South Devons peak at 6,000gns
Trewint Parker, the male champion from the pre-sale show, topped the sale of South Devons at Worcester at 6,000gns. The son of Highgate Prospect out of Trewint Mary 63, from Peter and Ashley Rowe, Liskeard, had been second at the National Show at Royal Cornwall, and sold to D. Trewern and Son, Penzance.
Next, at 5,200gns, was the reserve male champion, Grove Brutus 200 by Mutterton Stoke Red from A. Scott, Moreton-in-Marsh, which sold to the partnership of Bures Farm Partners, Shipdam, Norfolk, and Hadley Farms, Leamington Spa.
Females topped at 3,400gns for the reserve female champion Waddeton Hilda 124 from The Tully Partnership, Brixham, Devon. Scanned in-calf to Highgate Napoleon, this May 2022-born heifer by Edmeston Homer 1 and out of a home-bred female by Arncliffe Otterburn, went to AAM Farms, Yeovil.
The same buyer also secured the female champion, Foxhole Cerys 9 by Trewint Churchill, and in-calf to Trewint Santos from K.V. and M.A. Plain, Tewkesbury, for 3,330gns and two more heifers from The Tully Partnership at 3,100gns and 3,000gns.
Averages - 3 bulls, £4,690; 10 halter broken served heifers, £2,357.25; 4 halter broken unserved heifers, £2,139.37; 13 non-halter broken served heifers, £1,550.76.
Auctioneers: McCartneys.
Lleyn rams top at 7,500gns
The male champion from this year's Royal Welsh Show topped the Lleyn Sheep Society sale at Carlisle at 7,500gns. This was a shearling ram from Helen Wells' Rowelen flock, Cardigan, which sold to Messrs Steen, Moffat.
Two rams sold for 5,000gns. The first from G. and A. Fort's Brightonhouse flock, Keighley, was knocked down to Messrs Timm, Pickering, and the other from G.H. Blakey, Morpeth, went to Laga Farms, Orkney.
Twose Farms, Whitland, then paid 4,500gns for a ram from W.J. and D.J. Williams' Tacho flock, Pwkkheli, and a 4,200gns bid from Messrs Dugdale and Son, Settle, secured a ram from Hamish Goldie's Lachar flock, Ruthwell.
Females sold to £700 for a shearling gimmer from Farmstock Genetics, Selkirk, which sold to Messrs Wells.
A pen for five shearling gimmers from Lionel Organ, Llandysul, made £360/head to Messrs Timm and Messrs Goldie sold a pen of six shearling gimmers at £320/head to Messrs Peterkin, Invernesshire.
A pen of six ewe lambs from Messrs Organ made £300/head to Messrs Selway, Stalbridge, Dorset.
Averages - 100 rams, £1,435.98; 30 aged ewes, £171.25; 636 shearling gimmers, £259.59; 354 ewe lambs, £158.92.
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Hampshire Downs sell to 2,800gns for female champion
Leading the trade at 2,800gns at the Hampshire Down Sheep Breeders Association show and sale at Carlisle was the winning shearling ewe and female champion from Adrian Rundle's Treworthal flock, Newquay. By last year's Carlisle champion, Whitby Dracula, it sold to the Middleditch family's St Paul flock, Sudbury, Suffolk.
Next at 2,700gns was the pre-sale show champion, a 2021-born ewe Glanrafon ewe by Ballycreelly Shamrock from Jennifer Borsey and Martin Sivill, Denbighshire, which was female champion at the Royal Welsh last year. It sold, in-lamb with twins to Eppleby Lucky Dip to the judge, Harry Elsden, for his Hertford flock, Welwyn.
Making 2,500gns, also to the Middleditch family, was the winning ewe lamb, a Treworthal Firestorm daughter from Mr Rundle which was female champion at the Royal Highland Show and is in the top 1% for scan weight.
Also selling for 2,500gns was the male champion, Westland Imperial, a 2022-born ram by Asjwater Maestro bred by H.J.W. Knight and Son and consigned by Stephen Short, Halifax. Having been breed champion at the Great Yorkshire Show and reserve champion at the national show, it sold to Gary Gorman, Tow Law.
A March-born ewe lamb from Louis Stainthorpe, Whitby, which joined Mr Short's Highcliffe flock at 950gns.
Ram lambs sold to 600gns for the first prize winner from the Roadinghead flock of Karl and Arianne Knowles, Ayrshire, which was bought by Elaine Dalgliesh for the Barnhill flock, Moffat.
Averages - 22 shearling ewes, £932.59; 3 aged ewes, £1,995; 24 ewe lambs, £639.18; 7 spring born ewe lambs,£405; 2 shearling rams, £1,470; 4 ram lambs, £433.12.
Auctioneers: Harrison and Hetherington.
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Beltex peak at 2,500gns
A Northern Ireland-bred shearling ram led the trade at the Beltex Society's second sale at Carlisle at 2,500gns.
Vicky's Jacob from J. Ferguson, Comber, Co Down, a son of Belvoir View Diamond Flame and out of a home-bred ewe by Woodies Cookie Monster, sold to D. Cadzow and Co, East Lothian.
Next, at 2,000gns, from A.E. Story, Longtown, was the 2022-born ram, Borderesk Hooray Henry by Ardstewart Cheeky Charlie. The buyer was J. Halliday and Sons, Lockerbie.
J. and S. Wilkinson, Richmond, also took a 2,000gns bid on their shearling ram, Smart Ass Just Class, by Ainstable Factoum and bred by D.E. Owen, which sold to J.J. and E. Thomlinson, Wigton.
Also at 2,000gns and selling to Finn Christie, Inverurie, was the top priced shearling gimmer from Tippetts and Jones, Shifnal. Pager June is by Ardstewart Fred Flintstone and out of Hackney Guccy, a daughter of Broughton Ale. The same-way bred and selling at 1,400gns was another shearling ewe going to J. Gregory, Lockerbie.
Auctioneers: Harrison and Hetherington.
Garn flock tops Roussin sale
A shearling ram by an imported French sire from S. Hughes' Garn flock, Garndolbenaein, Gwynnedd, topped the Roussin Sheep Society show and sale at Carlisle at 2,100gns, selling to Messrs McFarlane, Ayr.
Next, at 2,000gns, was the second prize winning shearling ram, Blaenaucaron Neptune, a son of Blaenaucaron King consigned by G. Jones, Tregaron, which was knocked down to Messrs Fleming, Newton Stewart.
The winning shearling ram and reserve overall champion was a shearling ram by another imported French sire from Messrs Hughes which made 1,000gns to Livesey Farming, Melrose.
Females topped at 1,500gns for a shearling gimmer by a French sire from Messrs Hughes, which went to Messrs Armstrong, Alnwick.
Another gimmer from the same home made 800gns to Messrs Limond, Cumnock.
Averages - 13 shearling rams, £959.53; 6 shearling gimmers, £761.25; 10 ewe lambs, £300.30.
Auctioneers: Harrison and Hetherington.
Averages up for Cheviots at Longtown
The North Country Cheviot Sheep Society sale of Park and Hill rams at Longtown saw the 110 registered rams average £583, up £209 on the year.
Topping the Cheviot sale at £1,900 was a shearling from Scott Davies, North Synton, Ashkirk. The son of Gospelhall Bob sold to K.O. Stones, Nun Cote Nook, Marrick.
At £1,400 was Allanshaws Edward, a Sebay Colossus son from James Runciman, Allanshaws, Galashiels, which went to M.J. Alpe and Sons, Whitwell, Lancashire. Messrs Runciman sold four others at £1,100 each, and another at £1,000.
J.H.F. Lowery, Whitbeck, paid £1,200 to George Milne, Kinaldy, Fife for Kinaldy Elpasso by Kingside Chianti.
Unregistered N.C. Cheviot rams averaged £400 and topped at £600.
The sale of traditionally bred Bluefaced Leicester shearlings for crossing to breed the Cheviot Mule topped at £2,800 for R. McClymont and Sons, Kirkstead, Yarrow, selling to J.R. Weir, Cockermouth. Others from the Kirkstead pen sold at £2,000 to J.C. Hewitt, Crosby Ravensworth and £1,800 twice to Messrs McIntosh, Borthwickshiels.
Bluefaced Leicester shearlings averaged £991, an increase of £388 on the year and ram lambs averaged £503.
Auctioneers: C. and D. Auction Marts.
Blue Texels top at 2,800gns
A shearling ewe topped the Blue Texel Sheep Society's second Carlisle show and sale at 2,800gns while the day's champion was one of two ram lambs making 2,000gns.
Sale leader from Mark Wattie, Alford, Aberdeenshire, was Tonley Heaven, a daughter of Joe's Alvin out of the Caryl's Blues Captain-sired Saltire Blue Fruity Tooty II.
Paying the 2,800gns were Messrs Hamilton, Cumnock, Ayrshire.
Second best price among the females and the same way bred as the sale leader was Tonley Hazel which sold at 1,600gns to Messrs Cousar, Klmarnock.
Also from the Tonley flock was the ram lamb Tonley Jazz by Lyles Eagle and again out of the same dam as the sale leader. It sold at 2,000gns to Messrs Rodger, also Alford.
An Alexander-bred Millside ram lamb by Dragon Fab, from Stasa Moyse, West Hill, took the championship and also made 2,000gns. It sold in a two-way split to Messrs Millar, Lockerbie and Messrs Graham, Blair Drummond.
Three shearling ewes sold at 1,000gns.
First from Mandy Graham, Annan, was Winnifred Honey Comb by Top-bank Flo Rida, which sold to D. Cormack and G. McDowell, Tilton on the Hill, Leicestershire.
Then came two from David Alexander's Millside flock, Galston, both going to Messrs Horn, Penrith.
Averages - One aged ewe, £367.50; 25 shearling ewes, £774.48; 11 shearling rams, £525; 18 ram lambs, £750.75.
Auctioneers: Harrison and Hetherington.
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Averages up at Alston Moor sale
The Alston Moor sale of North of England Mule gimmer lambs at Lazonby saw 14,080 lambs go under the hammer, with NEMSA lambs averaging £157.18, up £24.15 on the year and non-NEMSA lambs averaging £148.44, up £22.43.
Top price was £500/head for a pen from Burrow and Rutter Armstrong, Langwathy, who sold 60 lambs to average £240.83.
The champion pen of NEMSA lambs was the winning pen of 10 from F. and M. Moore, Highside, which sold for £320/head, with their 130 lambs averaging £184.19.
The winning pen of 20 lambs from Phillip Dawson, The Lodge, sold for £200/head.
Non NEMSA topped at £230/head for a pen of 10 from W.M. and C. Wallace, Gapshield, whose run of 205 averaged £163.32.
Tupping lambs sold from £160 - £180 while runners were £130 - £150.
Auctioneers: Harrison and Hetherington.
Llandovery Whiteface in demand
The annual Llandovery Whiteface Society sale at Llandovery market saw a tremendous trade for more than 3,000 sheep. Shearling ewes sold to £380 for the champion pen of 20 from K.A. Hughson, Builth Wells, which were bought by A. and M. Jones, Builth Wells, who went on to sell ewes to £310 and £280.
J.R. Joseph, Brecon, sold yearlings to £358 while D. and H. Morgan, Llandovery reached £310.
The first prize a pen of 20 full-mouth ewes consigned by D.G. and B. Thomas, Llandovery, sold for £290/head to the judge J.M. Rowlands, Llanidloes, with another pen from the same home at £240.
Ewe lambs peaked at £180 for E. and J. Jones and Son, Erwood, selling to D. Roderick, Brecon.
Averages -shearling ewes, £235.44 (+£65.76 on 2023); two and three-year-old ewes, £184.40 (+£30.08); three and four-year-old ewes, £182.57 (+£52.53); full-mouth ewes, £136.06 (+£21.44); broken mouth ewes, £100.68 (+£17.61); ewe lambs, £147.63 (+£49.85).
Auctioneers: Clee Tomkinson and Francis.
High of £7,000 for Bluefaced Leicester at Hexham
The 60th anniversary show and sale of Bluefaced Leicesters at Hexham topped at £7,000 for the pre-sale show champion, a ram lamb from Alan McClymont, Selkirkshire, which sold to A. Carr, Bentham.
The second top price was £2,000 for a ram lamb by Kirkstead Impeccable from L. Fleming, Falnash, which went to an Aberdeenshire buyer.
The winning shearling ram and reserve champion from T.L. Forster and Son, Lowes Fell, made £1,200.
Messrs Forster also had the top priced shearling ram at £1,350 which was followed by a shearling from A.G. and D. Bisset, Middle Dukesfield, at £1,300.
Averages – 20 shearling rams, £982.50; 5 ram lambs, £2,214.
Auctioneers: Hexham and Northern Marts.
Dairies in demand at Bentham
Tom Gorst, Ellel, topped the dairy sale at Bentham at £2,900 with his three-week calved 31kg heifer. Peter Swindlehurst, Underbarrow, was next at £2,780 with his heifer and also topped the cows at the same price with his 45kg second calver.
Four heifers from the Youngs, Jenkin Cragg, Kendal, saw their best two at £2,700, matched by David Knowles, Kendal, whose run of seven heifers topped at £2,700.
Plenty of heifers sold from £2,500-£2,700, with the next draw £2,200-£2,400, with all 30 heifers averaging £2,450. Most of the cows sold from £2,000-£2,400.
The sale included the dispersal of the Heathwaite herd of Jerseys on behalf of J.A. Jenkinson and Son, Scaleby.
Trade topped at 1,700gns twice for both pure Jerseys and Jersey crosses. Plenty of the best sold from 1,450-1,550gns, with mid-lactation cows either side of 1,000gns and the milking portion averaging £1,040.
Auctioneers: Richard Turner and Son.
NEMSA gimmer lambs to £320
At St John's Chapel the sale of Mule gimmer lambs on behalf of the North Of England Mule Sheep Association (NEMSA) the pens of 10 were judged by Alan Redpath, Leicestershire, and Andrew McClurg, Crook, who awarded first prize to C. Hodgson and K. Brooksbank, Westgate, whose pen later sold for the top price of £320/head to J. Ackerley, Milton Mains, Cumbria.
The same vendors also won the prize for the best run of 50 or more North of England Mule lambs, with their 185 lambs averaging £153.76.
The second prize pen of 10 lambs from W.M. Reed and Sons, Westgate, made £245/head. The third prize winners from M. and B. Coulthart, Westgate, sold for £240/head, with their 76 lambs averaging £182.01.
The fourth prize winners from Messrs Pattinson, Daddry Shield, made £250/head.
Average – 1,900 gimmer lambs, £139.49 (+£12 on 2023).
Auctioneers: Barnard Castle and Teesdale Farmers Auction Mart Co.
Duncryne flock tops Texels
The Solway and Tyne Breeders Club show and sale of pedigree Texels at Carlisle topped at 3,000gns for the third prize ram lamb, Duncryne Hawkayethenoo, a son of Hexel Geronimo out of the Milnbank Brooklyn-sired ewe from D. Kerr Jarvie, Dunblane. The buyer was Messrs Thompson, Penrith.
Next, at 2,800gns, was the second prize ram lamb and reserve champion, Hilltop Headbanger by Auldhouseburn Gazza consigned by Kenny Pratt, Aberdeen, which sold to Messrs Ingram, Keith.
Overburns High Tide, a ram lamb by Ettrick Grey Goose from Keith and Andrew Campbell, Biggar, made 2,500gns to Messrs Phillips, Kimbolton.
Messrs Priestley, Brampton, paid 2,000gns for Craigdarroch Giant, a shearling ram by Mellor Vale Deja vu from Ruaridh and Isla Graham, Sanquhar.
Females topped at 1,000gns for the first prize shearling gimmer, a Stump Cross Foreman daughter from Robert Cockburn's Knap flock, Crieff, which was knocked down to Messrs Sykes, West Yorkshire.
Averages - 38 shearling gimmers, £539.36; 10 shearling rams, £730.08; 102 ram lambs, £766.08.
Auctioneers: Harrison and Hetherington.
Lleyn rams to 2,550gns at Welshpool
The Lleyn Sheep Society sale at Welshpool topped at 2,550gns for the second prize winning shearling ram from J.A. and R. Geldard and Sons' Wray Castle flock, Levens, which sold to O. James, Bridgnorth.
Another ram from the same pen made 1,800gns, this time selling to Slawston Grange Estate, Leicestershire.
The Lluest flock of E. and D. Jones, Machynlleth, topped at 2,400gns for a shearling ram which sold to R. Jerman, Herefordshire.
Another Lluest ram made 1,980gns when selling to Slawston Grange Estate.
The pre-sale show judge, Helen Bennett, Powys, bought her first prize ram, Borrins Major, from H. and M. Dugdale and Son, Stackhouse, for 1,550gns.
Shearling ewes from W. Davies' Bronallt flock, Morfa Nefyn, sold to £290/head for a pen of five, which went to Edwards Partners, Foesidoes, Powys, who also paid £265/head for a pen of 10 from the same home.
The first prize pen of shearlings from Messrs Jones sold for £275/head to A. Clark, Kent. At the same money were the second prize winners from Messrs Geldard, which sold to I.G. Roberts, Gwynedd.
Ewe lambs topped at £170/head twice. Firstly for a pen of five from Messrs Davies, which sold to T. and P.U.M. Pickup, Bolton.
The first prize pen of five from D.M. and E.M. Hughes, Oswestry, matched the top price bid of £170, selling to Twose Farms, Carmarthenshire.
Averages -Two-year-old ewes, £150; shearling ewes, £242.91 (+£76.28 on 2023); ewe lambs, £149.41 (+£38.22); rams, £1,006.54g (+£460.54)
Auctioneers: Welshpool Livestock Sales.
Flying beef trade at Gisburn
The pre-sale champion topped the prime beef trade at 370p/kg at Gisburn's show and sale, which drew an entry of more than 100 head.
Grossing £2,131, the red Limousin heifer from D.A. Wilcock, Ashton-in-Makerfield, sold to the judge, Stephen Hallworth of S. R. Hallworth Butchers, Whalley. The Wilcock consignment also had the second top price per kg of 369p for a 462kg British Blue cross, which sold to D. and A. Gregory and Sons Butchers, Bacup. At 340p/kg, Messrs Wilcock sold another Limousin cross heifer to Bowland Foods, Preston.
Taking the blue rosette in class was a 528kg Limousin cross heifer from R.T. and J. Critchley, Preston, which grossed £1,916, also going to Bowland Foods.
The top price per head for steers was £2,353 for a 740kg Limousin cross from Hargreaves Farms, Preston, which had two more at £2,280 and £2,255.
The young bull class was won by J.T. Baines, Clitheroe, with a 656kg strawberry roan Limousin cross, which made 339p/kg (£2,223), while second prize went to E.W. and J.R. Parkinson, Dunsop Bridge, with a 616kg Blue cross, which sold at 335p/kg (£2,063).
Native-bred cattle were also strongly bid for, with young bulls peaking at 324p/kg for a 682kg Angus from R. and E. Cowperthwaite and Son, Stockdale.
The 90 cast cattle sold to 236p/kg for beef-bred cows, with dairy culls reaching 224p/kg for a 572kg young Holstein.
Averages - Young bulls, 288p/kg; heifers, 282p/kg; steers, 282p/kg; cast cows and bulls, 161.28p/kg.
Auctioneers: Gisburn Auction Marts.