Ralph Pearson Wholesale Butchers in Bradford again arrived with the biggest shopping basket at Skipton Auction Mart’s latest weekly prime cattle sale, accounting for eight of the 14 under 30-month entries, which all met a sound trade.

Their weekly haul featured all the leading per kilo and gross prices. With a better quality of clean cattle on offer, the company’s Robert Pearson secured a pair of notable purchases from weekly vendors, Threshfield’s Charles and Richard Kitching. These comprised the top price overall, a 620kg Parthenais-x steer at £1,646 (265.5p/kg) and the leading gross heifer, a 595kg British Blue-x at £1,639 (275.5p/kg).

Sharing top price per kilo at 275.5p/kg (£1,570) was a 570kg Limousin-x steer from regular North Craven father and son vendors, Francis and Andrew Smith, of Masongill, who also produced another smart 580kg Limousin-x steer which made 272.5p/kg (£1,581), with both among the Pearsons purchases.

Weekly buyer James Robertshaw, of Robertshaw’s Farm Shop in Thornton, Bradford, took home a trio, comprising a useful 500kg Limousin-x steer at 263.5p/kg (£1,317) from Simon Bennett, of Silsden Moor, along with Limousin-x heifers from the on-the-doorstep Jowett family in Queensbury at 265.5p/kg (£1,474), plus another weighing 595kg from the Kitching brothers at 263.5p/kg (£1,568).

Simon Barket, of the mart-based Barkers Yorkshire Butchers, was again at the ringside, claiming a 620kg Limousin-x steer from Malham Moor’s Bill Cowperthwaite at 258.5p/kg (£1,512).

With numbers tight, the 23 cull cows sold to a very good trade, producing an overall section average of 136.23p/kg, or £945.26 per head.

Of particular note to dairy vendors was the fact that the heavy entries are now making up to £1,400 and above, peaking at £1,426 for a black and white from Martyn Jennings in Cowling, with a per kilo high of 154.5p for another from AS&E Jeanes & Son in Glusburn. Slightly leaner cows looked a very strong price at 140p/kg. Coloured dairies continued to sell well, Norwegian Reds trading to 147.5p/kg from Cononley’s James Gooch.

Beef cows were 180p/kg-plus for the Continentals crosses ion offer, while over 30 months fed Limousin heifers sold to 221.5p/kg, or £1,141, for a December, 2018, entry again from Simon Bennett, who also caught the eye with another Limousin at £1,358, or 183.5p/kg.

With farmers currently busy collecting grass normal weekly sales will continue to be staged, though looking ahead to July there are some important fixtures in the pipeline. The Agri-Trader sale of machinery, stone, timber and reclaim scheduled for Saturday, July 10, will hopefully be staged on site, complemented by the monthly Saturday livestock collective sale. Then it’s on to the big opening store lambs fixture on Wednesday, July 14, with a show for the best pen of 40 or more lambs.

The next sale of working sheep dogs planned for Thursday, July 22, will hopefully see a long awaited return to live action on the Skipton trials field, supplemented with an online bidding facility. Entries close on Wednesday, July 7. Keep an eye on the mart website at www.ccmauctions.com for any further updates.