Pedigree cattle set to beef up 2017 seasonal showcase at CCM Skipton Skipton Auction Mart is gearing up for its 2017 pedigree beef show and sale season, a series of high profile Wednesday fixtures. It opens on April 26 with the annual show and sale of British Blue breeding bulls, cows and heifers, complemented by a prize sale for British Blue-sired store cattle. The fixture is again expected to create significant interest among potential buyers of sires suitable for breeding on both pedigree and commercial beef and dairy herds.

Forward: 531 head of cattle Comprising: 139 Young Feeding Bulls, 43 Beef Bred Feeding Cows, 339 Bullocks & Heifers, & 10 Breeding Cattle. A grand show of cattle at CCM Auctions fortnightly sale held on Wednesday at Skipton Mart.

Rearing Calves to £405 (60) B&W av £70.13 Cont av £322.58 Native av £205.65 Handy show of calves and a healthy ringside of buyers saw a good trade for what was on offer. Black and Whites were not quite as spicy as last week but not quite the quality to match either. An 8 week old bull topped at £190 from Alf and Andrew Townsend with Michael Heron’s 3 week old Friesian bulls at £112 and £102 with Brian Moorhouse of Bell Busk making £110 with a handy Holstein calf.

Breeding Sheep A large entry this week of sheep with lambs at foot and generally a younger selection of ewes too, with more shearlings and hoggs with lambs each week now. Best of the shearlings came from David White of High Garnshaw who sold mules with twins to £205, whilst the first hoggs with singles of this season sold to £195 from RG Johnson & Son. Best of the ewes were correct texels with twin beltex lambs at £215 from Les Grange, Follifoot.

Forward: 50 Prime cattle comprising 19 Clean Cattle (under 30 mos), 2 Clean Cattle (over 30 mos) & 29 Cast Cattle .,639 Prime Sheep comprising 122 Spring Lambs, 2227 Old Season Lambs, 290 Cast Ewes & Rams. 580 Breeding Sheep. 60 Rearing Calves. Dairy Cattle. 7 Loads of produce.

Butchers out in force at Skipton Easter Spring lamb highlight Wigglesworth Beltex-cross crowned supreme champion Retail and wholesale butcher buyers were again well represented at the ringside at Skipton Auction Mart’s annual seasonal Spring lamb show and sale in their quest to source new season lambs for this weekend’s Easter tables. (Mon, Apr 10)

Forward: 77 Prime cattle comprising 29 Clean Cattle (under 30 mos), 2 Clean Cattle (over 30 mos) & 46 Cast Cattle. 3,044 Prime Sheep comprising 28 Spring Lambs, 2715 Prime Hoggs, 301 Cast Ewes & Rams. 311 Breeding Sheep. 75 Rearing Calves. 6 Loads of produce.

Breeding Sheep A good show of outfits for this weeks sale saw trade for commercial outfits dearer on the week with a full ringside of buyers present looking for mouths to graze the fast growing grass. Top price was £215 for Mule Shearlings with twins for David White, who also sold correct mules with twins to £192. Top price singles was £190 for Texel correct ewes with nice Beltex lambs from Alan Midgley.

Critchleys prime cattle champions again at Skipton The Crithcley family from Mercer Farm, Hutton, Preston, landed their second successive monthly prime cattle championship at Skipton Auction Mart’s April show and sale. (Mon, Apr 3) The Critchleys - husband and wife, Richard and Julie, and their three sons, Robert, John and Thomas - saw their first prize 515kg Limousin-cross heifer awarded top honours by the show judge, Keelham Farm Shop’s James Robertshaw, who then transferred his interest to the ringside to claim his chosen champion for the day’s top call of £1,465, or 284.5p/kg.

Fortnightly Sale of Young Feeding Bulls, Store Bullocks & Heifers, Breeding Cattle Forward: 466 head of cattle Comprising: 166 Young Feeding Bulls, 13 Beef Feeding Cows, 283 Bullocks & Heifers, & 4 Breeding Cattle. At Skipton Mart on Wednesday, CCM Auctions held their fortnightly sale of Store & Breeding Cattle where a good lambing time entry was forward for sale. Young bulls were a sharp trade in the morning with a full ringside contingent in attendance and keen for cattle. Top was a Pathanaise Bull from Brian Lund selling for £1245. Beef Bred Feeding cows were a good selection, with 13 forward for sale topping at £1170 from James Towler and a great average of £1003 across the board.

Forward: 41 Prime cattle comprising 16 Clean Cattle (under 30 mos), 5 Clean Cattle (over 30 mos) & 20 Cast Cattle. 2,782 Prime Sheep comprising 2,477 Prime Hoggs, 305 Cast Ewes & Rams. 679 Breeding Sheep. 30 Rearing Calves: B&W av £74.09 Cont av £335 Native av £192.50. 28 Dairy Cattle: Ped N/C Hfrs (av £1641): to £1820; N/C Hfrs (av £1617.33): to £1900; N/C Cows (av £1515): to £1680. 16 Loads of produce.

679 Breeding Sheep (249 Ewes with 430 lambs) The largest show seen so far, with the trade brisk and very similar to recent weeks. Thomas Boothman’s Annual Consignment created much interest and sold to a top of £240 for Shearlings with Twins, and a further four pens at £230 each. Texel Shlg with twins to £240, £230 x4, £220x2, £215 T Boothman Shlgs and Singles to £170x2 T Boothman; £140 R Wallbank Correct with Twins to £230x2 215,£210, £205 T Boothman; £170 JW Hall Correct with Singles to £170 T Boothman; £142 A Midgley; £132 RG Johnson & Son B/M with Singles to £115 D Haigh Beltex Correct with Singles to £175 AV Bailey Suffolk Correct with Twins to £150 FM Shepherd Mule Correct with Twins to £178 T Bootman; £162 JW Hall Correct with Singles to £125 W Rathmell; £108 RG Johnson & Son B/M with Twins to £138 J Baines; B/M with Singles to £108 R Peel Zwartbles with Twins to £170 A Midgley Masham correct with Singles to £110 A Midgley

30 Rearing Calves: B&W av £74.09 Cont av £335 Native av £192.50 28 Dairy Cattle: Ped N/C Hfrs (av £1641): to £1820; N/C Hfrs (av £1617.33): to £1900; N/C Cows (av £1515): to £1680

Milkers out in force at latest Craven Dairy Auction A virtually full shippon of milkers produced a welcome strong trade at the main March Craven Dairy Auction show and sale at Skipton Auction Mart. (Mon, March 27) Brian and Judith Moorhouse’s Aireburn pedigree Holstein herd in Bell Busk secured its first dairy championship of the year with the first prize newly calven heifer, Aireburn Gerard Honeysuckle, home-bred to the Genus bull, Shillview Gerard, the first time the sire had been used by the family. A fortnight calved and giving 32 litres, the victor made £1,800 when joining the show judge, Brian Blezard, of Ribchester,

Thomas Boothman clean sweep at Skipton ewes with lambs opener Thomas Boothman, of Linton Hall Farm, Linton, yet again proved the standout performer at Skipton Auction Mart’s opening show and sale of ewes with lambs at foot when landing a clean sweep of the prizes in the two show classes. (Mon, March 27) It was the fourth year in succession that the Yorkshire Dales sheep farmer had dominated the early season highlight with his annual consignment of home-bred Texel-cross shearlings and 2 shear ewes with Beltex-cross lambs at foot, the majority again by Beltex rams acquired from Skipton breeder Chris Windle.