BOTH numbers and trade were again solid at Skipton Auction Mart’s latest fortnightly Wednesday midweek cattle sale, the 707 head on parade comprising 668 feeding and 39 breeding cattle. (Wed, March 3) Trade was very strong for the 164 young feeding bulls, which averaged £1,050 overall, up £110 per head on last year’s corresponding sale, with prices said to be driven by lighter number of suckler-bred animals because of the continuing reduction in numbers of beef breeding cattle. Bulls under 12 months averaged £1,057, with those at one-year-old and over, most February, 2020-born calves, averaging £1,093. At less that 400kg most of the smaller bulls still hit £1,000, given over to the fact that they finish towards the end of the season for Spring calves, attaining 16 months of age when both the market and factory prices improve.