By Alec Ross
A consignment of mostly leaner lambs at Newton Stewart yesterday averaged 261p/kg or £112/head, with any heavier lambs easier to sell, most notably with Suffolks from Blairbuy selling to £151 and Beltexes from Barholm Mains selling to 281p/kg.
Cast sheep sold to £156/head for Beltex cross tups from Culbae and to £134 for Texels from Auchenflower, while Mules and Blackies sold to £90 and £86 respectively.
In common with other centres, OTM cattle eased on the week at Dumfries yesterday, with Simmentals selling to £1,239 and £1,141 for East Lanegate, and Limousins selling to £1,222 for Boreland of Southwick.
The same vendor also topped the Aberdeen Angus section at £1085/head. Prime lambs were also slightly down on the week, with lighter lambs averaging 252p/kg and selling to 281p/kg, while the heaviest lambs averaged 266p/kg and sold to £140/head for Suffolks.
In contrast, a relative shortage of cast ewes meant they easily maintained recent rates. Heavy ewes averaged £99/head and sold to £208/head while light ewes averaged £73/head and sold to £100/head.
A larger show of 1,759 prime lambs were sold at Ayr on Monday, and with all types easier sold than anticipated the sale averaged 274p/kg or £116/head. Top price of the day was £160/head for a pen from Laigh Borland with the top price per kilo reaching 312p for Texels from Blairbowie.
A large number of cast sheep also met with demand and sold to £180 for Tormitchell, while Texel crosses sold to £158 for Perryston.
Mules peaked at £105 whilst Blackies peaked at £98 for Rankinston, and cast tups reached an impressive £180 for a Texel from Waterside.
Despite being of mixed quality, demand for breeding cattle at Longtown on Tuesday remained strong and prices peaked at £1,280/head for Friesian bullocks from Hethermill with heifers selling to £1,180/head for a British Blue from Ryehills.
A shortage of prime steers and heifers at Carlisle on Tuesday led to a strong trade with a dozen cattle selling for over £2,000/head to an overall peak of £2,226 for a 777kg Limousin cross steer from Waterside.
British Blue steers peaked at £2,135 for Messrs Nicholson, The Lake, who also topped the per kilo price at 308p for a British Blue steer.
Meanwhile, heifers sold to £2,166/head or 314p/kg for Loughrigg. Prime bulls were smaller in number and held up well on the week, selling to £2,702 for a 960kg Limousin from Collielaw, with Blonde crosses selling to £1,918 for Cleughbrae and Black and Whites peaking at £1,629 for Brownfield.
A large showing of store lambs at Longtown on Tuesday attracted a large number of buyers and all classes proved easy to sell, with the best lambs up £4/head and smaller lambs a similar trade to last year.
A Beltex from Merkland topped the sale at £127.
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