Young cattle prices at Skipton top £640

Another successful Saturday sale of 112 head of young cattle at Skipton Auction Mart saw prices peak at £640 for a Limousin heifer, with a breed average of £514.

 

Weekend collective sales of cattle, sheep and goats have been growing in both stature and popularity throughout 2013, with heifers to the fore at the latest fixture, the last of the year.

 

British Blues sold to £560, with a breed average of £496, while a nice run of ten 12-14 month-old Aberdeen Angus-cross heifers sold to £520, averaging £490 a head. Simmental heifers sold to £470, Charolais to £430 and Hereford to £325.

 

Black and white stirks sold to a high of £620, while the pick of the bulls was a nine month-old South Devon-cross at £600.

 

There was also strong demand for feeding cows, which sold to £440 for a Guernsey, followed by a Limousin at £410 and a Highland at £400. British Blue and Shorthorn prices both peaked at £350. Saturday collective sales resume in the New Year on January 18.

 

At Skipton, on Monday, the 3,267 prime sheep forward met a very similar trade on the week for most classes, with butchers, wholesalers and exporters all competing strongly for the smarter end of the 2,938 prime lambs entered, with several pens achieving three-figure prices, producing an overall selling average of £73.10 a head, or 170.46p/kg.

 

Cast ewes met with a much sharper trade to average £56.32 a head, while cast rams also sold well to average £82.14 each.

 

In the last full week of trading, cast cattle made up the majority of the 42-strong entry in the weekly prime cattle sale, with cull cows selling to an overall average just shy of £677 a head, or 105.43p/kg.

 

Vendors are asked to note that there is likely to be considerable demand on Monday, December 30, as processors look to secure supplies for the New Year. Skipton’s 2014 monthly prime show season begins on Monday, January 6.

 

CCM Auctions