Lorneville sale one of the biggest
DIANE BISHOP
‘‘The Borders have always sold well, they are a great hybrid first cross.’’ PGG Wrightson Southland Livestock Manager Andrew Martin.
Heavy rain failed to dampen the enthusiasm of buyers at the Lorneville two-tooth ewe and lamb fair on Tuesday. The best of the Border Leicester cross ewes made $270 to $290, with a few pens selling for more than $300 while the best of the crossbred ewes made $240 to $275. PGG Wrightson Southland livestock manager Andrew Martin said it was one of the biggest yardings at Lorneville in the past few years with about 11,000 twotooth ewes going under the auctioneer’s hammer. The fact the livestock schedule had dropped in recent weeks meant buyers were not as optimistic as expected, but the good quality lines of two-tooths sold well, he said. ‘’It was a fair market, but it could have been stronger,’’ Martin said. As a rule, the ewes were usually worth the price of ‘’two good lambs plus a bit more’’ and this sale was no exception. Martin said there was almost 100 per cent clearance with a few lines of ewes passed in and sold after the sale. Brian and Betty Wilson, of Hedgehope, achieved the top price of $312 for their Border Leicester cross ewes followed closely by the Pask family, of Woodlands, who sold two pens for $308 and $300. Jack Hillis, of Edendale, also sold a line of ewes for $302 and sold another pen after the sale for $300. Hillis has consistently achieved some of the top prices at the fair and last year sold the second highest priced pen for $312. Martin said two-tooth ewe prices were ‘’on a par’’ with last year which saw Graeme Anderson of Wrights Bush, achieve $314 for his pen of Border Leicester cross ewes. ‘‘The Borders have always sold well, they are a great hybrid first cross. ‘‘They are good mothers and they achieve a high lambing percentage,’’ Martin said. There was a smaller yarding of ewe lambs than usual at the sale with only 1000 lambs being auctioned. Martin said the best of these made $200 to $230. Ashley Halder, of Timpanys, achieved the top price of $230 for his ewe lambs which was $10 a head more than his best price of $220 last year. Martin said many farmers opted to sell their surplus ewe lambs privately rather than at the fair.