Sheep with Lambs at Foot sell to £300

Breeding Sheep

Spring is certainly in the air today with the sun beaming down and sheep with lambs at foot booming as the sheep industry is full of confidence. The opening sale of the season saw a busy ring of buyers looking to invest. It was the consignment from J & A Heap & Son, Barnacre that took top spot selling aged Continental ewes with smart Texel twins lambs to £300 with Continental ewes and singles from the same home selling to £230. The consignment of aged Mule ewes with Texel twin lambs sold to £265 three times with others to £260 and £255 from David and Karen Swarbrick, Out Rawcliffe. More are needed again for next week’s sale.

Prime Hoggs

Lancaster had a larger entry of 576 hoggs forward this week selling to an impressive market average of 270p/kg with handy weighted hoggs averaging 282p/kg. This week’s offering of hoggs had more Continentals forward. The best type of hoggs easily sold beyond the 300p/kg mark selling to a top of 351p/kg for a pair of 37kg Beltex hoggs from Andrew Butler, Hambleton that grossed at £130 with others from this consignment selling to 339p/kg, 337p/kg and 333p/kg. Taking top spot this week at £151 was shapely Texel hoggs from JE Parkinson & Son, Quernmore weighing 44kg and making 343p/kg with others from this home selling to £144. The consignment of Dutch Texel’s from GR & A Foy, Conder Green sold to 333p/kg or a top of £130. More butcher quality hoggs are required at Lancaster with nine active buyers present this week.

Texel hoggs from JA Lambert, Out Rawcliffe sold to £140 weighing 45kg. The consignment of heavy Texel hoggs from George Sanderson and Family, Catforth sold to £139.50 and £139. The consignment from T & L Kirkham, Eccleston sold to £136, £135 and £133. Suffolk’s topped at £132 from George Sanderson and Family, Catforth with Cardwell Farms also achieving the same.

Hill hoggs sold to £127 from A & L Huddleston, Wray with others to £125 from T Ayrton & Son, Over Wyresdale. Cheviot hoggs sold to £123.50 weighing 45kg from Cardwell Farms with Mules peaking at £123 from T Ayrton & Son, Over Wyresdale. Horned hoggs peaked at £104 from RH & C Ayrton, Abbeystead.

Cast Sheep

Lancaster has enjoyed a good cast sheep trade averaging just shy of the £100 mark. Texel ewes sold to a top of £140 from RA Holmes, Inskip with others to £128 from S Bosworth, Burnley, with plenty of Continental ewes selling in excess of £115. Suffolk cross ewes sold to £112 from S Wilson & Son, Scotforth. Mule ewes sold to a top of £107, £106 and £105 from James Burr, Quernmore with plenty of strong Mule ewes selling at one hundred pound plus and averaged £96.52. Horned sheep sold to a top of £77 from T Ayrton & Son, Over Wyresdale. Texel cast tups sold to £127 and £116 from T & L Kirkham, Eccleston.