LLEYN SHEARLINGS AVERAGE £85 AND TUPS REACH £880 AT SKIPTON

Pedigree and commercial buyers competed for females at the Lleyn Sheep Society’s final sale of the season at Skipton Auction Mart, North Yorkshire last week where shearling ewes averaged at £85.94 apiece.

While many new devotees have switched to the Lleyn to benefit from running a closed flock and to avoid the need to buy-in replacement females, this season has seen a new strand of buyers at the ringside – and Skipton was no exception.

More lamb producers are waking up to the potential of draft Lleyn ewes and at the Skipton sale there was a strong demand for older ewes from new commercial bidders.

Settle, North Yorkshire Lleyn breeder John Dugdale was among those to benefit from this demand and topped the ewe section with four-year-old entries that realised £68 a head.

“The draft ewe market holds great potential for the Lleyn. More sheep producers are now realising that these ewes have many productive years of easy management left in them. It’s a market I can see expanding considerably in the future,” said Mr Dugdale who runs 700 Lleyn ewes with his son James.

Buying his top-priced ewes was Mrs J Broughton from Melton Constable, Norfolk who returned home with a wagon load of females – all bought for crossing with Suffolk tups.

Mrs Broughton also paid £81 for two-shear ewes and £94 for shearlings – all consigned by Mr Dugdale. The day’s top price of £212 for shearlings gave Ayrshire-based vet David Alexander another successful sale. His shearlings, which took the championship, also went to Mrs Broughton.

Other shearlings from Mr Alexander realised £160 and £130 to Kirklington Farms, Newark, while shearling ewes from D N Bennett and Son, Meifod, Powys reached £145 a head to Sanside estates, Caithness.

Mrs Broughton also paid the day’s highest price for ewe lambs giving £112 for a pen from David Alexander who also sold lambs at £80 to Kirklington Farms, Newark. The winners of the gimmer lamb class came from Jim Goldie, Dumfries and made £76 a head to J Stables, Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria.

While the primary demand was for pure-bred tups, there were several Swaledale breeders taking Lleyn rams for crossing.

But the pure-bred trade dominated the top end of the ram bidding with the leading call of £880 securing a shearling from Jim Goldie taken by J Mares & Son, Cadshaw Farm, Bullhill, Darwen, Lancs.

A shearling from breed society chairman John Geldard, Levens, Cumbria stood champion and made £700 to A Hughes, Garndolbenmaen, Gwynedd.

Bingley, West Yorkshire breeder Simon Kavanagh sold his second prize winning shearling ram at £420 to Kirklington Farms. The day’s second highest ram price of £780 was paid by Ilkley, West Yorkshire breeders Denton Park Farms for a shearling from D N Bennett and Son.

Averages: 44 rams £285; 681 shearlings £85.94; 139 ewes £68.76 and 565 gimmer lambs £49.54.

Auctioneers: Craven Cattle Marts

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