Prices hold with strong turnout of 3,000 sheep (From Craven Herald)

Prices hold with strong turnout of 3,000 sheep

3:41pm Thursday 1st March 2012 in Countryfile

A near 3,000-strong entry of prime sheep – a solid turnout for the time of year – at Skipton Auction Mart’s weekly sale on Monday, saw lightweight hoggs and export weight hoggs achieving similar trade on the week.

Beltex-x were popular, with a pen from Ian & Mary Lancaster, Pendleton, heading the day’s per-weight prices at 276.9p/kg, or £108 per head. The overall class average was £98.51 per head, or 243.6p/kg.

Stephen Pepper, of Oxenhope, sold a Charollais pen for £124 each and also headed the Suffolk prices at £123 a head.

Well-finished lightweight Swaledale wethers were good to sell, as were well-fed heavy Suffolk and Continental-x hoggs. Prime hoggs sold to an overall average of £82.89 per head, or 191.5p/kg.

There was again sharp trade for cull ewes, stronger types in particular. Heavy ewes sold to a top of £151.50 per head for a pen of three Texels from RC Robinson & Partners, of Pannal, while JA Gibson & Sons, of York, sold Texel pens at £140.50 and £148.50. Cull ewes averaged £82.61 and cast rams £60.25.

Rearing calf trade was again buoyant, showing an overall average of £234 and selling to a high of £450 for a British Blue-x bull calf from J Wellock, of Oakworth. Heifer calf prices were headed at £320 for a Limousin-x from G Hayton & EC Stocks, of Bolton Abbey.

With eight loads on site for the weekly produce sale, small bale hay sold to £2.80, round bale hay to £22, haylage to £19, wheat straw to £23.50 and Spring barley round to £23 – all per bale.

Of the 58 prime cattle forward, steers under 30 months sold to 184.5p/kg, or £959, for a British Blue-x from JJ Beckwith & Sons, of Gargrave, and heifers to 141.5p/kg, £976, for a Hereford from R Ruddock, of Harrogate.

The overall average for 30 to 48-month-old prime cattle was 140.17p/kg, with RG Johnson & Son, of Felliscliffe, topping the per-head prices at £1,166, 157.5p/kg, for a black and white cow, and CJ Lumb, of Halifax, the per-weight prices at 172.5p/kg, £1,061, with a Limousin-x. cow.

Cull cows achieved an overall average of 132.38p/kg per head. JJ Beckwith & Sons were again to the fore with a Limousin-x that jointly headed the prices at 161.5p/kg, £1,058, equalled by another Limousin from Simon Bennett, of Silsden, which made £1,171. Top price in section at £1,180 fell to a third Limousin-x from Fleets Farm, Rylstone.

l The final Wednesday sale of in-lamb sheep and store hoggs (February 22) produced strong trade for the latter, with several pens of Continental and Suffolk hoggs selling for more than £80 each.

Suffolk prices, headed at £85 per head by GR & PL Jowett, of Morton Banks, averaged £83.71, while there was again keen demand for Swaledale wethers, which averaged almost £55 and sold to a high of £68 each for a pen from JW Tinkler & Sons, of Nesfield. In-lamb sheep achieved similar prices to the previous sale, with two pens of Mules from GM & J Robinson, of Fellbeck, noteworthy at £144 and £140.

Looking ahead, Monday sees the opening weekly seasonal sale of ewes with lambs at foot, with around 100 outfits already entered.