Ruthin primestock sale - February 18

RUTHIN Farmers' Auction reports sales of 1,845 prime hoggets to 302ppk / £136; 301 cull ewes and rams to £142 and six prime heifers to 240.5ppk / £1178.45.

Hoggets (auctioneer: Elfor Morris):

An entry of 1,845 hoggs met a fantastic trade, with an overall average of 248ppk.

Vendors from as far afield as Cardiganshire hit the top price per head of £136 for a pen of super Texel x tup lambs.

Denbighshire vendors hit the top price per kilo at 302ppk, with over 1,300 of the 1845 entered in the sale yard averaging £108.53!

Top priced:

Lights: T A Roberts, Fach Gau 279.4ppk and £88 by the same vendor.

Standard: H J & F J Williams, Maes Gadfa 290.9ppk and £112 by the same vendor.

Medium: G W & D M Owen, Noddfa 302.5ppk and M H Owens, Glantre £129.

Heavy: M H Owens, Glantre 280ppk and £135 by the same vendor.

Contact Elfor Morris to discuss or just take your lambs to the auction anytime between 6am and 10am.

Lambs are also required on Fridays.

Light to 279.4, Average 226.4; Standard to 290.9, Average 248.4; Medium to 302.5, Average 248.9; Heavy to 280.9, Average 239.5; Overall Average 244.9; SQQ 248.

Cull ewes and rams (auctioneer: Paul Roberts):

Top priced: M E Jones, Crud yr Awel £142.

A seasonal entry of 301 ewes and rams were forward, resulting in an overall average of £60.37.

Welsh ewes to £65; Cheviot ewes to £80; Texel ewes to £128; Texel rams to £142; Mule ewes to £90; Charollais ewes to £100.

More ewes are required on Fridays.

Prime cattle (auctioneer: Glyn Owens):

Prime heifers:

Top priced: T Edwards, Brithdir with a Lim heifer weighing 490kg achieving £240.5ppk / £1178.45.

St Asaph livestock market - February 13

OLD season lambs (2,013):

A good show of hoggs forward met with a decent trade, with all types selling to a premium.

Top price Light - 250p/kg shown by P S Thomas, Dolgynfydd and £75/head shown by the same vendor.

Top price Standard 319p/kg shown by H Davies, Pendared and £118/head shown by the same vendor.

Top price Medium 305p/kg shown by O T & H C Williams, Hendre Blaenau and £128/head shown by the same vendors.

Top price Heavy 265p/kg shown by M Williams & Son, Criccin and £128/head shown by the same vendors.

Top price Overweight 247p/kg shown by D M Lloyd, Penybryn and £247/head shown by the same vendor; SQQ 242.35.

Super Light ave 227.27p/kg to £50.00/hd; Light ave 226.94p/kg to 250.00p/kg to £75.00/hd; Standard ave 237.89p/kg to 319.00p/kg to £118.00/hd; Medium ave 246.33p/kg to 305.00p/kg to £128.00/hd; Heavy ave 234.47p/kg to 265.00p/kg to £128.00/hd; Overweight ave 221.27p/kg to 247.00p/kg to £139.00/hd.

Cull ewes and rams (420):

A few less ewes forward were a lot sharper trade, with the best Texel ewes selling to £148/head, Welsh ewes to £55/head, mule ewes to £100/head and tups to £108/head.

Ewes to £148.00, ave £75.35; Rams to £108.00, ave £72.68.

Beef cattle (5):

Steers from Robin Jones, Cae Isa sold to 175p/kg.

Steers (5): Heavy ave 167.11p/kg to 175.00p/kg to £1,137.50/hd.

Fodder beet:

2 x 12 tonnes of fodder beet sold to £28/tonne.

Mold primestock sale - February 17

A PLEASING number of beef cattle forward met a brisk trade, which was improved on the previous week.

Cull cows continued to sell at blistering rates with 10 buyers around the ring.

Lambs and ewes were also a fast trade.

Highlights: Top 10 Beef 226.40 (1440.27); Top 20 Beef 222.15 (1403.83).

Prime cattle (140 entries - 61 hfrs, 67 strs, 12 bulls):

Heifers (under 30m): Heavy Continental Heifers to 220 (1410.75), Av 198.50; Medium Continental Heifers to 221, Av 196.03; Light Continental Heifers to 213, Av 192; Heavy Native Heifers to 181, Av 173.67; Medium Native Heifers to 191, Av 175.50; Heavy Friesian Heifers to 150, Av 148; Medium Friesian Heifers to 142, Av 142.

Steers (under 30m): Heavy Continental Steers to 220 (1487.30), Av 198.63; Medium Continental Steers to 233 (1479.55), Av 212.18; Light Continental Steers to 207, Av 182.60; Heavy Native Steers to 184 (1278.80), Av 182.33; Medium Native Steers to 176, Av 176; Light Native Steer to 178, Av 174; Heavy Friesian Steers to 169 (1174.55), Av 154.50; Medium Friesian Steers to 170, Av 156.10; Light Friesian Steers to 121, Av 121.

Bulls (under 30m): Heavy Continental Bulls 220 (1529), Av 220; Medium Continental Bulls to 220, Av 220; Medium Native Bulls to 170, Av 167; Heavy Friesian Bulls to 165 (1080.75) Av 165; Medium Friesian Bulls to 157, Av 157; Light Friesian Bulls to 138, Av 127.67.

Heifers (30-36m): Heavy Continental Heifers to 196, Av 185.50; Medium Continental Heifers to 196, Av 178; Heavy Native Heifers to 170, Av 170; Medium Native Heifers to 165, Av 160; Medium Friesian Heifers to 130, Av 130.

Steers (30-36m): Heavy Continental Steers to 161, Av 161; Medium Continental Steers to 209, Av 192.33; Light Continental Steers to 160, Av 160; Medium Native Steers to 164, Av 164; Heavy Friesian Steers to 150 (1102.50), Av 149; Medium Friesian Steers to 166, Av 164.

Steers (over 36m): Heavy Continental Steers to 147, Av 147.

Cull cows (71 entries - 48 dairy, 23 beef):

Young St cow to 170 (1054); Young AA Cow to 155 (837); Aged BB Cow to 169 (1453.40); Aged Lim cow to 169, 166, 165, 162 etc (1453.40); Aged Char Cow to 153 (1453.50); Aged AA cow to 139 (1150.80); Top 10 Beef Cows Av 161.50 (1198.41); Top 20 Beef Cows Av 146.95 (1071.51); Overall beef cow av 136.50; Young HF cows to 141 (951.75); HF cow to 128, 125 (1031.25), (1011.12); BF cow to 124 (867.15); SRW to 124 (874.20); Top 10 Dairy cows Av 124.10 (896.07); Top 20 Dairy cows Av 118.40 (815.97); Overall dairy cow av 110.20.

Cull bulls (3 entries): AA to 140 (1183); Char to 124 (1401.20); BG to 112.

Lambs (206 entries): Standard to 245, Av 231.50; Medium to 242, Av 230.10; Heavy to 238, Av 219.40; Sqq 229.20.

Ewes (42 entries): Ewes to 112, Av 61.71.

Llanrwst Fairday sale - February 12

AN entry of 349 store cattle was forward in the monthly sale, with a packed ringside of buyers from all over North Wales and England ensuring a cracking trade throughout, with heifers to £1,290 and bullocks to £1,340.

Heifers (149):

AA hfrs – 16m to £700, 20m to £1000; Chx hfrs – 8m to £700, 12m to £900, 18m to £1100, 20m to £1155; Herx hfrs – 15m to £785; Limx hfrs – 8m to £740, 12m to £1000, 18m to £1200, 20m to £1290; BB hfrs – 15m to £900, 18m to £1160; Simx hfrs – 18m to £900; Bullocks – 200; AA – 16m to £960, 20m to £1100; Chx – 8m to £755, 12m to £1000, 15m to £1100, 18m to £1150, 20m to £1175; Limx – 8m to £750, 12m to £1000, 15m to £1190, 18m to £1280, 20m to £1340; Herx – 12m to £620, 18m to £900; Salx – 18m to £880, 20m to £940; BB – 15m to £900, 20m to £1100, 22m to £1235; Simx – 24m to £900.

Highest priced:

Heifers – J E Jones, Pennant Canol, Llanddoged, Llanrwst.

Bullocks – H Williams a'i Gwmni, Dolau, Llangernyw, Abergele.

Bryncir fatstock sale - February 19

ENTRIES forward included 285 hoggets, 190 cull ewes and 13 cull cows.

All sections saw an excellent trade.

Best lambs to 268.2p/kg for smart Texel lambs from R W Evans, Ty Mawr, Rhoshirwaen.

The top price overall was £130.00 for Texels from G M Fish, Deuglawdd.

Cull ewes were exceptionally brisk with the best to £154 for Texels from D T Jones, Bryn Rhydd, Edern.

Best mules from £95 to £103 and rams to £119.

Cull cows saw a very strong demand, peaking at 149p/kg for a Limousin from G P Williams, Llwyn Ffynnon.

Holsteins sold to 125p and £1,000 from Gwynfryn Farms, Pwllheli.

Lambs:

Average 240.3p/kg; Light to 251.3p Ave 223.8p; Standard to 267.6p Ave 249.3p; Medium to 268.2p Ave 249.1p; Heavy to 252.2p Ave 238.1p

Ewes:

Average £75.50; Texel to £154; Suff to £129; Other X bred £128; Mule £103; Welsh to £75; Rams £119.

Cull cows:

P/Kilo - Lim to 149p, B/B to 138p, Char 126p, Fries £125p, MRI 116p, Mont 115p, W Black 96p, W Black Bulls 107p.

Overall - B/B £1,062.60, Fries £1,000, Lim £923.80, Mont £879.75, MRI £806.20, W/B Bull £1,251.90.

Rhayader store cattle sale - February 12

THERE was another good entry of store cattle in terms of both numbers and quality, attracting a larger number of buyers which resulted in strong competitive bidding on all weights, breeds and grades of cattle.

All of this resulted in very pleasing average prices being reached, as 211.5ppkg for steers and 193.1ppkg for heifers were seen, with the overall average being 200.7pkg.

Best trade was for the younger small cattle, with the highlight being the run of Charolais steers (10-12 months old) from Messrs Watkins, Pantglas Farm which topped at 242ppkg (380kg), with others at 233ppkg and 230ppkg. This was followed by 226ppkg for a 440kg Charolais steer from Messrs Pugh, Parc Farm.

Well shaped heifers found a strong demand selling up to a top of 226ppkg (420kg British Blue) from Messrs Powell, Graig Goch.

Stronger, heavier cattle also sold to a good competitive bidding and continue to look well sold compared to current beef prices.

The first steer through the ring topped the day at £1,150 for a 15 month old 580kg Limousin from Messrs Davies, Llanfechan, with the last heifer of the day making the highest price of £1,135 for a 19 month, 560kg Charolais from Messrs Watkins, Pantglas Farm.

Trade remained strong from start to finish.

Top price per head (steers):

Limousin 15 mo 580kg £1150 G Davies & Co, Llanfechan; Limousin 16 mo 540kg £1085 G Davies & Co, Llanfechan; Limousin 16 mo 530kg £1070 G Davies & Co, Llanfechan; Limousin 21 mo 500kg £1050 G Davies & Co, Llanfechan; Charolais 11 mo 510kg £1045 VB & H Davies, Brynieuau Farm.

Top price per head (heifers):

Charolais 19 mo 560kg £1135 ID Watkins & Son, Pantglas; Limousin 16 mo 500kg £1095 JW Bufton & Son, Old Castle; Charolais 16 mo 530kg £1085 JW Rees & Son, Nantyhendy; Limousin & Salers 16 mo 500kg £1045 G Davies & Co, Llanfechan; Charolais 490kg 15 mo 490kg £1045 JW Rees & Son, Nantyhendy.

Top price pence per kilo (steers):

Charolais 10 mo 380kg 242ppkg ID Watkins & Son, Pantglas; Charolais 9 mo 395kg 233ppkg ID Watkins & Son, Pantglas; Charolais 10 mo 430kg 230ppkg ID Watkins & Son, Pantglas; Charolais 12 mo 440kg 226ppkg WET & JA Pugh, Parc Farm; Charolais 12 mo 430kg 224ppkg WET & JA Pugh, Parc Farm; Charolais 10 mo 380kg 224ppkg ID Watkins & Son, Pantglas.

Top price pence per kilo (heifers):

British Blue 19 mo 420kg 226ppkg GDA & AR Powell, Graig Goch; Charolais 16 mo 350kg 220ppkg S & GL Jones, Cilmerry Farm; Limousin 16 mo 500kg 219ppkg JW Bufton & Son, Old Castle; Limousin 18 mo 410kg 215ppkg JRM & HH Jones, Brynafon; Charolais 15 mo 490kg 213ppkg JW Rees & Son, Nantyhendy.

Ruthin primestock sale - February 14

RUTHIN Farmers' Auction reports sales of 436 hoggets and 515 ewes.

Prime hoggets (auctioneer: Rich Lloyd):

There was a reduced entry of 436 prime hoggets to an overall SQQ of 238ppk.

An exceptional trade on all types of hoggets.

Top priced:

60kg to £120 from I H Jones, Tai’n Waen; 57kg to £118 from R Davies & Son, Pen Aled; 48kg to £117.50 from R G Ingman, Tryddyn Fechan.

Top priced per kilo:

44kg at 2.63ppk by L Williams & Son, Hendre.

38kg at 263ppk by L Williams & Son, Hendre.

38kg at 2605ppk by M Raw, Lletty.

Again, there was a large percentage of Welsh lambs.

More hoggets are required weekly to meet demand.

Cull ewes (auctioneer: Paul Roberts):

A total of 515 ewes and rams were forward, with an overall average of £63.85.

There was a full house of cull ewes, with a larger proportion of grazing ewes present.

Trade was extremely brisk, with a Charolais ewe from M Jones, Ffrith topping the auction at £157.

The top price for a pen of Texel ewes went to E Y Davies, Prion Ucha at £150, followed closely by D E Evans, Ty Mawr at £148.

Top price Welsh mountain ewes of £61 shown by J G Jones, Gallt y Rhiw, Tal y Bont. Welsh ewes to £71.

Texel Ewes to £150, Rams to £136; Charolais ewes to £157, Rams to £125; Welsh ewes to £61, Rams to £70; Mule ewes to £92; Blueface rams to £119.

St Asaph livestock market - February 15

OLD season store lambs (310):

There was a very fast trade on store lambs, with all sorts in great demand. Top price £90/head from J Payne, Bodelfyw.

Super Super Light ave 125.00p/kg to £25.00/hd; Super Light ave 224.09p/kg to 249.00p/kg to £58.50/hd; Light ave 247.54p/kg to 264.00p/kg to £77.00/hd; Standard ave 237.76p/kg to 244.00p/kg to £80.50/hd; Medium ave 225.00p/kg to £90.00/hd.

Old ewes and rams (29):

Ewes to £80.00, ave £56.21; Rams to £78.00, ave £53.50.

In-lamb ewes (39):

4 Tooth Mule Ewes to £120/head; Full mouth Texel Ewes to £107/head.

Pet lambs (3):

Lambs to £7/head.

Store cattle (9):

Limousin Steers to £850/head; Charolais Steers to £900/head and Heifers to £890/head; Stabilizer Heifers to £890/head.

Mold sale - February 14

IT was another fantastic sale with 322 stores and stirks forward.

Cattle were still in very strong demand.

A pleasing show of 87 calves met good demand.

Only seven dairy during the week, although there remains good demand for cows and heifers.

Suckler cattle (6 entries):

Lim cow (5yo) with Lim bull calf to 1150; Lim cow (7yo) with Lim hfr calf to 1000.

Store cattle (210):

AA str to 1195; Lim str to 1080; BB str to 1045; CHAR str to 1000; HER str to 980; SIM str to 965; BB hfr to 1050; LIM hfr to 975; BAZ hfr to 945; CHAR hfr to 810; SIM hfr to 770; AA hfr to 770.

Stirks (112):

BSH str to 985; BA str to 720; CHAR str to 700; BF str to 585; LIM str to 580; SIM hfr to 860; LIM hfr to 770; CHAR hfr to 740; BB hfr to 685; HER hfr to 565.

Dairy cattle (7):

HF hfrs to 1700, 1650, 1620; Hf cow (2nd) to 1650.

Calves (87):

Lim bull to 415; BB bull to 285; BA bull to 270; BF bull to 220; CHAR bull to 195; HER bull to 188; DS bull to 140; Hf bull to 58; BB hfr to 170; LIM hfr to 165; Char hfr to 150; Her hfr to 148; AA hfr to 140.

Welshpool market - February 17

BARREN and cull cows (11):

A larger number of OTM cattle were on offer, seeing a top price of £1256.62 (166ppkg) for a Limousin x OTM cow weighing in at 757kg from MG & EW Evans, Lane Farm.

DR Owen & Sons, Sandilands made 157ppkg for a Limousin x weighing 766kg making £1202.62.

OTM bulls topped at 1439.60 (118kg) for a Aberdeen Angus bull weighing 1220kg from JT & GH Jones, Talerddig Farm.

Younger cows (48-72 months) topped at £1412.70 (170ppkg) for a Limousin x weighing 831kg from G Bound & Son, Cefn Bach.

MG & EW Evans, Lane Farm made 171ppkg for a Limousin x weighing 737kg making £1260.27.

Heifers under 48 months topped at £1068.76 (154ppkg) for a heifer weighing 694kg from DR Owen & Sons, Sandilands.

Averages of the day were as follows: OTM Cows (19) 123.67ppkg / £808.91; OTM Bull (2) 111.8ppkg / £1304.13; Cows 48-72 Months (6) 150.69ppkg / £1110.05; Heifers Under 48 months (1) 154ppkg / £1068.76; Steers Under 48 months (1) 137ppkg / £1064.49; Overall Average 129.63ppkg.

Prime hoggs (3,440):

An entry of 3,340 hoggs forward sold to return an average of 241.96ppkg, with a top price of 286ppkg for pen of hoggs weighing 40.5kg making £116 from Lythwood Farm, and £142/head for 80kg hoggs from JES Corfield, Woodgate.

A larger number of hoggets forward sold to another strong trade throughout, with competitive bidding on all weights and grades.

Again, the best quality, better shaped hoggs sold to a flying trade, selling up to 286ppkg and £142.

Heavyweight hoggs sold to a slightly improved trade especially the 55+ kilo hoggs with plenty of pens selling at £130 and above.

Supermarket weight hoggs(45-50 kilos) again found a strong trade at price levels far above the current deadweight price, as did the export weight hoggs (39-44 kilos), which continue to meet an excellent post-Brexit demand.

Very few lighter weight hoggs on offer, with these if anything being slightly dearer than the previous week, especially the better meated types. Still a few smaller lambs going back on farm as store lambs.

Overall, it was another tremendous trade from start to finish and vendors are encouraged to take advantage of this current demand and keep drawing well fleshed hoggs for sale.

Lights (254) to 260ppkg from Thomas Farming, Bryndraenog. Others to 250ppkg from Messrs Meredith, Lodge Farm and SH Lloyd & Sons, Penllan. Average of 210.79ppkg.

Standards (757) to 267ppkg from JA Gwalchmai, Minffordd. Others to 258ppkg from SH Lloyd & Sons, Penllan. Average of 239.18ppkg.

Mediums (1286) to 286ppkg from Lythwood Farm. Others to 270ppkg from Lythwood Farm. Average of 244.10ppkg.

Heavies (843) to 258ppkg from Geddes & Co, Camlad Cottage. Others to 253ppkg from JA Gwalchmai, Minfordd. Average of 237.48ppkg.

Cull ewes (1,679):

The week we saw an increased entry of 1,565 cull ewes that met a fantastic trade.

New buyers in attendance created fierce competition throughout.

These would be the dearest ewes seen for a few weeks, even though a terrific trade has been seen each week.

A large proportion of the entry being hill ewes once again returning a very pleasing overall market average of £75.60.

A total of 286 ewes sold for over £100 and a top price of £156 was achieved by RG & RE Jones, Pentre Farm for a pen of Texel ewes.

Plenty of the best mules sold for around the £100 mark and medium sized mules between £80 and £88.

Welsh ewes sold to £89 and plenty were between £70 and £80.

Welsh hill speckled faced ewes were to £86.50!

More ewes are needed each week to satisfy demand.

Meanwhile, 114 cull rams sold to £151 from A J Evans, Bryntirion and averaged £79.08.

Texel ewes to £156; Beltex ewes to £139; Charollais ewes to £139; Suffolk ewes to £130; Mule ewes to £110; Welsh ewes to £89; Speckled ewes to £86.50.

Store hoggs:

Less sheep about and the quality varied considerably as vendors come to the end of their selling season.

Theaves: Texels to £79 and £75.50; Speckles to £47 and Mules to £73.50, £67 and £64.50.

Mixed and clean: Speckles to £40; Mules to £66 and Welsh to £50.50.

Wethers: Texels to £79 and £64; Mules to £96 and Welsh to £97.

Tups: Texels to £100, £88 and £80; Suffolks to £80; Speckles to £69 twice;

Mules to £89, £77 and £72.50; Welsh to £75 and £69 three times and Beltex to £90.

Averages: Theaves - £66.88; Mixed & clean - £47.86; Wethers - £78.82; Tup lambs - £70.18; Overall - £62.23.

Cade Lambs sold to £26 four times and averaged £20.40.

In-lamb ewes:

Despite the horrendous weather conditions, an increased entry of in-lamb ewes was seen, which seemed to sell to a much improved trade.

Full mouth Welsh scanned carrying 8 singles and 2 twins sold to £70 from A Jones, Blaencwm, with yearling Welsh scanned at 183% from the same home to £100.

Mule yearlings scanned twins sold to £122 with full mouth speckles carrying twins to £79 both from A Roberts & Son, Dolau.

A part dispersal of 100 full mouth and as found Charollais x ewes from RI Owen & Co, Cwmffynnon scanned at 173% sold to £132 and averaged £120.60.

Another part dispersal of 69 full mouth Texel, Mule and Suffolk ewes from RJ Morris, Woodside Farm scanned 171% hit £136 and averaged £123.38.

Overall average £108.61.

Couples:

A few more couples on the ground, with some fantastic outfits selling to a terrific trade even with the effects of Storm Dennis taking its toll.

TM Davies sold Texel 4 year olds with twins to £270 and £250 and Suffolk ewes with twins to £250.

MM & R Morris sold 17 Texel full mouth and as found ewes with twins to £235

three times and singles to £160 three times, with his run averaging £76 a life.

Averages - £213.37 a unit or £76.99 a life.

Rhayader livestock sale - February 13

PRIME Hoggets (1392): SQQ 241.48ppkg; Overall 237.78ppkg.

Lights (72) average - 228.32ppkg. Sold to 244ppkg from CR & J Evans, Ciloerwynt or £78.20/head from the same vendor. Others to 240ppkg from AJ Rees, Berthabley.

Standards (168) average - 232.6ppkg. Sold to 274ppkg from AJ Rees, Berthabley or £100/head from the same vendor. Others to 246ppkg from CJ Thomas, Beili Ddol.

Mediums (613) average - 244.65ppkg. Sold to 288ppkg from AJ Rees, Berthabley or £124/head from the same vendor. Others to 267ppkg from AAT Pugh, Bwlchmawr.

Heavies (406) average - 237.3ppkg. Sold to 250ppkg from I Williams, Sinclairs or £124/head from the same vendor. Others to 249ppkg from CJ Thomas, Beili Ddol.

Cull Ewes (127):

Ewes average - £66.02 sold to £98/head; Texel x ewes to £98 from E Mills, Esgair Rhiw Farm; Welsh ewes to £96.50 from KA Hughson & Partners, Tymawr; Mule ewes to £85 from E Mills, Esgair Rhiw Farm.

Rams average - £73.33 and sold to £80 from KA Hughson & Partners, Tymawr.

There was a tremendous trade and entry in both sections once again!