Buyers role

10 October 1997

Buyers role

BUYERS must play their part in the effort to keep lambs clean. Longtown Auction Mart in Cumbria is urging buyers to load lambs as soon as possible and avoid them standing in the pens after sale.

Auctioneer Haig Murray said the market had just completed new covered lairage – 20% of sheep will now be penned under cover – and pens were being littered with sawdust.

There were 12,000 prime lambs through Longtown market last week. The mid-winter throughout includes many root-fed lambs.

"Giving lambs on roots a lie-back area on grass will help and clipping out the belly wool may be worth considering. If a pen contains one or two dirty lambs buyers will ask for them to be taken out."