The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Trade soars at lamb sale
A total of 18 lots break the five-figure barrier at Lanark
No fewer than 18 lots broke the fivefigure barrier at the sale of Blackface ram lambs at Lanark, where averages increased by £483 on the year, albeit for 30 fewer sold.
At the shearling sale the previous day, a further 10 sold at £10,000 or above, with averages on a par with the 2016 sale.
It was the lamb day which provided the most excitement around the ring, with trade soaring to £58,000 for one from Hugh and Alan Blackwood, Auldhouseburn, Muirkirk.
Their best was a son of the £85,000 Elmscleugh tup bought last year, while the dam is by £50,000 Crossflatt. Buyers were the Dunlops at Elmscleugh, Dunbar, and the Campbells for their Glenrath flock at Peebles, with the Blackwoods retaining a third share.
The Campbell family from Glenrath and Easter Happrew, Peebles, had a memorable two days, with both lambs and shearlings. On lamb day, their highlights included lambs at £55,000 and £17,000 from the Easter Happrew pen, and others at £23,000, £13,000 and £9,000 from the Glenrath consignment.
The £17,000 Easter Happrew lamb, a son of an £18,000 Midlock, out of a £26,000 Crossflatt-sired dam, sold to the Tinnis, Kirkstead and Burncastle flocks.
Meanwhile, from the Glenrath pen, a son of the £85,000 Elmscleugh, out of a ewe by the £90,000 Dalchirla, reached £24,000, selling to the Kay family’s Gass flock at Straiton.
Midlock lambs from the Wight family at Crawford proved popular, selling at £45,000 and £40,000. Pen topper, selling at £45,000 to Elmscleugh, was a son of the £100,000 Elmscleugh, bought at Dalmally last year, out of a ewe by a £44,000 Crossflatt.
Also hitting £45,000 was the best from the Harkins’ Loughash flock from Co Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Sired by a £14,000 High Staward ram, out of a daughter of a £24,000 Elmscleugh, he sold to Auldhouseburn, Crossflatt and Paul Coulson, High Staward, Hexham, with the Harkins retaining a quarter share.
Late in the day, Billy and Andrew Renwick received a top of £28,000 for a lamb from their Blackhouse flock from Yarrow, which sold to Glenrath. He is by a £25,000 Elmscleugh, out of a ewe by the £24,000 Allanfauld Hulk.
Three lambs from the Nunnerie consignment from Elvanfoot, Biggar, hit five figures, selling to a top of £20,000 for a son of the £100,000 Elmscleugh, out of a ewe by an £11,000 Aitkenhead. He sold to Eoin Mckenna and Charlie Phillips, Northern Ireland.
At £12,000 from Nunnerie, a son of the home-bred Wisecrack, sold to Connachan and Craig Paterson, Aberuchle, Comrie, while a son of an £8,000 Loughash made £11,000 to Loughash and Allanfauld.
The Crossflatt pen from John Murray, Muirkirk, ended the sale on a bang, with one at £20,000, selling to the Jacksons at Pole, Lochgoilhead; Donald Mcvicar, Lephinchapel, Strachur; David Murray, Lurgan, Aberfeldy, and A Wright, West Lundie, Doune.
Four lambs hit the £10,000 mark, with the first, a son of a £5,000 Crossflatt, from Jamie and Matthew Dunlop, Upper Wellwood, Muirkirk, selling to Midlock, with the Dunlops retaining an equal share.
Next up, Archie and John Macgregor, Allanfauld, Kilsyth, sold a son of a £2,400 Auldhouseburn, at £10,000, to Michael Wood, Shawsknowe, Crosshill, and Stephen Duncan’s Livet flock at Glenlivet.