CALVES AND WEANLINGS
Lancaster British Blue bull Calves Forward Today Average a Staggering £495.71

Lancaster Auction this week had an offering of 64 calves and weanlings forward. These were met with an increased trade with all specifications eagerly bid for. J & G Thornley, Kirkham once again stole the headlines with another cracking consignment of British Blue calves selling bulls to £590 and £550 and heifers to £525. Angus bull calves from the same good home sold to £525. British Blue weanlings sold to £580 from G& ME Woodhouse & Son, Ellel. Weanling Angus bull calves sold to £475 from JT & B Fox, Quernmore with Hereford weanlings to £465 from TE & M Kidd, Ellel whom sold heifers to £420.

12-week-old Charolais weanlings from F W Rhodes & Son, Ellel sold bulls and heifers to £455. A cracking 6-week-old British Blue bull from AD & R Milner, Claughton-on-Brock sold to £455. With other British Blue bulls to £440 from WR Clarke & Partners, Yealand Redmayne. All British Blue bull calves forward today averaged a staggering £495.71, with the British Blue heifers averaging £405.

Today saw the younger beef calves a lot more sort after, with month old Angus heifers regularly selling in the mid-£200’s and averaging at £257.50.

In the dairy calf department today, a Friesian heifer calf (fit to breed) from Tom Barron Farms, Woodplumpton sold to £270. Month old Montbeliarde bull calves sold to £235 from TL Baldwin & Son, Forton. A run of 7-8 week-old Holstein Friesian bull calves from Drinkall Brothers, Over Wyresdale sold to £190, £185, £170and £155. Other noted prices were £155 and £145 from J E & J Pye & Son, Quernmore. All Black and White calves forward today averaged £126. The demand for calves remains very strong, with more easily able to be handled at the Lancaster ring.

STORE CATTLE
Lancaster enjoyed a large entre of store cattle, with 170 forward that saw all classes a sharper trade and more required to fulfil our busy ring of buyers.

Lancaster continues to have one of the best rings for short keep cattle, with a pen of three Angus bullocks from T Robson & Son, Poulton-le-Fylde selling to £1450, this was followed by a pen of four Angus bullocks from TC Whiteside & Son, Pilling achieving £1400. British Blue steers sold to £1360 from EW & A Bradshaw, Stalmine.

A cracking run of Continental steers from the Isle of Man met a fast trade with Charolais and Limousin bullocks selling to £1350 for a pen of six, £1330 for a pen of seven, £1310 for a pen of five and £1290 for a pen of five. A pen of four Charolais and Limousin heifers from the same home achieved £1280. Other noted prices for Continental steers saw a pen of three Limousin bullocks sell to £1340 from T & E Garlick & Son, Freckleton. British Blues sold to £1310 from J & JM Walmsley, Pilling whom sold other pens to £1300. Also at £1300 was a pair of Angus bullocks from A & E Clarkson, Thurnham.

The heifer trade topped at £1370 for a pen of four British Blue heifers from T Robson & Sons, Poulton-le-Fylde.

This week saw dairy bullocks peak at £1260 for Holstein Friesians from KH Knowles, Inskip, with Brown Swiss bullocks selling to £1180 from DR Preston, Caton.  Bulls peaked at £1100 from R Holmes, Cockerham with a Holstein Friesian.

Lancaster requires store cattle each week, with the auctioneering staff advising and urging vendors to take advantage of the current strong trade we are enjoying.

OTM CATTLE
Lancaster had an entry of 81 cast cows forward this week, that saw all specification of cows met by a sharper trade especially for the steaking cows. Beef cows led the way, selling to a top of 194.5p/kg which grossed at £1242 for a 9year old Limousin from JE Bracken, St Michaels. Limousin heifers also sold to 194.5pkg from JJ & J Woof & Sons, Dent. Black and White feeding heifers twice sold to 191.5p.kg firstly from JR Handley, Heversham and then from H & A Stephenson, Tunstall grossing a £1225. Dairy heifers peaked at £1235 from TA & M Crook, Hoghton, with plenty more black and white heifers regularly selling in the 180p/kg mark.

Best black and white cows sold to 169.5pkg, with plenty of other cows easily selling in excess of the 150p/kg mark. Holstein Friesian cows sold to a staggering top of £1405 from GB & EA Metcalf & Son, Kirkby Lonsdale, with other best Holstein Friesians selling to £1398 from J & N Hull & Sons, Winmarleigh, followed by £1370 for an imported Dutch cow from AW & AM Park & Sons, Ellel. Other noted prices for Holstein Friesians cows today were £1313 from GB & EA Metcalf, Kirkby Lonsdale, £1259 from J & R Waller, Killington, with a large quantity of well fleshed cows easily selling over the £1100 mark.

Beef cows sold to a top of £1333 for British Blues from EJ Burrow, Storth, with Charolais cows to £1309 from J E Bracken, St Michaels.