820 Breeding Sheep Another large show of sheep with lambs at foot, although maybe not just the overall quality seen last week. Best of the hoggs and lambs to £215 from Raymond and Robert Johnson, James Hall made £190 of a pen, although the commercial types would be slightly cheaper than last week. Plenty of older sheep too and prices not just as strong as last week, Better end of outfits with twins trading around the equivalent of £60 per life, and commercial types £50 per life. Please advise the mart office of entries by Friday Lunchtime. Thankyou.

Craven Dairy Auction (18 head) A decent number forward for the May sale however with just a slight lack in quality hampering the trade, however Tony Swires was on the receiving end of the best trade seeing his Reserve Champion reach £1850 and his other heifer reaching £1680, with Brian Moorhouse seeing £1680 for his straight heifer and his ¾ Holstein ¼ Jersey Cow selling to £1520 to top the cow class. Mark Smith of Winterburn saw his home bred heifer reach £1650 on a day which saw an up and down sort of trade.

Swires reserve champion secures top price at Craven Dairy Auction Commercial dairy farmers, father and son, Tony and James Swires, from Town End Farm, Stainburn, between Harrogate and Otley, were again to the fore at Skipton Auction Mart’s opening May Craven Dairy Auction show and sale at Skipton Auction Mart. (Mon, May 8)

Bank Holiday bonanza at Skipton Auction Mart The May bank holiday fixture at Skipton Auction Mart again proved one of the busiest of the entire year, with a total of 4,663 sheep penned for sale, along with 34 prime cattle, 30 rearing calves – and multiple show classes for primestock and breeding sheep. (May 1) While Skipton’s prime sheep turnout was maintained, a bank holiday shortage elsewhere resulted in a stronger afternoon trade.

Forward: 34 Prime cattle comprising 22 Clean Cattle (under 30 mos) & 12 Cast Cattle 2,162 Prime Sheep comprising 174 Spring Lambs, 1677 Old Season Lambs, 311 Cast Ewes & Rams 2,501 Breeding Sheep comprising 819 Geld Hoggs, 1022 Hoggs & Lambs & 660 Ewes & Lambs 30 Rearing Calves

Rearing Calves to £420 B&W av £110.52 Cont av £385.62 Native av £282.5 What a trade but where were the calves. A bank holiday and a shed full of buyers meant a short sale but an electric trade. All of the 30 calves sailed well past the mark with John Marshall of Dacre having a flying trade with his two sweet british blue bulls at £400, however Stephen Marshall of West End topped overall with his Limousin bull at £420 and its mate at £400.

2501 Breeding Sheep Bank Holiday Monday was a very busy day in the sheep market at Skipton with The Great Annual Prize Show of Hoggs with Lambs and Geld Gimmer Hoggs held today alongside the Weekly Sale of Prime Sheep.

Fortnightly Sale of Young Feeding Bulls, Store Bullocks & Heifers, Breeding Cattle Forward: 717 head of cattle Comprising: 191 Young Feeding Bulls, 45 Beef Feeding Cows, 462 Bullocks & Heifers & 30 Breeding Cattle. Inc Blue Wednesday – 16 Pedigree Blue Bulls & Females Plenty of cattle forward today for CCM Auctions fortnightly sale at Skipton Mart, North Yorkshire. A good quality entry of 191 Young Feeding Bulls were sold easily with strong short keep bulls in very good demand.

Blue Wednesday Annual Sale of Pedigree Blue Cattle. Judge - Richard Frankland Martin Sharp of Stainforth took the honors at Blue Wednesday. The Craven Cattle Marts fixture for Pedigree British Blue Breeding Cattle. Taitlands Kenny, a 2015 ET son of Heros Due Peroy bred from Taitlands Geraldine a ‘Littlebank Danny’ daughter won the male championship and went on to make 3500gns when knocked down to Mesrs Sowray & Son of Bishop Thornton for use on their dairy herd.

Ken and Kenny on the ball for Taitlands herd at CCM Blue Wednesday showcase North Craven’s Martin Sharpe and his partner Emma Milligan – they are due to marry in July – received an early wedding present when their Taitlands herd clinched a supreme championship and top price double with a brace of 2015-born British Blue bulls at Skipton Auction Mart’s 2017 pedigree beef season opener, the annual ‘Blue Wednesday’ show and sale. (Wed, April 26)

Forward: 59 Prime cattle comprising 11 Clean Cattle (under 30 mos) & 48 Cast Cattle. 2,119 Prime Sheep comprising 56 Spring Lambs, 1776 Old Season Lambs, 287 Cast Ewes & Rams. 715 Breeding Sheep. 30 Rearing Calves. 42 Dairy Cattle. 2 Loads of produce.

715 Breeding Sheep - Another large show of over 300 outfits this week although trade not just as hot as last week with hoggs and lambs £15 per outfit cheaper. Older sheep however with strong lambs were good to sell. Next week there is an entry of 850 Geld Gimmer Hoggs, 650 outfits of Hoggs with lambs and 250-300 Ewes with lambs at foot. Please note sale commences at 10.30am and is a fully catalogued sale.

42 Dairy Cattle & 30 Rearing Calves ......... Craven Dairy Auction (42 head) Including the Yorkshire Holstein Club Sale: to £3200 Buyers were drawn from far and wide to the Yorkshire Holstein Club sale with the furthest coming all the way from Sussex. A strong turnout of dairy for the Late April Show and Sale which included the Yorkshire Holstein Club Show and Sale with William Oldfield handing out the prizes in the judging ring. It was Edward Fort’s heifer from the Silmoor Herd that caught his eye, giving 27 litres and calved 21 days he eventually chose it as his champion.

White Rose mart a happy hunting ground for Red Rose butchers Red Rose retail butchers are increasingly mounting cross-border forays to Skipton Auction Mart in neighbouring North Yorkshire to meet growing demand from their customers for locally reared prime beef cattle and lambs.

AHDB stages calf rearing workshop at CCM Skipton A well-attended calf rearing workshop led by AHDB Dairy was staged at Skipton Auction Mart alongside the same day’s Craven Dairy Auction and Yorkshire Holstein Club dairy show and sale, on Monday, April 24. Organised to help breeders rear healthier calves more efficiently, the workshop was hosted by Becki Leach, AHDB Dairy’s Knowledge Exchange Manager for the North, and Andy Dodd, Technical Manager for Breeding and Fertility.