McCARTNEY’S of Kington report an entry of 1305 of sheep on October 29 for their weekly fat sheep sale.

Lambs - We had an entry of 1101 lambs which sold to a level trade on the week. Again we had a heavy show of lambs with very few pens under 45kg. The buyers are also complaining that some lambs are starting to become too fat, therefore it is important to select the right lambs to market to achieve the best price on offer.

Most of our lambs fell within the 45kg to 50kg bracket which at present are the most difficult weights to sell due to the shear volumes of lambs being marketed in this weight range.

The lambs averaged £1.46ppk and sold up to £1.56ppk.

All the lambs averaged £65 per head up to £72 per head

Lambs between 32.5kg and 39kg averaged 1.43ppk up to 1.46ppk

Lambs between 39.5kg and 45.5kg averaged 1.47ppk up to 1.55ppk

Lambs between 46kg and 52kg averaged 1.42ppk up to 1.48ppk

Lambs over 52kg averaged 1.34ppk up to 1.37ppk

We are fortunate to have excellent buyer support from six buyers giving excellent competition for the lambs.

Cull ewes, tups, wethers, store lambs - There was a good entry of 204 cull and store sheep, which sold to a good trade on the week. We had a mixed entry with a number of thinner and hill ewes forward. The trade remains very similar to last week. The smaller well meated ewes would be better trade than of late.

We have six excellent buyers in attendance and good competition between them and require more sheep to suffice their demand on a Thursday.

The ewes sold to a top of £70 and averaged a good £53 per head.

The cull tups sold up to £75 per head and averaging £68 per head.

Light weight lambs under 36kg were a reasonable trade and they averaged £1.43ppk up to £1.46ppk.

Store lambs also sold to a good trade and averaged £48 per head.

We have buyers requiring light lambs each week to suffice their orders. The cull ewes included a large proportion of thinner mule ewes and smaller hill ewes.