Wether lambs take centre stage at CCM Skipton
This year’s wether lambs took centre stage at Skipton Auction Mart for their main show day of the year, with four classes for Swaledale, Dalesbred and other hill breeds. (Wed, Sept 18)
Successful in the Swaledale show class was upland hill custodian Paul Newbould, of Potter Lane Farm, Dallowgill, with a pen of 50 lambs reared entirely on heather moorland in the Nidderdale Area of Natural Beauty.
Mr Newbould keeps some 800 ewes, which go to both pedigree Swaledale and Bluefaced Leicester rams, the latter servicing the requirements of his North of England Mule flock. The class victors sold at a section-topping £43 per head to a regular Welsh buyer.
Two red rosettes were clinched by the Westall family in Briercliffe in the other hill/horned show classes with 25 Cheviot lambs sold for £52 and 26 Lonks that made £45 each. The Dalesbred show class was won by John Horner, of Buckden, his pen of 28 selling at £38.
Richard Owens, from Aston, judged the Top Tags Animal ID-sponsored show, which formed part of the mart’s fortnightly sale of yet another solid turnout of 7,091 store lambs, which traded to an overall average of £58.52 per head, very similar to the previous fortnight.
A good number of Continental and Suffolk gimmer lambs were again on offer, the latter coming in for considerable support, with many pens selling between £78 up to a top of £95 for 26 from the Edmondson family in Ulverston.
Texels peaked at £115 for a tremendous run of clean headed gimmers presented by Anthony Hewetson, of Bank Newton, with a further two pens from the same home making £112 and £100.
A healthy number of Texel and Beltex lambs bred from white-faced ewes saw an increased trade, with a large quantity of buyers looking for better conformed lambs this season. Mule wether buyers were out in increased numbers, with 14 at the ringside resulting in some strong prices for well-grown lambs with further growth potential. Top price of the day came for a pen of 65 at £65.50, with another pen of 60 at £63, producing a section average of £54.79.
Individual top price and breed averages were: Texel to £115 (£59.46), Beltex to £98 (£64.10), Suffolk to £95 (av £68.75), Mule to £65.60 (£54.79), Masham to £62 (£55.28), Charollais to £56.50 (£45.77), Cheviot to £55 (£51.69), Lonk to £49 (46.83), Swaledale to £43 (£34.73), Dalesbred to £38.