Skipton Spring lamb trade straight

Straight trade was the order of the day at Skipton Auction Mart’s weekly Monday sale of 1,871 prime sheep, with Spring lambs well into the majority and the 1,544-strong entry trading at an overall average of £88.30 per head, or 230.5p/kg.

While this was not quite as strong as the previous week, anything nicely fleshed and well fed was again keenly contested at the ringside, with plenty of three figure pen prices in evidence.

The day’s per head high of £117 fell to a Texel consignment from John Thwaite, of Horton-in-Craven, with a joint by-weight top of 275p/kg for another Texel pen from the ever-prominent Robert Towers, of Farleton, and a Beltex offering from Nathan Wade in High Bradley.

Overall, the top end of the entry achieved 240-270p/kg, with well presented Texel and Continental crosses, along with Suffolks from Continental ewes, trading at 230-245p/kg. Commercial types and Suffolk-cross Mules made 220-230p/kg, with lightweights achieving 210-240p/kg, depending upon finish.

Generally, the heavier the lamb the easier it was to sell, with those 38kg and over mainly being the better finished sorts and receiving the most interest.

A much smaller, yet anticipated turnout of 46 old season lambs sold to an overall average of £73.50 per head, or 166.9p/kg, with some nice Swaledale pens from Stephen Taylor, of Wethercote, selling away well to a per head high of £79.

Though there were fewer heavy ewes on offer, the 281 cast sheep forward met with a similar trade on the week, with cull ewes averaging £67.83 per head and selling to a top of £109.50 for a Suffolk pen from Robert Earnshaw, of Dacre. Cast rams averaged £84.33 each, peaking at £104.50 for another Suffolk from Farnhill’s John Roberts.