THE 2,363 prime lambs penned for sale at Skipton Auction Mart’s latest weekly Monday turnout sold to an overall average of £80.23 per head, or a shade over 190p/kg, which was deemed a tidy result bearing in mind there were not as many of the very smart goods about as usually seen.

Some good prices were achieved for heavier lambs in the 45-52kg weight range, with John Turner, of Draughton, topping the market with his consignment of Charollais and Texel lambs.

Three of his pens made £114, top gross call on the day, £112 and £110 per head, all falling to Swaledale Foods in Skipton, with two further £107 pens claimed by Keelham Farm Shop, of Skipton and Thornton, and Kendalls Farm Butchers for its shops in Pateley Bridge and Harrogate.

Kendalls also paid £110 each for a Texel pen from EP and JM Hutchinson, of Faceby, who again chipped in with a £108 per head pen claimed by Hartshead Meat Co in Mossley, who also went to the same price when buying Suffolk-cross lambs from Mark Evans, of Steeton. The same vendor sold lambs at £106 each to Farmers Fresh in Wales.

Per kilo prices peaked at 239.5p for a Beltex pen from Frankland Farms in Rathmell, purchased by Vivers Scotlamb in Annan, while Hartshead Meats claimed further lambs at 239p/kg from David Boothman, of Halton East, 234.8p/kg from EP and JM Hutchinson and 229.8p/kg from Mark Evans.

A heavier commercial lamb was easier sold, with buyers particularly keen for 42kg to 48kg types, this weight bracket averaging 192p/kg, with nice 38-42kg lambs either side of 190p/kg. Lightweight lambs also found a good trade for anything with plenty of meat on board.

Cast sheep, a very mixed entry of 374 in total, saw trade maybe just a shade easier for heavy types, though medium and lightweight ewes held their value from recent weeks. Cull ewes sold to an overall average of £53.18 per head, peaking at £93.50 each for Texels from Richard Maudsley in Rathmell. Cast rams averaged just over £56 each.

In the weekly prime cattle sale trade was a shade easier for the 15 under 30-month clean cattle on offer due to subdued retail demand because of the continuing hot weather.

The Critchley family, from Hutton, Preston, yet again headed the principal prices, first with the leading gross price of £1,441, or 248.5p/kg, for a 580kg Blonde-cross heifer claimed by Leyburn’s Martin Brown, followed by the top price per kilo entry, a Limousin-cross heifer knocked down for 253.5p/kg, or £1,382, to Keelham Farm Shop, which was once more the largest buyer with six purchases in total for its Skipton and Thornton shops.

Steer prices peaked at £1,337 and 239.5p/kg for a brace of Limousin-cross entries from Threshfield’s Charles and Richard Kitching, and Malcolm Metcalfe, from Baldersby Park. Both were among Keelham’s buys.