A TREMENDOUS entry of over 6,000 prime and cast sheep, comprising 4,825 Spring lambs and prime hoggs, and 1,230 cast ewes and rams, by far the largest turnout of the year to date, sold to a trade described as ‘white hot’ across the board at Skipton Auction Mart’s latest weekly Monday sale.

The 143 Springers forward saw two vendors from the York area lead the way on price, JA Gibson & Sons, Church Fenton, heading per head at £192 and Craven Farms, Melbourne, by-weight at £4.60 per kilo, both with Texel pens.

A trio of pens hit £190, one again from the Gibsons, the others from another York area regular, Charles Marwood, Whenby, with Charollais, and local vendor and Suffolk stalwart, Mark Evans, Steeton.

Quality heavies were good to sell, though it was nice 38-43kg handyweights that saw the trade of the day per kilo as the section produced an overall selling average of £159.63 per head, or 365.8p/kg (SQQ 369.2p/kg).

The overall average for a bumper entry of 4,682 old season lambs was £137.88 per head, or 312.9p/kg (SQQ 317.8p/kg), with Charles Marwood this time leading the way and topping the day’s selling prices at £245 with a single 99kg Charollais from his Foulrice flock, Paul Baines, Gisburn, doing best by-weight at £4.76 per kilo with a Texel brace, also heading the Beltex by-weight prices at 475.6p/kg with a single.

Jeff Burrows, Hanlith, sold both Beltex and Texel pens at £215, £212 and £200, while the Hutchinson family again travelled down from Faceby, south of Middlesborough, to achieve solid prices of £206 and £202, again with Beltex, also heading the Suffolk prices at £176. Kildwick father and son, David and Josh Isherwood, also had a brace of pens at £200, with another at the same price from TH Kilby & Son, Thorpe Arch.  In total, a good list of 22 pens made above 400p.

Heavy hoggs were a good trade, plenty making £165-£185 for nice sorts, commercials away at £150-£164, with hoggs of all breeds at 53kg-plus averaging £168, with an all breeds 46kg-52kg average of £150, All handyweight sheep were an excellent trade, many Cheviot and hill breeds selling at extreme rates and 36-45kg hoggs of all breeds levelling at 319p/kg. The best Mule wethers were generally £134- £145 depending on weight, a few runs of handier weights making higher prices per kilo on the week, heavies selling to £162 from Harry Raw, Eastburn.

A total of 1,227 cast sheep completed the heady entry, selling to respective highs of £339.50 for Texel ewes from E&KM Marshall, Summerbridge, and £299.50 for a Texel ram again from the Gibsons. Cull ewes averaged £116.57 and cast rams £150.21.

Also penned for sale were 550 breeding sheep, comprising 210 outfits of ewes with 340 lambs, the better end achieving an equivalent of around £100 -£110 per life for both singles and twins. Texel-x ewes proved best on price, those with twins selling to £305 per outfit, with singles to £290. Older Mule ewes with lambs for grazing and feeding out were dearer on the week.