CALVES AND STIRKS

A bumper sale of 180 calves and stirks were forward today, with once again all types selling to full value at J36. Limousin bull calves peaked the calf section at £500 from B & MJ Nelson & Son, Heversham with British Blue bulls selling to £445 from CM & CS Chapplehow, Penrith. The best Continental bred bulls were regularly selling well over the £400 mark. With Native bulls selling to £400 for Aberdeen Angus from JAH Walton & Son, Kirkby Stephen.

A big show of heifer calves were forward with buyers keen to purchase all types. British Blue heifers peaked at £480 from JAH Walton & Son Kirkby Stephen, JW & TE Sharp, Lyth sold a wonderful run of British Blue heifers topping at £445. B & MJ Nelson & Son, Heversham sold Limousin heifers twice to £480 with others from the same home selling to £430. Bambers Farm, Lancaster sold a strong run of Hereford heifers selling to £305 twice.

Dairy bred bull calves would be the trade of the day with many buyers leaving empty handed and many more are needed to fulfil demand. A top of £290 was achieved from RG & JA Clark for a Fleckvieh with black and whites selling to £250 from Bambers Farm and £245 from J Scott & Co, Cartmel with many of the best rearing calves selling well over the £100 mark.

A younger show of stirks were forward at J36 today with buyers keen to purchase well grown stirks for their age. British Blue bullocks topped at £890 from JK & A Bowness & Son, Milnthorpe with other Blue bullocks from the same home selling to £820.

Kirkby & Longworth sold a run of Charolais bullocks to a top of £710. A big show of black and white bullocks were forward with a top in this section of £580 from PD & PJ Mason, Burton in Kendal who also sold others to £540.

STORES

200 store cattle went through the ring today with the best quality cattle once again selling to a strong trade, with the next level down selling to a selective trade today. Strong Charolais bullocks sold to £1330 from RJ & R Holden, Millom with Limousins selling to £1290 from MJ Waller, Lupton with British Blue bullocks selling to £1200 from RJ & J Holden, Millom.

Yearling bullocks regularly sold between the £950 - £1000 mark with a top of £1070 for a Limousin from A & P Hodgkinson, Poulton le Fylde. MJ Waller, Lupton sold a good run of Limousin heifers selling to £1280 and £1250 respectively. Strong Charolais heifers from Caley & Mitchinson, Windermere sold to £1120.

Young grazing heifers were selling between £850 and £900 with British Blues selling to £950 from ME & CA Duerden, Askham. P & TL Edmondson, Kirkby in Furness sold a pen full of 8 Charolais heifers at 10 months old selling to £890. There is another keen interest from buyers for our next Fortnightly sale on Thursday 27th May.

BREEDING CATTLE

The May Fair sale of breeding cattle set off to a flying trade with 100% clearance of breeding bulls, with a home bred British Blue bull from N & AJ Temple, Ulpha selling to £3000. A keen interest was shown for Charolais bulls forward with a top of £2500 from D Cornall, Bleasdale with other Charolais’ selling to £2200 from GR Bargh, Lancaster. G Metcalfe & Son, Gressingham sold a nice Aberdeen Angus bull at 16 months old at £2000.

The breeding cattle section set off with a run of in-calf Luing cows from J E Atkinson, Ulverston which sold to £1150 twice. The star of the breeding section was a pedigree Limousin heifer from W Holden & Sons, Blackburn which raced away to a price of £2300.

The cow and calf section was mainly a run of older cows today which were all keenly bid for with a top of £1820 from JE Stables, Cartmel who also sold others to £1580. Just the one heifer and calf in today from E Rossall, Poulton le Fylde which sold to £1750.

Our next sale of breeding cattle will be on Thursday 10th June. Vendors are advised to enter breeding cattle for this sale, with buyers already enquiring about the sale.

CULL COWS SELL TO 209.5P/KG AND £1422 AT NWA J36

OTMS

Cull cows continue to sell to a sharp trade with all cows averaging 144p/kg with nearly half the entry being dairy cows.

Heavy and well fleshed beef cows sold to 209.5p/kg for a Stabiliser x from A Dixon & Son, Selside with the 200p/kg barrier broken on another 3 occasions for Limousin x cows from A Winder & Son, Kirkby Stephen, KD Harryman, Keswick and a Hereford x from A & ED Booth, Settle.

All classes and types of beef cows were keenly bid for with cows suitable for further finishing generally 155p/kg – 175p/kg. Top grossing beef cow today was £1442 for a Limousin x from KD Harryman, Keswick with 10% selling over £1200 and a further 55% over £1000.

Dairy cows sold to 179.5p/kg for a Shorthorn from Messrs Robinson, Old Hutton with Friesians 167.5p/kg from R & A Galbraith with other heavy, well fleshed dairy cows regularly 145p/kg – 160p/kg. Medium cows were 130p/kg – 149p/kg with the leanest parlour type cows 98p/kg – 110p/kg. The top grossing dairy cow achieved £1157 from CM & CS Chapplehow, Penrith.

OTM heifers sold to 209p/kg and £1282 for a Stabiliser x from A Dixon & Son, Selside with a Hereford x 200p/kg or £1278 from A & ED Booth, Settle. OTM dairy heifers sold to 179.5p/kg and £911.

A single Holstein Friesian bull from Messrs Halpin, Barrow in Furness sold at 144.5p/kg and £1157.