Taking Stock

It was third time lucky for the Beltex Sheep Society when their premier sale finally went ahead at Carlisle last week having been twice postponed due to foot and mouth restrictions. A depleted catalogue and a larger than usual number of substitutes showed many breeders had decided not to gamble on the resumption of sales and had been buying and selling privately.

The main talking point of the day was provided by the Aberdeenshire-based partnership of Andrew Goodge and Fiona Sommerville, Hillbrae Farm, Newmachar who bought seven of the day's top-priced lots for their new flock.

The couple are proprietors of RS Occupational Health, a leading health service provider to the off-shore oil and gas industry and businesses in Scotland. The partnership paid the day's top price of 2000gns for Brickrow Kermit, a Cookstown Hamish son out of a homebred ewe, consigned by Beltex Scotland club chairman John Cowan, Auchincruive, Ayr.

An embryo daughter of the breed’s record priced female purchased in 2002 from Gavin Shanks’ flock at Lanark achieved the top price of 2050gns at the Beltex Sheep Society’s in-lamb female sale at Carlisle.

Taking the championship on the day for James McGarva who runs the Horseclose flock at Annan, the gimmer is by Cookstown Hamish and stood fifth in a strong class at this year’s Royal Highland Show.

She was in-lamb to the ram that won the ram lamb class at Ingliston this year for the Horseclose flock. Buyer was Kevin Armistead, Dalton-in-Furness, Cumbria.

A pair of 41kg Beltex lambs from Jim Baines, of Trawden, Colne, was the pick of the crop at the March Spring lambs show at Skipton Auction Mart.

Judged champions by Mick Etherington, of Stuart Price Butchers, Crossflatts, they went on to make a healthy £168/head when knocked down to Paul Watson, of Hellifield.

Paul also secured the second prize pen of 43kg Texel-cross lambs from Mark Evans, Steeton, at £84 each, while the third prize pen from S Pepper, of Oxenhope, sold for £80 each to another mart regular Andrew Atkinson, of Kettlesing, Harrogate.

Over 1000 hoggs and 223 ewes passed through the ring on a busy day at the mart, with an overall average price of 119.9p/kg achieved.