PRIME Lambs - 1769: A larger entry and trade better than expected at 168.6p SQQ (national SQQ 164.7p). Heavies to £88 and best export to 225.8p for the best Beltex with all good export sheep 170p+. Euro is at 90p which is good for export but trade is difficult to rise, but we should see an improvement as November unfolds. Still 20p above last years' trade. Every lamb sold averaged £73.78.

Breeding ewes - 291: Still a selection of hill type ewes, most of which were 2's and older - they included a consignment of 160 Cheviot cross which sold to £81 for 2 and 3 year olds with others from £68 to £80. 4 year olds £48 to £67. A pen of white faced Mule yearlings sold for £85, with Suffolk cross yearlings at £88. Romney 2's and 3's realised £79 with most lots being sold.

Store lambs - 5258: Another large entry of lambs with over 5000 being sold met a fast trade throughout with another large crowd of purchasers. Again some fresh faces coming for lambs with cows now being shut in for the winter. The strongest lambs look very well sold from £68 to £74.20. Good farming lambs from £63 to £67.80. Medium type lambs from £58 to £62.50 with well bred continentals looking well sold. Mule wethers forward in greater number - these topped at £60.50 for a good pen of farming sorts, other stronger pens £57 to £60. Longer term Mules from £47 to £55. Well bred longer keeping lambs from £52 to £57.50. Smaller longer term lambs from £44 to £51. Plainer and backward lambs slightly harder to place and traded around £35 to £40. A large entry of just short of 600 ram lambs sold to a very sharp trade throughout. Several men looking for ram lambs to feed, the strongest generally £65 to £70, plenty of ram lambs from £58 to £64.50, smaller farming sorts from £50 to £57.50. Hill bred sorts from £35 to £54 depending on frame and condition, very small and backward types from £24 to £34.50.

A nice selection of ewe lambs again with pure breds again topping at £148, others to £140. Beltex to £105. The commercial ewe lambs were generally smaller, however a nice crowd of purchasers still looking through. Texel cross Mules from £70 to £77, but these were strong sheep, smaller Texel cross are £57 to £64 and feeding money. Welsh Mules to £77 for white faced sorts, coloured Mules to £76, others at £70, smaller sorts then £55 to £67. Suffolk cross Mules to £74, others £64 to £69, smaller sorts again only feeding money. Only stronger smart headed sorts meeting any premium. An excellent clearance with only a few ewe lambs remaining unsold. Overall average £57.32.

Breeding rams - 104: A seasonal trade with some highlights.

Texel yearlings 360, 290, 270, 260.

Charollais yearlings 270, 260, 250.

Blue Faced Leicester yearlings 400, 330, 320.

Cull ewes - 2369: A reduced entry of ewes sold to a much improved trade. Much more life to it with those better end ewes, especially those Suffolk and Texel, probably £8-£10/head dearer with those Texels up to £130.50/head and Suffolks up to £97.50/head. The plainer ewes were also dearer with plenty of men looking for a few feeding types and those good underneath ewes. Over 10 buyers in attendance buying for many more different firms. The rams were an excellent trade topping at £168/head and £145/head. Top 20 prices were all in excess of £97/head. Lets hope this trade will now start to firm further as we run towards Christmas.

Average £/head - £53.85.

Continental £130.

Suffolks £97.50.

North Country Mules £88.

Welsh Mules £79.

Speckles £60.

Welsh £68.

Cull Rams £255.

Cull Wethers £79.

Rearing/weaned calves - 60: Another great entry of rearing calves (50) sold to more bidders with prices slightly easier. Bull calves sold to £340 for a Charolais cross with 7 other continental cross from £270 to £335. More Blue cross calves (16) this week - they were generally smaller than recent weeks with bulls ranging from £175 to £335. Heifers from £195 to £280. Hereford cross calves (13) again in greater numbers with bulls from £140 to £260 and heifers £120 to £235. Angus cross on offer with bulls from £60 to £170. Heifers at £130 and £140. 9 Friesian bulls included some stronger sorts from £110 to £155. Others from £50 to £85. 10 weanlings sold to good interest with prices to £520 for a 3½ month Limousin bull with a similar aged steer at £380. 8 Blue and Limousin cross heifers around 5 months sold in groups from £400 to £440 with a total clearance effected. These numbers can be sold on a regular basis.