PRIME LAMBS - 1964: An improved entry and very similar trade being 145.1p SQQ with heavies to £76, £75, £74, £73, £72.80 and plenty £70 plus. Best export sheep 41kg at £69.80 = 170.2p, 166.2p, 165.4p, 164.7p, 163p, 162.4p.

There is always a 20-30p premium per kilo for the best shaped sheep so please get the best rams possible to get quality lambs. With luck the trade will now start to improve as November is upon us.

Breeding ewes - 627: The smaller entry sold to a total clearance despite the fact the ewes are generally smaller. Best selling on the day were the harder bred ewes which included a small bunch of strong Beulah two and three year olds at £91.

Dark faced Speckle three and four year olds at £74, full mouth from £57 to £59. Good in udder at £46 and £52, Welsh threes and fours from £61 to £70. Top price on the day was £101 for a pen of Welsh Mule two year olds. Suffolk cross yearlings saw better sorts at £96 and £94. Many were harder bred and sold from £72 to £85. Other yearlings sold to £90 for stronger Texel crosses and also from £70 to £84.

Store lambs - 4393: Another good entry met a very fast trade throughout. A large crowd of men from a wide area competed throughout. The strongest bunches topped at £61.50 with overall strength generally lacking. Other stronger bunches from £57 to £60. Good farming lambs from £53 to £56.80 and look well sold.

Several Mule wethers - these were generally medium term lambs and look well sold from £48 to £52. Medium keep sorts from £50 to £52.80 with good headed long keep lambs from £45 to £49.80. Harder bred lambs from £38 to £44.50. Plainer and smaller lambs £35 to £44.50. Very small and backward types £30 to £35.

Ram lambs to £60, other stronger bunches from £53 to £58, smaller and harder bred types from £45 to £52.50. Very plain and small sorts £40 to £44.50.

A varied selection of ewe lambs. A very smart pen of pure bred Texels to £160 with others from the same farm to £140. Smaller pure Texels to £95. A good selection of Suffolk cross Mules met good demand, topping at £91 for very strong good headed sorts. Other better sorts from £70 to £80. Smaller types £60 to £67, with harder bred lambs just feeding money. Texel x Mules to £84, other stronger sorts to £82, however generally the majority of lambs traded from £64 to £70.

A large selection of Welsh Mules. A super pen of coloured Mules topped at £86.50. White faced Mules to £85, other stronger pens of coloured Mules from £74 to £79. Smaller types from £65 to £72, with very small and ordinary sorts only feeding money.

Breeding rams - 194: A seasonal entry with still plenty of trade for quality sheep. Texels, Blue Faced Leicester, Suffolk and Charollais still in demand for yearlings and ram lambs.

Cull ewes - 1455: A reasonable entry of cull ewes sold to a stronger trade on average, topping at £123.50/head for a pen of Texels from M/s J and M C Hartwright, Springfields. The overall average is £59/head, which would be £5/head up on last week. The top 20 prices were all in excess of £90/head. A note to vendors - there is no point in getting your ewes over-fat - ewes with meat (not fat) and on the leaner side are selling to a premium and are in greatest demand. There were fresh men forward looking for grazing types which put a firm bottom in the trade. It is envisaged that the ewes will get dearer as we get into November as numbers begin to ease. More ewes required next week.

Average £/head - £59.16, Continental £123.50, Suffolks £93, North Country Mules £80, Welsh Mules £75, Speckles £59, Welsh £64, Cull Rams £124.50.

Rearing/weaned calves - 31: A good selection with more weaned calves this week, a good sort of Charollais bull - four months

topped the sale at £560. Pair of Blue x heifers sold for £510. The draft of 10 Limousin cross heifers, four to six months ranged from £385 to £480. Hereford cross heifers of the same age at £400. Friesian bulls of similar age at £230 and £265. Rearing calves sold to £385 for a 19 day Blue cross bull, with a smaller calf at £255. Two Blue cross heifers from £240 to £260. A Wagyu bull sold at £260. Six Friesian bulls sold to £100, smaller sorts from £55 to £70.