PIGS

Pigs sold to a top price of £245 for a pair of Large White x gilts from W Stamper, Chipping closely followed by a trio of Duroc x gilt from MP Tattersall, Langholm at £220. Hogs sold to a top price of £170 for a Middle White x from C Dean & LJ Brennand, Clapham with Gloucester Old Spot achieving £162 from G Rowley, Carlisle. Lighter weight pigs sold to £150, for an 80kg Pietrain x gilt from B Harrison, Staveley. Top pence per kilo today was 197p/kg achieving for a pair of light weight Pietrain x hogs from B Harrison, Kendal with other well finished pigs generally 150p/kg to 185p/kg, depending on breed and types.
Just one pen full of weaners forward today from J. GE Heseltine & Son, Skipton with Large White x gilts selling to £62, with others from the same litter achieving £60 (twice) and £55.
A large crowd of buyers in attendance today with many leaving empty handed, vendors are encouraged to enter pigs for the next sale on Tuesday 27th June.

BREEDING SHEEP

Still plenty of interest in sheep with lambs at foot, this week selling to £205 for Cheviot ewes with twin Texel lambs from SE&J Gorst, Littledale who sold other pens at £200. Herdwick ewes with single Herdwick lambs sold to £80 from Messrs Kirkby & Longworth, Dunnerdale.

PRIME LAMBS

620 lambs forward selling to a sharper trade than anticipated with an overall averaged of 298p/kg. The sale topped at £171 for Texel lambs from Wightman & Mason, Burton in Kendal with other lambs selling to £168 for Texels from JN &DJ Bowes, Crook. Dorsets sold to £157 from FE&CM Robinson & Sons, Crooklands. A total of 21 pens sold at £151 plus. Beltex lambs saw the best sell to £153 a head or 356p/kg from D&K Swarbrick, Out Rawcliffe with the best bred lambs regularly selling at 330p/kg to 340p/kg. First cross lambs which were full of meat sold just over 300p/kg. Light lambs once again saw keen interest from our full ring of twelve buyers, with 32kg to 39kg lambs averaging 310p/kg.

PRIME HOGGS

520 hoggs were forward with once again meat selling to a flying trade. Texels selling to £184 from R Rodriguez, Whinfell with Suffolks selling to £176 from S Wilman, Kirkby Lonsdale. Cheviots sold to £169 from RJ Stott, Stainton, Beltex hoggs sold to £168 from RJ Byron, Preston. 50kg plus Continental hoggs regularly sold at the £145 to £150 mark. A run of 200 hoggs from JW Inman, Lockerbie saw heavy Horned hoggs sell to £154 with pens of twenty grass fed Herdwick hoggs sell to £98. Grove Farms, Oxford showed a run of Swaledale hoggs with their best pens sell to £98.

CAST SHEEP

A considerable leaner show of just shy of 500 cull ewes and rams forward today with buyers showing caution to over weight ewes, cull ewes are best sold fit not fat. Top price of £145 was achieved for a Cheviot Mule from RT&ME Sutton, Stainton with Charollais x selling to £144 from TW Gorst, Crook and Suffolk x to £140 from F&SA Edmondson, Ulverston. Other stronger ewes were generally £115 to £128 with the next step down £90 to £110 and the very leanest ewes generally £45 to £55, depending on breed and quality. North County Mules sold to £118, again from RT&ME Sutton, Stainton with others generally £95 to £105 with the mediums £78 to £92. Hill bred ewes sold to £112 for Cheviots from Messrs RD Holland & Co, Millom with others at £110 from Stockdale Farms Ltd, Sedbergh. Horned ewes sold to £110 from JW Inman, Lockerbie with Herdwick selling to £80 from D Hough, Dolphinholme. The leanest hill ewes were £35 to £50 with the smallest and leanest at realisation.

A small entry of cull rams sold to £149 for a pen of four Continentals from JW Inman, Lockerbie. Swaledale sold to £96 from TA&J Dixon, Selside and Herdwicks at £94 from D Hough, Dolphinholme.
Buyers are now showing preference to clipped sheep.