Hamlet’s Butchers secures top price cattle Red Rose retail butcher Tim Hamlet shopped locally for his Garstang shop when securing the two leading gross prices at Skipton’s weekly prime cattle sale. Both were under 30-month heifers from the Critchley family in Hutton, Preston – a 565kg British Blue-cross at £1,466 (259.5p/kg) and a 555kg Limousin-cross at £1,407 (253.5p/kg).

Keelham Farm Shop again had the biggest shopping list, securing 12 cattle for its Skipton and Thornton outlets, including the top price steer, a 525kg Limousin-cross from Willie Timm, of Selby, at £1,336 (254.5p/kg).

A large turnout of 68 cull cows attracted plenty of bidders, with dairies carrying meat again selling comfortably to 125p/kg and more, and leaner cattle still able to make 100p/kg and over if young and suitable for feeding. The overall selling average was £744.81 per head, or 113.34p/kg, though while trade was slightly easier this was in part due to the large number of weathered cattle in the entry.

Mixed trade for prime lambs Another increased entry of 3,437 prime lambs at Skipton met with a mixed trade, with best sorts nicely sold, but commercial and plainer types cheaper on the week, producing an overall selling average of £74.11 each, or 173.61p/kg.

Joint top price of £116 per head fell to Beltex pens from Clapham’s Jonathan Townley and Ellis Bros, of Addingham Moorside, both falling to Kendalls Farm Butchers for its shops in Pateley Bridge and Harrogate. Ellis Bros also headed the by-weight prices with three pens that peaked at 263.6p/kg.

Of the 465 cast sheep on parade, cull ewes averaged £47.31 and cast rams £53.50.

Easy Care Sheep make Skipton debut CCM Skipton hosted the inaugural sale of 127 registered Easy Care Sheep on behalf of members of the Easy Care Sheep Society. (Sat, Sept 9) Females were a strong trade and bidding was fast, with a top call of 130gns for a pen of five yearling ewes from E&F Shepherd, of Ainsworth. Good yearlings sold for 120gns plus, while the best of the ewes, a pen of 2-crops from G&MC Shepherd, of Woodplumpton, made 112gns. Yearlings sold to an average of £112.08 per head and ewes to £99.55 Rams also sold well, with a top call of 400gns for a 3-shear with the Myomax gene from JT&JK Bargh, of Walton-le-Dale, with others at 300gns.

Livestock and Agri Trader sales Also on the same day’s agenda were the monthly Saturday collective sales of stirks, weaned calves and young store cattle, along with the ever-popular Agri Trader Auctions.

On the livestock side, 192 head of cattle traded to highs of £890 for heifers, £800 for steers and £610 for bulls, with breeding cattle selling to a top of £1,200. In addition, 41 breeding/store sheep and goats went under the hammer, along with a pony at £100.

On the Agri Trader front, machinery lots, 344 in total, were again easily sold, topping at £1,800 for an 18 ton grain trailer, while 492 reclaim, stone and furniture lots also sold well to highs of £440 and £320 for stone gate posts. Plenty of plants and shrubs also found a ready supply of buyers.