Prime lambs make the grade at Christmas sale in Stirling as first prize pen sells at £180
CALEDONIAN Marts Ltd sold 1,998 prime lambs, ewes and tups at its Christmas Show and Sale of prime lambs at Stirling this week.
Show judge Mr Steven Brown, of R Brown & Son, awarded the champion’s rosette to first prize pen of Beltex lambs weighing 47.6kg and bought by the judge for £180. First prize Texel & Reserve Champion was a pen of 54kg Lambs which sold for £112.
Twenty-five pens of show lambs (Texel & Beltex) averaged 224p/kg selling to a top of 378p for the champion pen.
Overall sale average for 1,551 sold was 184p (-11p on the week, +4p on the year).
The 447 cast sheep were notably dearer on the week. Heavy ewes averaged £93.61 selling to £153 for three Beltex ewes, while light ewes averaged £60.72 selling to £84 for Cheviots.
Messrs Craig Wilson sold 19 prime heifers at Ayr yesterday to a top of £1,327 and 235p/kg for two different Limousins to average £1,184 or 213p overall. Eight, beef-bred bullocks peaked at £1,327 and 225p for the same Limousin to average 188p or £1093. Three Friesian bullocks sold to £1,063 or 154p to average £897 or 144p. Overage young bulls sold to £1,209 for a Simmental and 159p for an Aberdeen Angus.
In the rough ring 32 cast beef cows averaged 118p and peaked at £1,090 for a Simmental or 155p for a Limousin, while 58 cast dairy cows averaged 85p and sold to £790 for a Friesian or 106p for a different Friesian. Three cast bulls averaged 98p and were topped at £1,040 and 122p for a Limousin. Six clean OTM cattle averaged 134p and sold to £930 for a Hereford heifer or 155p for a Limousin Heifer.
Seven dairy cattle sold to £1,800 on two occasions for Holstein Friesian heifers.
The firm also had 30 pens of prime lambs entered for its Annual Christmas Show and Sale at Newton Stewart yesterday.
The champion’s ticket was awarded to a pen of three Beltex lambs that weighed in at 49kg and later sold to the judge for £150 per head. Reserve champions were Texel lambs at 53kg that sold for £120.
Outwith the show, 1,592 lambs sold to a top of £97 for heavyweight Suffolks and averaged 185.5p overall (- 8.9p). Lightweight Texels topped the sale per kilo at 212p/kg.
In the cast sheep section hill type ewes and leaner sorts were similar to last week’s trade whereas all other classes saw a rise in price. Topping the ewes at £118 were Charolais crosses. Mules sold to £79, while Cheviots peaked at £75.50 and Blackfaces reached £65.50 for 28.