homes. No matter how you market your animals deadweight there is not this flexibility. As abattoirs become less and less the logistical role of markets becomes even more critical to the agricultural industry as a whole. They are vital collection points for the breaking down of livestock into small parcels and then their redistribution into larger loads to exactly where they are needed. This applies not only to finished cattle but also lambs and cull stock.

We have every intention of pushing forward even harder in 2006. At present we are running at 80% of finished cattle numbers pre foot and mouth. This year we need to achieve that 100% figure even though livestock numbers are less in the country as a whole. Producers should never underestimate the flexibility we offer and should always remember the quoted deadweight prices are based upon an R4L. When we were marketing cattle during foot and mouth no matter how good they were it was extremely difficult to get a load to be within 4p per kilo of the quoted price. With producers continued support we will push Ludlow forward and find another gear.
OVER THIRTY MONTH CATTLE/CULLS – 1,710 (33 PER WEEK + 5%)
The introduction of the over thirty month cattle into the food chain has started to make a big difference to our numbers. Some vendors are starting to come back because they have the option of an improved price over the over thirty month compensation. After the 22nd January we will be operating a collection service for those animals born before 1996 and so there will be the flexibility for the farmer to bring animals born after 1996 and those born before 1996 on the same day and receive compensation for one animal and market price for the other. Details of this operation will be made available in early January. We hope to be able to negotiate favourable transport in relation to those animals born before 1996 and bearing in mind the number of abattoirs dealing with them (five in the whole country) we hope that farmers will take advantage of the service that we are able to offer.

As regards animals being sold through the ring the indication is that there will be more competition for these and already we have been able to secure a good trade especially on better cows and on slip heifers. Farmers should remember however that even when there was export a lot of plain cows were only making 50p plus. Several of the animals offered for sale have been very plain indeed and producers will need to consider how they produce cull stock in the future as it will be a vital part of their income. It certainly is with killing ewes and it will become a major factor not only in beef production but in dairy herds. Those cows that hold their value as barreners will have a considerable monetary advantage over those that simply are sold as hat racks. A considerable amount of effort has already gone into producing a viable auction for over thirty month cattle and we can assure producers that more efforts are being made to guarantee a wide and varied purchasing base.

FINISHED SHEEP – 171,071 (3,290 PER WEEK + 17%)
The highlight of 2005 has been the marvellous sheep numbers we have had, both lambs and killing ewes. No end of buyers have attended and although the sheep trade has been disappointing at the end of the year we can do no more than find as many buyers as we can to compete for the animals. We have regularly had ten wholesaling buyers bidding for lambs. It is a fact that the very poor skin price has seriously affected lamb returns at the end of the year. Although during the main season there was a very firm level of demand indeed. It is those lambs sold in the last month in particular who have felt the affect of a poor skin trade. This time last year the skins were worth between £6.00 and £7.00 each and this year they are worth £1.00. That reduction has solely come out of the finished lambs. It is a sad fact that we are dependant upon the trade from China in particular as regards lamb skins. There is effectively no treatment for lamb skins left within the UK. What have we come to? This simple fact illustrates how little manufacturing production and processing takes place now within our own borders and how we are dependant on Mr. Blaire’s wider world. This fact is not only affecting agriculture but will affect every business in this country. We can’t all work for local government and we can’t all sell insurance and work for banks!

As regards the finished sheep section the particular encouragement has been the very large number of cull ewes we have been selling and what a good trade these have been. This has helped flock masters no end during a very difficult year. We are making constant efforts to improve the number of buyers for cull ewes and to push this section even harder.

STORE CATTLE – 12,887 (460 PER SPECIAL - 5%)
2004 saw a record number of store cattle partly because of changes in subsidy systems which meant in the autumn of 2004 a lot of those cattle which might have been sold in 2005 were sold early because of the changes in the blue and green card system. Having said this store numbers have remained very good by comparison with many centres. We have had some excellent sales. All sorts of animals have attracted good competition. Just as with the fat cattle we have made tremendous efforts to ensure that we have buyers for all types of store animals from the poorest dairy bred beast to the very best single suckled animal. In most of our catalogues this year there has been a tremendous variety of animals from breeding stock to finishing beasts. We will continue to push the store cattle market harder. It is our belief that as markets become more and more spread out then buyers will need to concentrate on certain centres in order to secure the supplies they need. The government changes concerning TB regulations will affect us in 2006. The pre-movement testing of all animals over 15 months for TB will affect the entire western side of the country both Wales and England. There is some doubt as to whether veterinary practices will be able to cope with the work load. McCartneys are making sure and taking steps to guarantee that if client’s vets are unable or unwilling to carry out tests before a sale date then we will be in a position to offer that service. This will not be in competition with local veterinary practises but will be a bolt on to make sure that our clients can market their animals with us when they want to as opposed to when it is convenient to have them tested. We look forward to the new challenge in 2006 and look forward to doing our best to prove the government wrong.

STORE SHEEP – 57,722 (2,062 PER SPECIAL + 4%)
The store lamb numbers have continued to be very encouraging. A very good selection of lambs has been available from mid summer right the way through the back end and we hope into the beginning of 2006. Buyers have come to rely upon Ludlow and we have had some tremendous trades especially considering the prices in the finished ring. Breeding ewe numbers have been slightly disappointing but this is only to be expected because of the killing ewe trade and the fact that a lot of full mouthed ewes were in fact slaughtered as opposed to being sold for breeding. We would expect this trend to continue all the time there is good demand for cull ewes. Ram Monday saw a very good entry of sheep but a difficult trade and this was true of all of our ram sales the further the season went on. Having said this it is true that as a yard of tups ram Monday’s would not be as good as previous years. There were runs of sheep which perhaps should have been sold as finished hogget’s at the beginning of the year when the trade was strong. This is the acid test facing all producers of breeding stock in that there comes a time in their lives when they could be worth more feet first than persevering with them for the breeding ring.

We will continue to ensure that Ludlow is a strong and vibrant store lamb market and breeding sheep market right through the year and not just for the season when there are large numbers of store lambs everywhere. It is only by becoming reliable at all times that a market can develop. We have been promised considerable numbers of in lamb ewes for the first part of 2006 and look forward to being as creative as we can in the marketing of all our store sheep.

CALVES – 889 (32 PER SPECIAL + 3%)
The calf market continues to be difficult. We have had very strong trades and calves have travelled for a long way to be sold at Ludlow. The reduced number of dairy herds on the west of the country is starting to be felt even by the largest calf markets. Our calves have always been regarded as being essential to Ludlow’s general market status i.e. it is critical to have calves as part of the total makeup and the ability of the market to serve the local community. We are therefore continuing to push calves and weanlings as hard as we can because we realise that many of our fat and store producers rely on us to find some calves for them to rear and keep their pipe lines full. We would urge calf producers to use our services. It has been nice to see that we have been able to sell dairy bred calves such as Holstein Friesian bull calves as well as and better than many of the large so called specialised calf markets. There will be a demand for beef from pure dairy breeds. Those people who are shooting calves should perhaps reconsider what they do with them and as dairy margins become squeezed and barley is £60.00 a tonne the rearing of such animals for bulls is still viable no matter what the pundits say and even without the beef premium. Meat at a price could yet still be a dominant factor in a wider beef world.

CONCLUSION
2005 has seen Ludlow Market develop further. 2005 has seen the market put foot and mouth further behind it. A general improvement right the way across the board has been evident. Even in difficult trading conditions we have been able to provide a valid and sensible outlet for producer’s livestock. Where would a lot of farmers be even if they don’t use us without the yard stick we provide? Those people who want to shorten the supply chain and tie producers into retail outlets should perhaps consider the profits being made by retail outlets for food and the profits being earned by producers during this last year. Niche markets are all very well and farmers markets provide a valuable stimulus in certain parts of the industry but are they enough on their own to give the majority of producers the returns they need in order to stay in farming? Without the competition the livestock markets offer and without the ability to turn animals quickly into cash if needed where would many producers be? As a firm we look forward to 2006. As a firm we look forward to dealing with the problems of the Single Farm Payment and what this will do to the production of livestock. You have our assurance that we will continue to be as robust as we can in the marketing of all of the livestock sent to us. We continue to have bad debts. You can say that’s our fault and it is, but in saying that, just remember there isn’t a single producer who uses our livestock market that hasn’t been glad for every bid he has and on the fall of the hammer he is guaranteed his money. The continued pressure on the meat trade as regards regulations has become so great that many of the smaller firms have just been unable to cope with the pressure. In the last ten years since BSE the entire value of what was the fifth quarter has been eroded. All of those things that used to be sold to help cover slaughter charges and running costs are now thrown away or we are reliant upon a Chinaman or Pole or a Russian to bid for them.

They call this progress. Forget Sir Bob Geldof becoming an Ambassador with the Conservative party to deal with world poverty, we throw away or colour with blue paint enough food and food products to feed the starving world. It can’t go on. The way the economy of the western world is run cannot go on. All we can do for our part is try every week to introduce some sanity into the mad world in which we find ourselves.

May we take this opportunity of wishing all our clients a happy and hopefully prosperous 2006.

John Uffold
Partner in Charge
Ludlow Livestock Market