Pigs

The monthly sale of all specifications of pigs saw a good trade throughout with plenty of purchasers. Prime pigs twice sold to a top of £155 for Pietrain cross pigs from KF Sweeting of Ulverston and A Preston of Whitehaven, topping at 176p/kg. All prime pigs forward sold to a market average of 120p/kg. Cast sows sold to a top of £130 from AJ & EJ Platt of Barrow, with plenty big cast sows selling approximately around the £100 mark and in the region of 45-50p/kg. Stores and weaners were in short supply, especially for white pigs. Pietrain x stores sold to a top of £85 for a pen of 9 from AJ & EJ Platt. Just a handful of weaners forward saw Tamworth x gilts sell to £40 and boars to £30 DM Richardson of Penrith.

Sheep with Lambs at Foot

There was a larger entry of sheep with lambs at forward this week with 300 lives or 120 families being sold. There was more interest ringside with some bidders leaving empty handed. A good trade was enjoyed throughout as signs of spring come ever nearer and grass begins to grow. The trade topped at £195 for Continental ewes with twin lambs from AT Threlkald of Satterthwiate with Mule shearlings and twin lambs selling to £185 from T Ellis of New Hutton. Texel shearlings with singles sold to a top of £132 from G & ID Postlethwaite of Howgill.

Spring Lambs

An entry of 18 spring lambs forward met plenty of interest with all eagerly bid for and more could have easily been sold as purchasers are now looking for spring lambs each week. Lambs sold to an overall market average 329p/kg. The trade topped at 367p/kg and 357p/kg for Dorset lambs weighing 40kg from S Proctor of Selside. Top price per head of the day was £153 for 48kg Suffolk lambs from RA Batty of Selside.

Prime Hoggs

A larger entry of hoggs forward meant a bumper trade was enjoyed throughout, with all hoggs well bid for and vendors leaving pleased with their trade. Just short of a thousand hoggs forward this week sold to an overall market average of 272p/kg with 39-45kg hoggs averaging 282p/kg. Well-fed hoggs sold around the 300p/kg mark with best conformation hoggs were easily selling in excess of this. Beltex hoggs from JG Harryman of Hawkshead sold to 346p/kg, 329p/kg twice and 326p/kg, with hoggs from the consignment topping at £140.50. Topping the trade were heavy weight Charollais hoggs from J Stott Jnr of Crosscrake selling to £164 and £152. Hill bred hoggs topped at £131.50 for 47kg Mules from JG Harryman of Ambleside. Swaledales weighing 44kg sold to £129 from GM & A Jackson of Little Eccleston for a pen of 25 hoggs. Lightweight well-fleshed hoggs were also in strong demand with 34kg hoggs selling to £90.50 from AR & CA Fawcett of Seascale.

Cast Sheep

There was a larger entry cast sheep in the market today with 450 going under the gavel selling, once again, to a strong trade, equally as strong as the previous week with purchasers eagerly looking for ewes. Vendors are encouraged to take advantage of this trade and have a clear out. This week, again, saw best heavy weight Continental and Suffolk ewes selling in excess of £140. The trade topped at £151 for Leicester ewes from J & JA Burrows of Grayrigg. This was closely followed by £148 for Beltex ewes from CM Jennings of Selside and Texel ewes from Helen Newton of Low Levens. Big heavy weight Mule ewes sold in excess of £110 topping at £116 from A Pickthall of New Hutton, closely followed by £115 from J & O Galbraith and Son of Endmoor. Horned ewes sold to a top of £100 from S Proctor of Selside with Swaledale ewes selling to £88 from The Inman Family of Witherslack.