Kington Market, September 24

Fat sheep report

McCartney’s of Kington report a good entry of 2006 of sheep on September 24 for the weekly fat sheep sale.

Lambs - We had a good entry of 1722 lambs which sold to a firm trade on the week even with much larger numbers being marketed during the week.

The light weight lambs under 37kg sold to a good trade up to £1.78ppk and averaged £158ppk.

The heavier weight lambs over 49kg were a better trade this week with the majority selling over £72 per head and up to £78 per head.

Well bred and meated lambs were achieving market premiums, so it is worthwhile selecting the right lambs to market and leave the leaner ones at home for further finishing.

The lambs sold to a top of £78 per head for some 53kg lambs from JET Jones and Son.

The lambs averaged £1.54ppk and sold up to £1.78ppk for some 31kg lambs from AC Morgan

All the lambs averaged £66 per head up to £78 per head

Lambs between 25kg and 32kg averaged 1.58ppk up to 1.78ppk

Lambs between 32.5kg and 39kg averaged 1.54ppk up to 1.59ppk

Lambs between 39.5kg and 45.5kg averaged 1.54ppk up to 1.64ppk

Lambs between 46kg and 52kg averaged 1.50ppk up to 1.53ppk

Lambs over 52kg averaged 1.45ppk up to 1.47ppk

Some 30kg lambs from AC Morgan made £55.50, 38kg lambs from SB Morgan made £58.50, 41kg lambs from RR and DE Wall made £65.20, 42kg lambs from GW Bevan made £68.50, 44kg lambs from GET Jones made £68.70, 45kg lambs from A Giordano made £70.20, 47kg lambs from E, G, R and C Pugh made £71, 49kg lambs from OD Lloyd made £72.50, 50kg lambs from R and SM Watson made £72, 51kg lambs from E, G, R and C Pugh made £77.

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

Cull ewes, tups, wethers, store lambs - There was a smaller entry of 284 cull and store sheep, which sold to a level trade on the week. We had a large entry of hill and thinner ewes again this week with only a few stronger sorts. The cull sheep trade remains level due to the large numbers being market at present but the stronger ewes on offer would be slightly dearer than last week.

We have seven 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 £84.50 for some Suffolk cross ewes form R and SM Watson and all the ewes averaged a good £54 per head.

The cull tups sold up to £115.50 per head and averaging £75 per head.

Light weight lambs under 37kg were a good trade and many more could have been sold and they averaged £1.58ppk up to £1.76ppk.

Store lambs also sold to a good trade and averaged £50 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.