Sheep With Lambs at Foot

There was a smaller entry of sheep with lambs at foot today, following the wet weather over the weekend. The trade saw buyers prepared to pay a premium for better quality stock. Leading the way this week was a Texel cross ewe with young Texel cross lambs selling to £245 from E Parker, Mewith. Mixed aged Suffolk ewes with young Suffolk lambs at foot sold to £240 from Joshua France, Pilling. The consignment from P & SA Edmondson, Barrows Green, sold Texel ewes with twins to £240 and Mule ewes with strong Texel lambs to £235. Texel ewes with single lambs from the same home sold to £155 and £150.

Spring Lambs

What a wonderful way to start the season of spring lambs at J36. The Easter Extravaganza created plenty of interest amongst buyers and vendors alike, with huge interest in which more could have been sold.

Some fantastic spring lambs were on offer and saw the championship rosette awarded to RJ & J Towers, Ingleton with a Beltex x Charollais lamb. This much admired lamb sold to £242 or 590p/kg, with the judge backing his judgement, Ian Brown of Browns Quality Meats making the purchase. They also purchased the Reserve Champion, a 44kg Suffolk, selling to £195 or 443p/kg from RJ & J Towers.

Selling to 471p/kg was a much admired 35kg Beltex lamb grossing at £165 from B & AC Barnes, Kirkby Lonsdale who also sold Dorset lambs to 451p/kg or £158. Texel lambs sold to £175 from W Garnett & Son, Milnthorpe with Charollais peaking at £172 from AT Threlkeld, Satterthwaite. Dorsets topped at £173 from B & AC Barnes, Kirkby Lonsdale with others selling to £170 from S Procter, Selside. All Spring lambs forward averaged an impressive 382p/kg or £148.95.

A special mention and a big thank you must go to our sponsors today, Plumgarths Farm Shop, Dugdale Nutrition and Farmgate Vets.

Prime Hoggs

J36 enjoyed a very much improved trade for Prime Hoggs with them being the dearest seen this season for the quality on offer. With an overall market average of 282p/kg with handy weights averaging 290p/kg.

Heavy weight hoggs from TW Nelson & Son, Stainton sold Suffolks to £177, closely followed by other Suffolks to £176 from CG Birkett, Carnforth. A consignment from G Wightman, High Newton sold Suffolks to £173 and Mules to £172.

Best quality prime hoggs were in strong demand with a pair of Beltex selling to £90p/kg or £151 from AR & BJ Thompson, Selside with other Texels from the same home selling to 380p/kg or £167. A consignment from GM & A Jackson, Little Eccleston sold to £380p/kg or £167. Plenty of better confirmation hoggs sold in excess of the 350p/kg with well finished handy weighted hoggs selling at 310p/kg – 340p/kg.

Horned hoggs sold to £123 for Lonks from V & EJ Chadwick & Sons, Sowerby. Swaledales sold to £117 from TA & J Dixon, Selside.

Cast Sheep

300 cast sheep were forward for today’s sale with all selling to a faster trade than previous weeks, with the best pure bred ewes selling between £130 and £150 and a top of £198 for a Beltex ewe from J Woodburn & Partners, Ulverston. CG Birkett, Carnforth sold a run of pure Suffolk ewes to £169 and £148 with Texels peaking at £140 from E Lund & Son, Ingleton, with all Texel ewes forward averaging £112. A Hampshire ewe from J & O Galbraith & Son, Endmoor sold to £136. All Mule ewes were keenly bid for with a top of £124 from DE & SM Moorhouse, Natland with the best regularly selling between £115 and £120. All Mules forward averaged £97.

Teeswater ewes from DE & J Waine, Longsleddale sold to £128. Hill ewes sold to a fast trade with Cheviots topping once again at £125 from MJ Waller, with others from the same home selling to £108. Scotch ewes from G & ID Postlethwite, Howgill sold to £99 with other Scotch ewes selling to £97 from J Woodburn & Partners, Ulverston. Swaledale ewes topped at £90 from BW & G Robinson, Carnforth with the best selling at £80 plus and medium types £50 - £60.

There were 30 cast rams forward today with a top of £170 from HM Hodgson, New Hutton with a Texel tup, with suffolks selling to £128 from CG Birkett with Leicesters also making the same price from Messrs Hodgson, High Borrans. Hill bred rams sold to a strong trade with Swaledales selling to £107 from TA & J Dixon, Selside and Cheviots selling to £99 from Edmondson Bros, Great Langdale.

More ewes are required on a weekly basis to fulfil buyers demands at J36.