Blackface peak at £17,000
Blackface peak at £17,000
SCOTTISH Blackface breeders paid a top price of £17,000 and levelled 104 shearling rams at £1694 and 66 ram lambs at £2124 at a video sale at Lanark.
Making the days biggest investment were top breeders Messrs Wight of Midlock, Biggar, Lanarkshire, who were buying back some of their most successful lines in a tup consigned by Tom Renwick, Galashiels.
The £17,000 shearling was by an £11,000 Midlock ram and out of a ewe by a £6500 Midlock ram.
A ram by a Connachan Loan sire and out of an Allanfauld-bred ewe from the flock of Billy Renwick, Selkirk, realised £8000 to Willie Dunlop, Ledburn, Peebleshire.
John Wight and Sons, Crawford-by-Biggar, sold a ram at £7000. It was by a Troloss sire and taken in a two-way deal by W Carruthers, Otterburn, Northumberland, and Robin Bell, Hawick.
Mr Renwick sold another Troloss sired shearling at £7000 to J and J MacPherson, Dalmally, Argyll, while Troloss Farms, Elvanfoot, Biggar, took £5500 for a shearling out of a ewe by a £28,000 Kilbride ram. Buyer was Jim Sharp, Lauder, Berwickshire.
Best trade for ram lambs came for an entry from Hugh Blackwood, Cumnock, Ayrshire. It was by a £20,000 Glenrath ram and out of a ewe by a £30,000 Elmscleugh sire. The joint buyers at £12,000 were Mr Dunlop, Alistair McArthur (Biggar) and Mr Dixon (Lochgilphead).
Other high priced lambs included a £9000 call from David Marshall, Biggar, to secure an entry by a £10,000 Dalchrila ram consigned by Mr Dunlop.
The Midlock entries included one at £8200 taken by David Henderson, Elvanfoot; another at £8000 to Tom Renwick, Galashiels; and a third at £6500 to Ian Hunter (Dalchrila) and J Beannie and Son (Stirling).
Most breeders report a good autumn trade for commercial rams sold in private deals.
Auctioneer Brian Ross said: "There was no commercial trade because commercial rams have already been traded privately.
"But there was a good demand from pedigree breeders buying new stock rams. Flock owners are committed to the future and have to keep going forward with investments in breeding stock. Sitting back and doing nothing is not an option for them." *