A NEW prime lamb champion was crowned at Skipton Auction Mart’s March show when Thomas Darwin, Bland Farm, Kirkby Malham, won his first-ever title with a pen of five home-bred 38kg Beltex-x selling for £138 per head to Halifax wholesale butchers J&E Medcalf. (Mon, March 6)
Gisburn brothers William and Michael Oldfield took the reserve championship with a 46kg Beltex pen, away at £154, also stepping up to stand among the day’s leading prices when selling lambs at 439p/kg twice, with two 41kg lots both making £180, plus another 43kg pen at 423p/kg, or £182, more at 368p/kg, or £162, for 44kg.
Back in show, Malhamdale’s Jeff Burrow sold his third prize 40kg Continental pen at £148 each to Knavesmire Butchers, York, while a standalone hill sheep show class was won by 44kg Lonk wethers from the Greenwood family, Addingham, topping their section at £102 per head.
Almost 2,500 prime hoggs were included in the near 3,000-strong prime sheep turnout and most classes were dearer on the week, smart lambs taking a good lift, better heavies also seeing an improvement, with all classes of lightweights and handy weights very good to sell, well fleshed 33-41kg sorts in particular in increasing demand.
Top gross sale price at £190 again belonged to the Felliscliffe Atkinsons with heavy 79kg Texels, 17 pens in total selling from £160 upwards, among them five at £180, producing an overall prime hogg average of £110.66 per head, or 248.9p/kg (SQQ 256.3p/kg).
Just short of 500 cast sheep saw cull ewes much dearer on the week across all classes. Fed Charollais ewes from Charles Marwood, Whenby, York, sold to £244.50, Texel ewes topping at £219.50 from two Wigglesworth vendors, Peter Holgate and Jack Foster.
North of England Mules were also extremely popular, with £120-plus regularly seen for heavy types, to a high of £139.50 for a single ewe from Joe and Nancy Throup, Draughton. Cull ewes averaged £106.29, cast rams £93.17.
Of the breeding sheep, a nice turnout of 121 ewes and lambs produced an overall average for those with twins of £253.97. These consisted of Texel, Suffolk and Mule outfits, Suffolks peaking at £280 from Chris Craven, Kexby, York, the same home also heading the Texel trade at £265. Mule trade was also strong, topping at £270 from Richard Umpleby, Killinghall, while ewes with singles lambs averaged £170.
While scarcity and six-day standstills ensured a light entry for the March prime cattle show it nevertheless produced a notable hat-trick when North Craven father and son, Francis and Andrew Smith, Masongill, again stood champion, having won all three monthly shows to date this year.
Their latest victor was a 582kg Northumbrian-bred Limousin-x steer chosen by judge Anthony Swales, Knavesmire Butchers, then sold to him for a sale-topping 332.5p/kg, £1,935, along with thereserve champion, a 489kg Limousin-x heifer from Paul Baines, Gisburn, at 329.5p/kg, £1,611 also claimed by Knavesmire. A pen of Continental bulls aged 27-29 months sold to 218.5p/kg, £1,479.
Cull cows were again in ready demand, plain entries at 165p/kg looking the trade of the day, while dairies carrying weight and meat made 185-190p/kg, natives selling to 205.5p/kg, producing an overall section average for 12 head of 173.67p/kg, £1,131.
Skipton’s latest monthly Saturday livestock collective sale of 253 head produced a flying trade across all classes for top-notch runs for local vendors and others from South Yorkshire, Kirklees and Calderdale. Trade topped at £1,220 for a brace of heifers from Nick Carlisle, Kilnsey. The next monthly sale is on Saturday, April 1, and the mart reports that with turnout fast approaching purchasers will be looking for cattle of all classes.
The same day’s seasonal Agri-Trader fixture was described as one of the best ever, with a very large crowd having the choice of just over 1,000 lots comprising 461 machinery, 430 reclaim and indoor and 150 items of stone and timber.
It included a farm dispersal sale on behalf of JF Metcalfe, Colne, which created a vast amount of interest for genuine items, among them 25 trailers, 85 manure and grassland lots, 20 vehicles and ATVs and 400 lots of livestock equipment and implements.
A generally fast trade for all goods was seen, peaking at £31,200 for a JCB 406 Agri Loadall, followed at £28,500 for a New Holland 5060 4wd, both 63 plates, with multiple other four-figure sales recorded.
Share