HOGGETS - A very short Bank Holiday entry of just 375 to a buoyant trade to level at 183.77p/kg. Top price on the day for a pen of Beltex cross from C Hinksman at 203p/kg (£70 - 34.5kg). Heavyweights selling well to average 187.19p/kg with another run of well finished tegs from WJ Francis averaging over £90 to a top per head of £96 for 53kg hogs. Lights to 197p/kg (£57 - 29kg) from L Lewis. Best of the mediums again from C Hinksman to 193p/kg (£83 - 43kg). Well fleshed 40-45 kg to a premium, plainer sorts advisedly sold separately.

Cull sheep - A short Bank Holiday entry topped at £90 for a Texel ewe from BK and ZJ Lane. GL price sold to £80 and P Maddocks to £75.50.

Store sheep - 2 broken mouth Suffolk cross Welsh ewes with 1 lamb apiece sold at £73 from HA Watkins. Hoggets to £50 from D Williams and LJ and EA Williams.

Fodder - 1 load forward. 42 square bales rape straw at £375.

March 30

Hoggets - 755 hoggets to a flying trade on all weights and an SQQ of 193.70p/kg. Lightweights seeing the biggest rise to average 199.69p/kg and peaking at 206p/kg (£64.80-31.5kg) from TG and JG Davies and Sons. Strong competition for 34-36kg weight range also saw these lift in price with many of these £64-£69. Medium weights to 207p/kg (£85-41kg) from OJ and KE Harris; 205p/kg £86-42kg from DM and CS Andrews; 204p/kg £89.50-44kg from TW and BE Jones and £88.80-43.4kg from PW Bevan. Heavyweights to 202p/kg (£93-46kg) from JJ Greenow and Sons. Top price per head £97.50 (73kg) from A Jones.

Cull sheep - 349 cull sheep sold to a fierce trade from start to finish. Texel cross sold to £108 from PA and MJ Rymer; Suffolk cross to £100.50 AA Martin, the top 15 pens of ewes in excess of £90. Hill bred ewes were a flying trade. Welsh to £68.50 from WE and CW Jones and £68 PA and MJ Rymer with very little selling under £40. Rams saw a good improvement on the week, selling to £114 for Charollais from MD Lewis; Texels to £112.50 IJ Smith. Wethers to £83 from PA and MJ Rymer. Goats to £69 from SJ Brown.

Store sheep - A seasonal entry of 161 store tegs. A smart bunch of Suffolk cross ewe tegs from DR and JM Morgan topped the sale at £78.50, with other stronger tegs to £74 from RC Cullimore. Medium sized lambs £60 plus, smaller lambs £50 plus if well bred, hill bred lambs generally £33 - £50.

A small entry of couples sold to £130 for three 5 year old Suffolk cross ewes with their 5 lambs (£49/life).

Welsh ewes with single lambs to £80 from J Cowen (£40/life).

Orphan lambs sold to £24 for strong Suffolk cross lambs from D Smith, smaller lambs to £10 TP and AA Beavan.

Calves - A much smaller entry after last weeks' bumper crop with 37 calves on offer. Trade was noticeably stronger particularly on the heifers where some super calves sold to a terrific trade. A really well made Blue heifer made £370 for DL Wilde and Partners but a smart Limousin from CJ Francis was not far behind at £360. Nine other Continental heifers between £250 and £295.

The best bull just pipped the heifers being a Limousin from JCR and CM Vaughan that was very well sold at £375. The next best was a Blue at £350 from Price and Co Farming.

Hereford bulls £250 JM Powell and heifers £260 J Tamplin and Son.Dairy bulls also sharper with all but 2 between £50 and £80. Top price achieved for GM and RD James.

Strong calves - Just a handful of stronger calves all from N Williams and Sons. Hereford heifers to £365 and Angus heifer £300.

BReeding cattle - A better entry than of late both in terms of quantity and quality. A super entry of Limousin cows and calves from E and N Phillips, sold to a top off £1450 for a 2nd calver with heifer calf at heel. A 6th calver with bull calf from the same home sold at £1380. A Limousin cow and 4 month old heifer calf from BD and CA Price sold at £1350. A 34 month old British Blue bull from GG and ME Sevenoaks sold at £1570.

Stirks/young stores - A large entry of 61 young stores sold to a slightly easier trade with only the best in line with recent weeks. Steers peaked at £960 for a 12 month old British Blue from R Powell; MJ Haines sold a 12 month Limousin steer at £865; AJ Hale sold to £765 Limousins 12 months; B Morris sold 5/9 month old Charolais to £750; R Powell 10 month Limousins also £750.

Heifers sold to £795 RT Lewis and Son 14 month Limousins; with others at £755 from the same home.

Feeding bulls - 19 forward with an 11 month old Rig from RJ Ikin at £1005 and another 12 month old at £945. A 15 month old Hereford from RG and SA Williams sold at £795 with 9 month old Gelbvieh from the same home at £735.

Store cattle - A good show of 268 stores forward selling to a selective trade with the best sorts fetching a premium whilst out of specification cattle hard to place. Evenly drawn bunches continue to sell well. Feeding steers topped at £1160 (635kg-20mth) for a smart Limousin from EA Holland. A powerful consignment of Charolais crosses from Newchurch Farms sold to £1140 (672kg-23mth), £1120 (615kg-23mth), £1100 (645kg-22mth), £1095 (603kg-23mth), £1085 (620kg-24mth), Limousin crosses from £1075 (518kg-20mth) from IG Watkins and Co; closely followed by £1070 (528kg-21mth) from the same home. Yearling steers sold to £1010 (9-11mth) for smart Limousin crosses from RJ Ikin, with similar steers at £1000 and £960.

Feeding heifers sold to £1095 (582kg-19mth) for Charolais crosses from EA Holland, E and N Phillips sold Limousin crosses to £1085 (587kg-27mth). Grazing heifers sold to £1085 for Limousin crosses from EM Miles and Partners; EA Jones sold Charolais crosses to £1020 (495kg-23mth). Yearling heifers to £730 for Limousin crosses from NE Jones.

Cull cattle - A short entry of just 21 culls to a sharper trade but with only a few Grade 1 sorts. Top price on the day £995 for a Simmental from TS Rees Ltd; Devon cows to £860 from MH and BM Jones; Limousins to £840 from BD and CA Price. Top of the Dairy bred cows at £820 from WLS Morgan and Sons. Farm Assurance continuing to make a difference.