Scots remain very worried by downtrend Pressure on beef processors in Scotland appears to be easing somewhat as the differential between cattle markets there and south of the border continues to narrow. R3 and R4 steers are now selling at only about 7p per kg deadweight above the English price. Late last year Scotland's abattoir operators were complaining of severe financial difficulties due to a premium of about 20p, which they claimed was nearly double the cattle cost differential they could recoup from the beef market despite the willingness of catering and retailer buyers to pay more for their meat than for the English or Welsh commodity. However, although the earlier sense of crisis in the Scottish industry is no longer apparent, insiders say they remain deeply worried by the downtrend in beef cattle breeding and finishing stock numbers. {{MEAT }}

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