PIGS

An increased in quality and quantity forward this week, saw prime pigs selling to a top of £248 for Pietrain x hogs from J Stott, Kingsland with a tremendous run of Large White x gilts and hogs from JM Navesey, Darwen selling pens at £222, £220 and £202. Heavy weight gilts sold to £215 from MK&LK Whitely & Son, Harrogate who sold others at £190. Medium weight Large White gilts and boars from J Mayall, Rossendale attracted keen buyer interest, selling to £172 with others at £162 and £158. Saddleback x gilts from H Kent, Cockerham achieved £182. A top of 236p/kg was again achieved by J Stott, Kingsland with other well finished hogs and gilts £190 to £210, with others £165 to £180. Cull sows sold to £190 from MK&LK Whitely & Son, Harrogate and cull boars sold to £160 from M Trotter, Wigton. A single pen of Gloucester Old Spot weaners sold to £57 from MK&LK Whitely & Son, Harrogate.

PRIME LAMBS

1000 lambs were put before our ring side of eleven active buyers, all keen to purchase. An overall average of 262p/kg was achieved. Once again buyers were showing a little caution over under finished lambs, with lambs being creep fed achieving maximum prices. J36 is the place to be for all types of heavy lambs, the sale topped at £146 for Texel lambs from S Mawson & sons, Orton with a pen of 14 first cross Texel lambs from DE&SM Moorhouse, Natland selling to £145. Achieving the same price was another pen of Texel lambs from Drinkall Bros, Over Wyresdale. An additional ten pens of Continental heavy weight lambs sold at £140 plus. More interest was shown in lambs weighing 42kg to 45kg, with these regularly selling at 260p/kg to 270p/kg. A pen of 40kg Beltex x lambs sold to £122 from J Twigge, Lindale. Light bred lambs, once again need to be full of meat to be eagerly bid for. A pen of 49 Texel lambs from Hornby Hall, Penrith sold to 270p/kg. New buyers around the ring ensured all smart bred lambs achieved maximum prices with the best pens selling at 300p/kg plus, topping at 315p/kg from D&S Robinson, Old Hutton.
Today’s sale included the ‘Tex-Factor’ show in association with the North West Texel Breeders Club. Ten pens of Texel lambs were put before our judge Mr Steven Airey of HC Airey & Son. He awarded the results as followed:
1st D & S Robinson with lambs weighing 44kg sold for £138
2nd W Garnett & Son with lambs weighing 40kg sold for £116
3rd J Twigge with lambs weighing 41kg sold for £122
We look forward to welcoming the North West Breeders Club to Junction 36 Rural Auction Centre for their annual show and sale of 320 pedigree rams and females on Sunday 13th August 2023.

CAST SHEEP

Cull ewe number now in the seasonal rise, with 674 local farmer ewes sold today at NWA Junction 36. As farmers are now weaning lambs, ewes are now generally forward in working condition attracting keen interest for both feeding and slaughter.
Several heavy ewes forward today sold to a top price of £178 for a Texel from JA Chapman, Kendal with Blue Faced Leicester’s selling to £155 from Drinakll Bros, Abbeystead. The best of the first cross ewes saw Texels sell to £142 from L Stewart, Grange Over Sand with others at £138 from TMW&H Hodgson, Nibthwaite and £136 from WS Burrow Limited, Carnforth. The stronger end of first cross ewes were generally £115 to £130, depending on breed and shape. Mules sold to a top of £128 from WS Burrow Limited, Silverdale with others at £121 from Drinkall Bros, Abbeystead and £116 from Strickland Hill Farming. Medium Mules were generally £90 to £105. Hill ewes sold to a top price of £108 for Cheviots from S Mawson & Son, Orton with Swaledale selling to £92 from Drinkall Bros, Abbeystead and Herdwick £82 from AT Threlkeld, Ulverston. An overall market averaged of £75.63 was achieved with 43% of the sale being Swaledale ewes, generally selling at £45 to £65.
A mixed show of cull rams sold to £136 for a Texel from M&S Blease, Carnforth with Cheviots selling to £120 from GR Park & sons, Whinfell and Rough Fells £116 from BJ Bainbridge, Shap.
Cull ewes are best sold fit not fat, with sheep still in their wool meeting some buyer resistance.