Sheep with Lambs at Foot
The weekly sale of sheep with lambs at foot had 199 families forward. The trade saw young sheep and quality outfits continue to sell to a similar strong trade with older ewes and splitting families less money on the week. Leading the way this week were Texel cross shearlings with smart Texel twin lambs selling to £280 from Dave Dixon, Grayrigg (these sheep being fully vaccinated against abortion) with other Texel shearlings from the same home selling to £268. Mule shearlings with Texel twin lambs sold to £268 and £265 from G & KM Atkinson, Appleby. Mule shearlings with Suffolk twin lambs sold to £250 from MJ & JD Hanley, Sedbergh. Continental shearlings with single Beltex lambs sold to £205 from D & J Hey, Cockerham. Other Continental shearlings with single lambs sold to £200 three times from AC & E Dent, Bowes. Also achieving the £200 mark twice were Continental shearlings with Dutch Spotted cross single lambs from R Heath, Bootle.
Older sheep with lambs at foot peaked at £250 for Suffolk cross ewes with twin lambs from NJ Strickland & Son, Whinfell. This was followed by Texel ewes with twin Texel lambs to £245 from Dave Dixon, Grayrigg with others to £235 from Messrs Williamson, Appleby. Aged Mule ewes with twins sold to £215 from M Moorhouse, Grange-Over-Sands. Two and three crop Texel ewes with Texel lambs sold to £200 from CR Alderson & Son, Mallerstang.
We are starting to see more interest in hill bred sheep with Herdwick ewes with twin Texel lambs selling to £120 from S Crompton, Crosthwaite. Herdwicks with single Texel lambs sold to £88 from Grace Nelson, Brigsteer.
Spring Lambs
The weekly sale of Spring lambs saw an increased entry of 121 lambs forward which was met with a lot more interest from our buyers ringside and an increased market average of 347p/kg. Taking top spot this week were heavy weight Hampshire lambs from J & O Galbraith and Son, Endmoor selling to £152 and £147 both purchased by Plumgarths Farm Shop. Plumgarth’s also purchased three Texel lambs from W Garnett & Son, Milnthorpe at £147. This was closely followed by Suffolk lambs selling to £146 from JN & DJ Bowes, Crook, £154 from E Needham, Stainton, £143.50 from JN & DJ Bowes, Crook, £142.50 and £142 from J,BL & I Ellis, New Hutton. Charollais lambs peaked at £143 from FE & CM Robinson and Son, Crooklands with Texel lambs from the same home also achieving £143. Plenty more spring lambs were regularly seen around the £140 mark. There were more light weight spring lambs on the market today with 34kg Beltex lambs to £124 from FE & CM Robinson & Son, Crooklands with 34kg Texels selling to £116 from Low Moor How Farm, Windermere. Top p/kg this week was 388p/kg from R Cowin & Sons, Kirby Lonsdale.
Prime Hoggs
There was an entry of 500 Prime hoggs forward today, which saw many consigners sweeping up leading to a shortage of quality hoggs and a lot of plain and lean hoggs on offer. A cracking run of heavy weight Texel hoggs from JA Chapman, Kendal sold to £153 twice and £150. Standard weight Texel hoggs sold to £142 from L A Bradshaw, Stalmine with others from the same home selling to £140. Also achieving £140 were Texel hoggs from Messrs Young, Lindale. Heavy weight Suffolk hoggs peaked at £141 from TW Nelson & Son, Stainton. Mules top at £123.50 from L A Bradshaw, Stalmaine.
Cast Sheep
A smaller show of ewes were forward with 240 going through the ring and all types selling to a much stronger trade than last week. Suffolk ewes led the way from J E Wightman, Lupton at £144, with other Suffolk ewes selling to £139 from RW & AS Nicholson, Lupton. All Suffolk ewes forward averaged £112. Beltex ewes sold to £136 from JA & KL Allen, Ings with Texel ewes selling to £134 from R & A Batty, Selside. Texels out of Mules regularly sold between the £110-£115 mark. All Mules were keenly bid for topping at £120 twice from TW Nelson & Son, Stainton and TH Garnett & Son, Stank. With the best Mules regularly selling to the £115-£120 mark, the next level down selling well over the £100 mark. Hill ewes were the strongest trade of the day with Cheviots peaking this section at £126 from NP & CE Buckley, Staveley who also sold their Cheviots to £124. White Faced Woodlands sold to £103 from PA & HJ Onions, Arkholme. Rough Fells sold to £100 from R Caradice, Tebay, with strong Swaledale ewes from M Robinson, Staveley selling to £94.
Cast rams sold to a flying a trade with Charollais selling to £176 from S & A Gardner, Arnside. Zwartbles sold to £169 from KP & EJ Knight, Kirkby in Furness. More cast ewes are needed to fulfil a keen ringside of buyers.