Farming
By Neale McQuistin
Harrison & Hetherington sold 42 clean cattle, 37 cast cows, 1,628 prime hoggets and 301 cast sheep at St Boswells yesterday.
Ten prime bullocks sold to 272p/kg to average 258p (-1p), while 32 prime heifers peaked at 296p to average 251p (-11p). In the cast ring cows peaked at £2,205 and 271p to average 228p (+17p), while three bulls peaked at £1,352 and 163p to average 147p (-13p).
In the sheep ring top prices were £145 for Suffolk hoggets and 333p/kg for Beltex to average £123 or 253p (+2p). A larger show of cast sheep this week sold to £205 for Texel tups. Heavy ewes averaged £143 (+£1), while light ewes peaked at £157 for North Country Cheviots to average £95 (+£4).
Lawrie and Symington sold 47 prime cattle and 45 cast cows at Lanark yesterday. Limousin heifers sold to 304p/kg or to £1,875, while British Blue bullocks sold to 302p or to £1,830. Dairy-bred bullocks and heifers sold to £1,236 or 238p, while dairy-bred young bulls peaked at £1,442 or 220p.
The cast cattle trade peaked at £1,835 or 211p for beef cows, while dairy cows sold to £1,355 twice or to 185p. There were also 2,819 prime hoggets and 674 cast sheep through Lanark yesterday.
A smaller show of prime hoggs met a similar trade on the week with the light hoggs and export hoggs sharper. The sale peaked at £162 for Texels and at 378p/kg for Beltex to average 263p/kg (+2p) overall. Cast sheep met a fast trade which set a record for a cast ewe when Messrs Cullen Craighead realised £320 for a Texel. Blackface ewes peaked at £124 and the sale averaged £112.
Messrs Craig Wilson sold 1,625 prime hoggets and 304 cast sheep at Ayr. It was a very good show of prime hoggets for the time of year which resulted in the whole sale averaging 264p (+12p) or £117. Top price was £140 on two occasions for pens of Beltex. Top price per kilo was 333p for another pen of Beltex. The 481 Blackface hoggets peaked at £121 and 286p to average 264p or £107.Cast sheep were a better show for quality in the ewes which resulted in the sale averaging £125 overall. Trade peaked at £290 for a pen of three Texels, while Mules sold for £155 and Blackfaces to £122.
Caledonian Marts sold 478 store cattle at its fortnightly sale at Stirling yesterday. Bullocks averaged 238p/kg and sold 297p for a pen of Limousins and to £1,450 for a pen of Charolais.
Heifers averaged 227p and sold to 269p for a pen of Aberdeen Angus and to £1,270 for a pen of Charolais.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here