Strong sheep and cattle trade at Newark

Strong sheep and cattle trade at Newark auction on Saturday (21 March) saw a quality batch of suckled calves from Stuart and Debbie Baldwin, Wigan sell to £2,000 for a British Blue x Limousin heifer, while steers from the same home sold to £1,700, with 107 averaging £1,059.07.

Auctioneer Paul Gentry says buyers were eager to secure top quality calves for finishing and breeding.
Other highlights of the cattle trade included Limousin cross cows and calves selling to £2,600 for P R Fielden, Suffolk, and a pure British Blue heifer from Mike Scott, Newark, at £2,000.

Newark’s sheep pens were full to capacity, with 3,743 prime hoggets and 1,325 cull ewes penned on a day which saw hogget trade reach 249p/kg and the SQQ settle at 210.02p/kg and the overall average finishing the day at 202p/kg.

Hogget prices rose again on the week, while an increased entry of cull ewes and rams met a similar trade to the previous week, despite nearly 50% as many more being forward, reports Mr Gentry.

In the cull ewes the top call of £168/head was achieved by IPG Farms, while the 1325 forward levelled at £108.43/head
(Newark)