Stephen Dennis is full of positives.
Having given my ‘view from the rostrum' on several previous occasions you may recall an earlier theme of mine being ‘the weather is always king' and as I put pen to paper with rain lashing against the window it seems that the ‘back end' has arrived with a vengeance reminding us that nature has a way of levelling things out and generally having the last word.
That said, it is now October and in general most crops should be gathered and harvest completed, a fact that I was pleased to celebrate at our local church harvest festival this Sunday gone.
Of course, based in the North West our harvest is more livestock than crops and this year the view from the rostrum would indicate an abundant harvest, with beef and sheep farmers being particularly well rewarded for their labours.
Prime lamb sales have remained buoyant throughout the year and each time the experts predict a fall the market seems to harden thanks in the main to a competitive live system, which instantly reacts to the market forces of supply and demand.
A strong autumn trade last year has been surpassed this time. Bentham sale last Wednesday saw 3,337 lambs sold to an average of 248p/kg up on the corresponding sale last year by 45p/kg.
Our annual first sale of Mule gimmer lambs last year saw sale averages up from £77.27 in 2019 to £112.89 in 2020 (an increase of £35.62), the same sale this year returned an average for 11,126 lambs sold (2,000 more than 2020) of £131.67 being another annual uplift of £18.78.
Similarly our opening autumn sale of 916 store cattle in September saw steers selling to a top of £1,740, a sale average of £1,094 up by £165 on the year. Once again, the live system has proven its worth and without doubt when demand is high the auction system cannot be beat.
So there we have it, this year's view from the rostrum has been full of positives, a golden year for cattle and sheep producers.
Stephen Dennis
Stephen Dennis is senior auctioneer, manager and chartered land agent at Bentham Auction Mart. Call 01524 261 444, or email [email protected]
