THERE was a good offering for famers looking to increase their flocks at Skipton Auction Mart’s Breeding Sheep sale on Monday.

There are more young types with lambs beginning to come forward now, with a total of 613 breeding sheep – 228 sheep with 385 lambs at foot - on offer.

Top was John Atkinson, of Thirsk, who sold a pair of Texel ewes with three Beltex cross lambs for £240.

James Hall, of Darnbrook, saw a shearling with twins fetch £210. He also had two Texel ewes with twins go for £220, and three with twins for £190.

Top price paid for Mules was £200 for a pen of ten two-shear ewes with twins from Johnny Metcalfe of Linton.

L Simpson and Son sold hoggs and singles to £160, and a shearling with twins for £182.

Alan Throup, of Silsden, had the top Masham, with a correct and twins going for £140.

B and ME Craven had the top Cheviot, with a broken mouth and twins fetching £122. He also had the top Suffolk price, a correct and twins to £150, and the highest priced Charollais, a broken mouth with twins going for £130.

And a smaller show of prime sheep resulted in a sharp trade, and a strong overall average of £110 (261p/kg).

Gerald and Jonathan Beresford, of Hellifield, led the sale at 304p/kg for a Texel cross lamb, purchased by Edwards Farm Butchers of Padiham.

Neville Smith. of Lothersdale, topped the Charollais section, selling a pair for £128 (290.9p/kg) to Yorkshire Halal and £120 (260.9p/kg) to Kendall Farm Butchers P and J Sedgwick, of Trawden, also sold a couple of good specimens for £117 (268.3p/kg) and £110 (265.9p/kg) to Yorkshire Halal.

Heavier spring lambs sold to £120 per head (260.9p/kg) while lambs under 45.5kg sold to £107.53, or 304.9p/kg. Overall spring lambs sold to an average of £110.58, or 261.17p/kg.

There were good numbers put forward for the Hogg section, with meated types getting the premium they deserve.

However, it was Nick Capstick of Bolton-by-Bowland who topped the prices at £125 for a Beltex, purchased by Nick Dalby, of Kendall Farm Butchers.