THOSE ALL-IMPORTANT PRICES – MARKET REPORTS ON PAGE 2

NEWCASTLE EMLYN AUGUST 31

Increased numbers forward this week, with the Ram Lamb Festival around the corner. Meaty ram lambs sold well, reaching 2.00 p/kilo. Lambs topped the mark at £90. Plenty of lambs were in the high 180p/ kg. A row of store lambs sold excellently, topping the section were 40 kilo lambs reaching £65.00. A mixture of ewes and rams forward, with many plainer sorts forward. Topping the mart was a pen full of Suffolk ewes reaching £78.00. The section levelled at £56.13.

BRECON AUGUST 25

STORE CATTLE (543): McCartneys reports a fantastic entry of strong cattle, with no end of cattle over £1,300 to top at £1,400 for heifers and £1,385 for steers, reflecting the types on offer. There was an excellent run of over 50 steers and heifers from GW & EA Owen, Cwmderi, which were sold to various parts of the UK (Derby, Yorkshire, Rugby and fattening units in Wales) and these averaged just short of £1,250 and were the trade of the day. Overall the steers averaged £1,120/head and the heifers £1,020, which would be close to a record trade for Brecon. However, the dearest cattle were probably the young quality cattle with several selling over £3/kg, topping at 332p/kg on steers and 384p/ kg for heifers, and there best young cattle (400-440kg) would probably have averaged 250p/ kg. ORGANIC STORE CATTLE: Although a limited entry, we still have an abundance of buyers and it is clear that the demand for organic store cattle far outweighs the supply. All those on offer were well in excess of £2.00p/kg topping at £980 for a 420kg Welsh Black steer, while heifers topped at £830 for 375kg types. BREEDING SECTION: Every heifer that was suitable for breeding and caught the eye enjoyed a marked premium. We had heifers up to £1,370 and £1,330. CULL COWS & BULLS: There is no easing in the trade and cows topped at £1,670 for a tremendous cow from J Evans & Son, Ffostyll. The overall average was a record at £1,031 for every cow on the yard and 153p/kg.

BRECON AUGUST 31

YEARLING EWES (1941): Topping at £139 for a pen of Texel X mules from DG Dobbs, Chestnut Cottage, with his second pen making £138, which would be up on last year. The usual consignment from EG & IA Williams, Upper Talwen, topped at £135, with his second pen getting away at £133. AGED EWES (34): Topping at £92 was John and Bev Batt from Abergavenny. With the aged ewes, all averaged £78, with them all being four-year-olds.

WHITLAND AUGUST 29

CALVES (113): Over 100 calves forward and yet another strong trade provided by the Whitland array of buyers around the calf ring week in, week out. Top price of the day was £420 for a Hereford bull calf from James Bros, Duckspool, who also topped the heifer prices at £380. Seventeen British Friesian bull calves averaged as much as £103/head, with a high of £178 from James, Sycamore. Black and White bulls average £72 throughout. FAT LAMBS (239): Similar numbers on the week and a jump in the right direction in trade, with the overall average back up over 180ppk. CULL EWES (141): An increased entry once more, with the better-meated ewes selling better but a similar trade on average. Top price was £87 from Jones, Penylan, Ferryside, and the average throughout was £55.

MONMOUTHSHIRE AUGUST 30

NEW SEASON’S LAMBS: A large entry of 1,979 to a terrific trade and rapid clearance which saw evenly drawn quality lambs 35kg-45kg generally over 210 pence. All buyers very active ahead of the forthcoming festival and ram lambs in demand resulted in standard and medium weight ranges levelling in excess of £2, and with lightweights also much improved an SQQ of 199.89p/kg. CULL SHEEP: 614 cull sheep sold to a fast trade, strength and meat was in plenty of demand. Plainer ewes harder to sell. Texels from GW & FM Jones topped the sale at £115, Suffolks from SD & JR Jones to £114 and £104 for DO & JJO Stephens. REARING CALVES: A good entry in numerical terms, with 79 young calves forward, however 50 of these were dairy bulls, as the autumn calving period gets in to swing. The influx of dairy bulls apparent across the county is overwhelming, and the abattoirs and prices have fallen as they struggle to manage throughput. Only one Hol. Friesian bull over £100 this week, selling at £115 for Price & Co Farming Ltd. The best were generally £80-£100, middling sorts £50-£75, but smaller calves harder to place with a good many £25-£40. STRONG CALVES: Seven forward, all well sold. Five-month Simmental bull £490; five-month Simmental heifer £400; four-month Hereford steer £395; three-month Blue bull £520; four-month Blue heifer £550. BREEDING CATTLE: Seven outfits forward today, with top selling at £1,440 for a Hereford cow and Hereford heifer calf from CT & GT Williams, Deri, others from the same home selling at £1,410, £1,400 and £1,360. A Hereford heifer ‘running with the bull’ from CJO Jones, Govilon, made £885, and a 15-month-old Hereford Bull from Dudley Bros sold at £840. STIRKS/YOUNG STORES: A seven-month-old Limousin heifer from ML Thomas, Clydach, sold at £670. STORE CATTLE: A reduced entry of 177 store cattle forward, selling to a fast trade across the board. The entry lacked the power and flesh compared to recent weeks, yet prices would be extremely comparable. Very few strong feeding steers present, Limousin crosses from MT & DR Watkins, Llantilio Pertholey, sold to £1,210 (630kg-19m), with Charolais to £1,160 (510kg- 16m) from the same home. Hereford cross steers sold to £1,155 (555kg-23m) for D & EM Thomas & Son, St Mary Church. Aberdeen Angus sired steers continue to sell to a fast trade and peaked at £1,095 (495kg-11m) from D & AJ Jones, Llandewi Skirrid. CULL CATTLE: 34 culls to another excellent trade, with competitive bidding throughout. Grade 1 Beef and Dairy again averaging in excess of £1,000. Limousins to £1,190 from ML Thomas and £1,080 from HA Williams & Sons. Charolais to £1,100 from J & HL Hudd. Hereford to £1,065 from CA, PA & A Ellaway. Welsh Blacks to £965 from J Carlisle; Friesians to £1,135 from RJ & DL Morgan & Sons and £1,090 from J Thomas.