PRIME Lambs - 1725: Best quality lambs 188.9p with all of the best 180p+. Euro at 85p is slightly lower than last week which brings the trade down by 2.22%, exactly the same as the drop in the Euro from 87p to 85p. Meat and weight needed, but more numbers. We need 2500+ every week.
Breeding ewes - 1618: An excellent entry with a good selection of yearling ewes together with several drafts of 2's to full mouth. Top price on the day was £136 on two occasions, first for a pen of good shaped Texel cross yearlings, other pens of better Texel cross sorts from £116 to £130. Suffolk cross yearlings also sold to £136 for strong bodied sorts and again better types from £112 to £126. Welsh Mule yearlings sold to £133 for coloured ewes, better sorts from £120 to £130. Strong Lleyn yearlings sold from £110 to £126. Throughout all breeds and the sale poorer sorts from £92 to £114.
Older ewes sold to £128 for smart Texel cross 3's and 4's with others to £120. Smaller 2 and 3 year old Texel cross sold from £90 to £104. Strength was key to value. Smart stronger Suffolk cross 2 year olds all part of a dispersal sold at £122 and £124. Good bodied 3's to full mouth from £85 to £110. Harder bred from £65 to £80. North Country Mule 3's and 4's from £82 to £90. Easycare 4 year olds at £68. A small pen of full mouth Dorset ewes having been with a Dorset ram sold at £112, with a 4 year old ram at £170. Marvellous clearance effected.
Store lambs - 2937: A super entry of lambs for August met a straight trade throughout. Strong bunches of lambs very much sought after with plenty of strong lambs from £67 to £72. Strongest stores to £74.50, several large bunches £70 to £74.20. Bunches of 50 Suffolk cross lambs to £73.50 and £73.20, with excellent demand for the stronger stores and more can be sold.
Good farming lambs very similar from £60 to £66.50, again like previous weeks level bunches of lambs slightly less money, with the grass situation in several parts of the country not getting any better, these still trading from £54 to £59.50, well bred longer keeping lambs from £47 to £53.50. Some lambs just plain enough and these would be a little harder to place. Condition on smaller lambs vital for the best returns. A few Mule wethers on show - these generally smaller sorts but from £50 to £55. Harder bred and hill type lambs from £40 to £54, depending on frame and condition. Small and very plain £25 to £40.
Included in the entry were a large show of ram lambs of all shapes, breeds and sizes. Strongest to £80, other forward strong sorts £67 to £72.20. Better bred sorts from £58 to £66.50, smaller types £50 to £51.50. Smaller, plainer and hill type ram lambs £40 to £52. A few more ewe lambs - these are quite selective due to the time of the year, very strong Suffolk cross North Country Mules to £98, Texel cross Mules to £76. Overall average £59.61.
Cull ewes - 2835: A superb entry of ewes with a large majority of Welsh and Speckle ewes forward and mostly plainer sorts. Those in-between ewes would be less money purely due to the sheer number of ewes coming around the country but nevertheless the market average was still £51/head. Those best ewes were still a good trade especially if they were meat and not too fat. Fat ewes are harder selling compared to the lean. Best continentals up to £120.50/head with a definite shortage of those best Texels. All ewes sold and several grazing/feeding men starting looking for ewes. Rams a very good trade.
Average £/head - £51.
Continental £120.50.
Suffolks £96.
North Country Mules £80.
Welsh Mules £75.
Speckles £61.
Welsh £70.
Cull Rams £119.50.
Cull Wethers £74.
Rearing/weaned calves - 69: The much larger entry included just 13 rearing calves which sold to £385 for a 27 day old Charolais bull, 3 good coated Hereford cross bulls from £245 to £320. Heifer calves to £330 for a Charolais cross, another at £300. Hereford cross heifer calves from £180 to £260. Smaller British Blue cross heifer calf at £200. Friesian bulls at £70 and £80.
Much of the entry were weaned calves - best growing sorts sold to strong interest topping at £620 for 6 British Blue cross steers, 7/8 months, with others at £585. Heifers of similar age from the same farm £550 to £580. Younger Blue cross heifers (2½/5 months) from £320 to £470, with bulls of a similar age from £360 to £405. A bunch of Hereford cross bulls, 4½ months sold at £400. A few lots of Friesian bulls were highlighted with a pen of 7/8 month calves in good order selling at £490. Others of varying ages sold from £100 to £230. An excellent clearance effected, these numbers can be sold each week.
Breeding rams - 18: Still a very slow start but life is slowly entering the ram trade.
Texels to 600Gns.
Charollais to 400Gns.
Beltex/Texels to 340Gns.
Beltex cross Charollais to 300Gns.
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