Taking top call of £2,520 was a pedigree heifer, Dowshawdale Mogul Ilse from Geoff and Margaret Booth in Lothersdale, claimed by regular buyer Mark Goodall, of Tong, Bradford. Three further heifers from Co. Durham’s John Thompson, of Butterknowle, made £2,400, £2,300 and £1,750, while regular local vendor Robert Crisp, of Calton, saw two of his three heifers make £1,950 each.

Brothers Paul and Robert Lange, of Slingsby, York, who are retiring, began dispersing their NMR-recorded herd with a batch of 11 cows and heifers, which averaged £1,273 and peaked at £1,600 for a second calver, one of three purchases by the Hough family in Cheshire.

The same morning’s sale of 38 rearing calves produced a much better trade than anticipated for both Continentals and black and whites. The former topped at £420 for a British Blue-x bull calf from the Bolland family in Airton, the section averaging £345, while the latter peaked at £130 from RM Shackleton, of Broughton, averaging £69.

The mart says more dairy cows and rearing calves are urgently required for a growing number of buyers, as new faces and regulars left both rings empty handed.

Some tremendous prices were again seen for the 19 under 30-month prime cattle, when both sections were headed by bids of 272.5p/kg – the first for a 575kg British Blue-x steer from Bordley’s John Stephenson, sold to Keelham Farm Shop in Skipton for £1,567, the second for a 550kg Limousin-x heifer from Threshfield brothers Charles and Richard Kitching, claimed for £1,499 by Countrystyle Meats Farm Shop in Lancaster.

The leading gross value was £1,651 (268.5p/kg) for another John Stephenson 615kg Blue-x steer bought by Mick Etherington, of Eldwick. On a day when 70% of the entry topped selling prices of 260p/kg and £1,400, the leading gross values were among the heavy cattle, which are an ever-improving trade.

Cull cattle carrying both finish and with scope for improvement produced a firm trade, with an overall selling average of 109.17p/kg, or £719.12, and a top of £1,179, or 146.5p/kg, for a Beef Shorthorn from New York Farms in Silsden.

Almost 4,400 prime sheep were penned for sale, a similar entry of 3,716 lambs showing an anticipated peak season fall on the week when averaging 202p/kg, or £90.49 per head, though described a fantastic trade for the last week in September, with smart goods and retail shop lambs trading similarly and only commercials cheaper.

Values of £120 to £140 per head were common prices for heavy retail shop lambs, with Beltex entries producing day’s highs of £145.50 and 315.4p/kg and a leading breed average of 246.4p/kg, or £102.90.

An entry of 667 cast ewes and rams saw the former trade much dearer than expected, peaking at £142.50 for Texel ewes from Richard Wilson in Beckwithshaw, Cull ewes averaged £66.05 and cast rams £81.50