REGULAR retail butcher buyers were once again prominent at Skipton Auction Mart’s weekly Monday prime cattle ringside, competing for the 23 under 30-month clean cattle on offer and producing another very good trade for a high quality turnout.

Keelham Farm Shop took home ten cattle in total, five each for both its Skipton and Thornton shops, among them the highest priced entry, a 595kg British Blue-cross heifer from the ever-present Critchley beef farming family, of Hutton, Preston, at £1,478, or 248.5p/kg.

Next in line was another Critchley charge, a 555kg Limousin-cross steer knocked down for £1,440, or 259.5p/kg, to Countrystyle Meats Farm Shop and Restaurant in Lancaster Leisure Park, who, among three purchases, also claimed the top price per kilo entry, a 510kg British Blue-cross steer from F and B Smith, of Westhouse, Ingleton, at 264.5p/kg, or £1,349. Skipton-based Stanforth’s Butchers bought four.

The 25 cull cows penned for sale met a sharp trade, attracting much more interest among the ten buyers ringside, with four purchasers competing for non-UK tagged cattle, which topped out at 94.5p/kg for a 725kg black and white cow..

Heavy, thick meated dairies were a touch firmer on the week, with the section producing an overall selling average of £840.39 per head, or 112.43p/kg.