SKIPTON Auction Mart was jam-packed for the weekly Monday sale, with every single pen in use and over 300 different sellers and buyers attending.

The entry of 5,154 sheep included 4,817 prime lambs, the largest turnout to date this season, which saw trade keenly contested, producing a further rise on the week to achieve an overall average of £75.64 per head, or 175.8p/kg, with strong breed averages throughout.

The 2,839 Texels themselves averaged £76.96 per head, or 175.55p/kg, while a total of 710 Mule wether lambs really caught the eye when averaging almost £30 over the weight at £72.53 each, or 168.74p/kg. Horned lambs were also a decent trade and came in a shade dearer on the week.

As usual, Continentals met with the pick of the trade, with a strong pen of Beltex-cross lambs from mart regular Hannah Brown, of Bedale, leading both the gross and by-weight prices at £120 per head, or 313.5p/kg. The 446 Beltex lambs on offer averaged 201.7p/kg, or £84.21 per head.

Cast sheep numbered 337 and were dearer on the week, as buyers sought out lean, rather that over-fat types. Cull ewes averaged £60 per head, peaking at £115.50 each for a Texel pen from A&CL Gray, of Summerbridge. Cast rams averaged £77.63 per head, with Giggleswick’s John North hitting top price of £116.50 with a Texel entry.

A total of 58 prime cattle were also on parade, with cast cattle in the ascendancy as usual. The 50 cull cows traded slightly dearer on the week to average £606.34 per head overall, or 92.21p/kg.

A Limousin cow from John Robinson, of Foulridge, was the pick on price at £1,025, or 126.5p/kg, with the same vendor also heading the British Blue prices at £981.

Prime cattle under 30 months peaked at £1,275, or 163.5p/kg, for an Aberdeen Angus-cross steer from A Thompson, Farms of Glusburn, while an Angus-cross heifer from A Guy & Son, of Elslack, topped the over 30-month prices at £1,093.

The mart’s latest monthly Saturday sale of stirks and weaned calves attracted a bumper turnout of 262 head of cattle, the largest since the inception of the weekend fixture, which continues to grow in popularity.

It comprised106 bull stirks, 130 steer and heifer stirks and 26 breeding cattle, with trade said to be similar to the previous sale, though improving types met with a ready audience. Strong black and whites also looked good value on the day, while a quality entry of in-calf breeding cattle got away well.

Young bulls sold to a top of £730 for a British Blue-cross, with a breed average high of £650 for Charollais-cross entries. Store bullocks peaked at £600, again for a Blue-cross, with the breed averaging £579 per head overall.

A Blue-cross entry also headed the store heifer prices at £630, with Shorthorns producing the leading breed average of £530. Breeding cattle sold to a top of £1,100 for an in-calf Limousin cow.

The fortnightly Wednesday store cattle sale at Skipton Auction Mart saw 86 young feeding bulls sell to an overall Continental-x average of £855, with a native average of £670. Procters Farms in Slaidburn produced a nice run of Limousin-cross, which peaked at £1,280.

With 329 store bullocks and heifers on parade, the former sold to a Continental-cross average of £908.63, and a native average of £766, producing a high of £1,260 for a British Blue-cross from GR Bulmer & Sons, of Wakefield, with a breed average high of £972 per head overall.

A British Blue-cross from EW&JR Parkinson, of Dunsop Bridge, was also the pick of the heifer trade at £1,290, with the section producing a Continental-cross average of £876, along with a native average of £762.