The monthly prize show saw Neil Tattersall, who trades as PA&NS Tattersall at Ellerton near York, repeat his 2016 success when returning 12 months on to land another eye-catching championship and reserve championship double with Texel-cross pairs.

Both pens fell to Countrystyle Meats Farm Shop, who earlier in the day also purchased the monthly prime cattle champion to land what was a notable bank holiday coup for the Red Rose retail butcher, which is based in Wyresdale Road on Lancaster Leisure Park.

Countrystyle paid a price-topping £150 per head for Mr Tattersall’s 39kg victors and 319.4p/kg, or £115 each, for the reserve champions, also taking home the second and third prize 45kg and 44kg Suffolk pens, both from Steeton’s Mark Evans, at £116 and £112 respectively.

Mr Tattersall sold a second pen of 40kg lambs for 302.5p/kg, or £121, to wholesale butchers, Hartshead Meat Co in Mossley, Ashton-under-Lyne, who also paid £109 each for the first prize 43kg Suffolk-cross pen from Robert Towers, of Farleton, Lancaster. Mr Towers also sold a Texel-cross pen at £118 per head, or 310.5p/kg, to another returning Red Rose retail butcher. Whitehead’s, in Edgworth, 

Spring lambs, 174 in total, with more first cross lambs out of Mule ewes among the entry, sold to an overall average of £95.55 per head, or 232.78p/kg, which was deemed a good result.
 
Also among the mix were 1,677 old season lambs, which traded to an overall average of £77.83 per head, or 176.22p/kg. Tim Robinson, of Longridge, presented the top price per head and per kilo Beltex pen at £105, or 228.3p/kg, these also selling to Hartshead Meats.

Hill-bred hoggs were a very good trade, with Newark’s Steve Dorey doing well with Mule pens, which peaked at £89.50 per head, while Tony Kiernan, also from Longridge, hit £91 with his Cheviots, with Dick Burley, of Wath, having the pick of the Swaledales with a top of £80 each.

A larger turnout of 311 cast sheep also sold well, with the top price lowland entries again making into three figures, Mules selling into the £80s and the best horned ewes from Steve Morris, of Dutton, to £79.50. Cull ewes averaged £60.09 and cast rams £69.25.

Prime cattle trade hits new high
In the prime cattle show arena, the Critchley family from Mercer Farm, Hutton, near Preston, clinched a notable hat-trick when sending out the champion for the third successive month.

Their 500kg Limousin-cross heifer returned to Lancashire when joining Countrystyle Meats Farm Shop in Lancaster for £1,536, or 299.5p/kg, the day’s leading per head and by-weight prices. The Critchleys also sold a second Limousin-cross heifer at £1,498, or 269.5p/kg, again to Countrystyle, who bought five on the day.

Reserve champion for the second consecutive month was Baldersby Park’s Malcolm Metcalfe with a 555kg British Blue-cross heifer knocked down at £1,435, or 258.5p/kg, to show judge Martin Brown, of Leyburn, buying on behalf of a local butcher customer.

Mr Metcalfe was also responsible for the second prize Limousin-cross steer, which topped its section at £1,476, or 254.5p/kg, when joining Keelham Farm Shop in Skipton and Thornton, who also paid £1,448, or 245.5p/kg, for the first prize steer, a British Blue-cross from Carleton’s James Drake.

With ten customers at the ringside seeking quality retail cattle, trade for the 22 under 30-month entries was the strongest for some considerable time, with heifers selling to an overall average a shade over 238p/kg and steers averaging 226.43p/kg.

Other butcher buyers were Skipton-based Stanforths, DA Gregory & Sons in Bacup, and Ellisons in Cullingworth, all with three each, along with Farmer Copleys in Pontefract.

A small turnout of 12 cull cows, with lean dairies and non-assured native crosses predominating, traded on a par with the previous week when averaging £724.73 per head, or 118.32p/kg overall, said to represent a very good reflection of current strong demand.

Beef-bred entries traded to a top of £868 for an Aberdeen Angus-cross from D Jeffrey, of Sutton-in-Craven, and 138.5p/kg for a Limousin-cross from John and Mary Carr, of Askwith, while dairy entries sold to £786 and 124.5p/kg for black and whites from, respectively, R&E Butterfield, of Bentham, and Oakworth’s Andrew Lumb.