Archive Article: 1997/12/26
After a year of doom and
gloom, we thought you
might like a laugh for
Christmas. So weve
collected together a few of
the more bizarre pictures our
photographers have,
inadvertently, snapped at
markets and sales this year.
Proof that, contrary to
popular belief, the camera
does sometimes lie.
Hopefully you, like the
people featured, will see
the funny side…
Rounding up cattle can sometimes be a handful but outnumbering them six-to-one is, surely, a little bit over the top. This animal was among those sold at Marlock Farm, Gunthorpe in June, where the top price was £1500 for a Belgian Blue fifth-calver with her eight-week-old steer calf.
The new cattle passports have to be kept somewhere, admittedly…
Whats this, a flying flock… Welsh Halfbreds were up for grabs at the Ruthin sale in early September. The event saw yearling ewes average £80.67.
Hows that! Apparently heaven sent, this sheep was among those making an appearance at an offering at Ingham Showground, Suffolk in October. The day saw average prices of £39.52 for lambs and £61.60 for shearling ewes.
This one gets in for sheer bravery. Nearly November and, at a time when most people are dusting off the scarves and balaclavas, we discovered someone still in shorts. The event was a sheep flock dispersal in Gloucestershire, where in-lamb ewes were particularly sought after. Four-tooth Suffolk cross ewes made to £88.50.
It was this big. No, not a fishy story from cattle judge Eric Schofield at Chelfords Christmas primestock show and sale, but, it seems, an integral part of the judging process. He found his champion in a 605kg Belgian Blue cross Limousin steer which made 155p/kg.
Graffiti artists target pigs… sadly, however, its been a year when the writing has been on the wall, rather than the stock, for producers. Pigs go up and pigs go down, so the saying goes, and this year theyve certainly gone down. By early December, spot prices were about 63p/kg, compared with 97p/kg 12 months before.
Arise… a knighting ceremony apparently under way in East Anglia. More likely, its one of the September sale-goers at Hill Farm, Papworth, taking the weight off his feet for a moment or two. Auctioneers report a busy autumn for machinery dispersals. At this one, the highest bid was £50,000 for a K-reg New Holland TX36 combine.