Oddacres gimmer hogg heads prices at Skipton BFL females winter sale
While Skipton Auction Mart’s annual winter fixture for Bluefaced Leicester females was without the usual show classes, so preventing last year’s title winners and top price achievers, the Mason family, who run the Oddacres flock in Embsay, from defending their crown, they did head the selling prices again. (Wed, Feb 10)
The Masons - John and Claire, and daughter Annabel – took top call of £500 with a gimmer hogg by their Macqueston M1 tup, out of a home-bred ewe itself by a ram bred locally by Kirkby Malham’s Will Wildman. The buyers were M&K Farrar, Tadcaster,
The 2019 show victors, Kevin and Daphne Wilson, and son, James, who run the Hewness flock in Blubberhouses, secured second top price of £450 with a gimmer hogg by their well utilised Harland F1 Bighead tup, out of a Midlock-sired dam. It sold to the Caton family in Weston, Otley. The Wilsons also claimed £300 with a second hogg, the small, but quality turnout averaging £416.
The BFLs were among 190 breeding sheep at Skipton’s fortnightly midweek fixture, with a couple of early runs of in-lamb ewes peaking at £200 twice, first for Texel Mule shearlings, followed by 2&3 crop Mules, all due April and both consigned by the Roberts family, from Farnhill.
The total turnout of 804 head also included 614 store lambs, which sold to an overall average of £87.03. Good trade was seen throughout, with buyers competing keenly for the hoggs on offer due to recent rises in the prime trade prices. The next sale on Wednesday, February 24, is the last of the season for store lambs.
The mart also broke fresh ground earlier this month when holding its first online live bidding farm dispersal sale on behalf of G Lumb & Son in Greetland, Calderdale, staged due to retirement and featuring an excellent range of 558 lots of tractors, machinery, implements, livestock equipment, workshop items and small tools.
While a new experience for all concerned, it proved an extremely successful venture, with bidders joining the sale online from a wide geographic area, not only from across Yorkshire, Lancashire and into Cumbria, but also much further afield from the southern English counties, Scotland and even Northern Ireland.
A full clearance of items achieved excellent values, with larger lots selling to a day’s high of £10,200 for a Kramer 320 Loadall and other farm machinery and vehicles hitting four-figure prices, including further items at £8,500, £7,200 and £6,800. Plenty of smaller lots made three figures up to £400 twice.
A standalone online produce sale saw barley straw sell to £40.50 per bale, haylage to £15.25 per bale and silage to £12.75 per bale.