A MASSIVE turnout of 6,517 head of sheep at Skipton Auction Mart’s latest fortnightly Wednesday sale comprised 5,072 store lambs and 1,445 breeding sheep.

Plenty of late autumn grass and a timely lift in prime sheep prices, together with a large company of southern-based buyers, helped to raise store sheep trade by some £3 to £5 per head.

Store lambs still came forward in good numbers and trade was described as strong. Suffolk and Texel lambs averaged over £60 per head, while any smart Beltex types raced away up to near the £70 per head mark. Chris Heseltine, of Bolton Abbey, stood out with a £100 per head Beltex pen.

As is customary at Skipton, Mule wethers were keenly contested, with the 1,670 head on offer averaging £58.36, an increase £3 each on the last fortnight.

Some notably large lots of Mules sold on the top side of £60, with Darnbrook-based James Hall’s second lot of the day -104 head knocked down at £64.50 each - proving one of the high points. Tom Kitching, of Hebden, also sold 24 head at £66.50, and Mark Nelson, of Clapham, 50 head at £65.50.

A large selection of horned lambs saw the best end achieve around £50 each, with averages of £46 for Dalesbred and £42 for Swaledale.

In the breeding sheep section, a good entry included 824 Mule lambs for the fifth sale of the Autumn and these averaged £81.89 per head, a healthy increase of £10.10 per head on the fortnight.

Swaledale gimmer lambs also received a good enquiry, while quality ewes and rams sold reasonably well too.

An entry of 6,000 head is again expected for the next fortnightly sheep sale on Wednesday.