Pigs
A top price of £124 was achieved for Large White x prime boars from M Blease, Carnforth who sold others at £123. White gilts from C Dean & LJ Brennand, Clapham also sold at £123. Pietrain x gilts from W Stamper, Chipping sold at £120 with boars from the same home achieving £114. A run of white gilts and hoggs from JM Navesey, Darwen selling to £110. Saddleback gilts from HMP Wymott, Walton sold to £108.
Top pence per kilo was 126p/kg for white gilts from C Dean & LJ Brennand with other well finished pigs 100p/kg – 120p/kg with buyers showing preference to white gilts and hoggs and caution towards coloured pigs and boars.
Just a handful of weaners today looking very well sold at £45 for Tamworths from DM Richardson, Penrith.
The next sale of pigs is Tuesday 28th July to include 5 Mangalitza sows and 1 Mangalitza boar. Please forward entries to the office by Friday 24th July to assist with advertising.
Spring Lambs
There was the largest entry of spring lambs of the season so far which saw 1968 forward. The trade continues to be very strong with an overall market average of 222p/kg achieved. Once again, heavy weight and best conformation lambs were best to sell and in strongest demand. The market was topped this week by 55kg Mules from T & CM Kelsall & Sons, Chipping selling to £121.50. This was closely followed by the consignment from D & C Middleton, Carnforth selling Texels to £121 and £119.50. Closely behind this was J Handley & Son, Chapel-le-Dale followed by DM Eames, Abbeystead at £118 for Texels. Suffolk lambs sold to a top of £117.50 from RI Dixon, Low Newton with other Suffolk lambs selling to £116 from A & B Fell, Millom with £115 achieved by TA Teasdale, Newton in Cartmel and DM & D Cook, Ulverston. Plenty more pens of heavy weight lambs sold around the £110 mark.
Better conformation lambs sold to £112 from RA Batty, Selside with £109 achieved twice by RW & S Nicholson, Lupton. Top pence per kilo was Beltex lambs selling to 269p/kg from J Twigge, Lindale with plenty of pens of good conformation lambs selling in excess of the 250p/kg mark.
There was a larger quantity of Mules on the market today that averaged 210p/kg.
Prime Hoggs
There was an increased entry of over 100 prime hoggs today, meeting very strong demand with buyers looking for them for the upcoming festival. Hoggs peaked at £82 for Beltex from Thrimby Farms, Penrith.
Cast Ewes
There was a bumper entry of 752 ewes forward with all specifications selling to a very strong trade with a new buyer around the ring. Many pens of Texel ewes sold over the £100 mark with a top of £114 for a pen of 10 from T & CM Kelsall, Chipping with another pen from the same home selling to £113. Strong pure bred Texels regularly sold between £100 and £105. Suffolk ewes peaked at £95 from T Parkin, Sedbergh. Mule ewes old to a stronger trade than previous weeks topping at £91 from JN & DJ Bowes, Crook with the best Mules regularly in the high eighties, medium types selling between £75 and £80 with the feeding types £65 plus.
There was a full pen of Cheviot Mule ewes sold to £83 from WS Burrow & Son, Silverdale. There was a bigger show of hill bred ewes forward again selling to strong trade for all types. Cheviot ewes topped at £86 from NP & CE Buckley, Staveley. Rough Fell ewe peaked at £74. Swaledale ewes saw the trade of the day for a pen of 11 selling to £70 from JS & S Atkinson, Scorton with others to £68 from B & D Willison & Son, Levens, also achieving the same price was R Lawrence, Grange. The next level down Swaledales were selling between £58 and £62.
All cast sheep are needed to fulfil orders for the upcoming festival.
A few tups about this morning which saw Betlex top the trade at £98 from CM Jennings, Selside.