A SOLID 434 head forward for Skipton Auction Mart’s latest fortnightly midweek cattle sale included 75 young feeding bulls, a useful entry for the time of year, with medium Continentals the pick of a strong trade at £1,200-£1,500. Some good pens of native-bred bulls saw Aberdeen-Angus sell to £1,550 and pure-bred Herefords to £1,590. (Wed, Aug 17)

Trade for 306 store bullocks and heifers was similar to the previous fortnight, native cattle again doing well, with Angus bullocks selling to a top of £1,460 for a pen of four aged 15 months from the Hugill family in Hellifield, all Angus bullocks on offer averaging £1,112. Hereford bullock trade was similar, with a top of £1,240 from H Downs & Son in Skipton, black and white feeding bullocks from the same also heading their trade at £1,045.

Of the Continentals, Limousin bullocks from the Fox family in Clitheroe peaked at £1,580, the remainder of their cattle selling well at £1,400-£1,450.British Blue dairy-x bullocks sold to a top of £1,500 from Broughton’s Jeremy Taylor, the section producing averages of £1,268 for Continental-x, £1,072 for natives and dairies £942,

Corresponding averages for store heifers were £1,171, £957 and £870, with suckler-bred feeding Continentals again trading well before a good ringside, especially buyers seeking retail types. Limousin heifers sold to £1,540 each for a pen of three from Kevin Wilson and family in Blubberhouses, while Blue dairies from N&J Thwaite in Hellifield topped at £1,430.

Elsewhere, 39 feeding cows sold in line with a good prime trade, heavy Continentals at £1,350-£1,530 and lean first-cross types with frame at £1,100-£1,200. A tidy selection of 14 breeding cattle included the second part of a dispersal from TB Moorhouse & Son in Dacre, all getting away nicely to a top of £1,720 for a Simmental-x cow with Limousin-x bull calf, followed at £1,660 for a Blue-x cow and her Blonde bull calf.