AFTER a flying trade the previous week and with quality slightly down overall, the 43 rearing calves forward for Skipton Auction Mart’s weekly Monday sale met with a steadier trade.

Averages were £288 for Continentals, £182.50 for native breeds and a steady £62.18 for black and whites.

However, good calves still reached the high £300s, with Robert Metcalfe, of Brearton, having the pick of the crop with a British Blue-cross bull youngster sold for a day’s high of £380.

Sutton-in-Craven’s Richard Spence headed the heifer calf prices with another Blue-cross sold for £360. He also had the best of the black and whites with a Friesian calf knocked down for £165.