THE 3,747 prime sheep penned for sale at Skipton Auction Mart’s latest weekly Monday sale comprised 3,274 prime and lightweight hoggs, along with 473 cast ewes and rams. Numbers showed the anticipated seasonal increase with sheep from root crop feeders now coming on stream and available for sale, especially from vendors from the east of the country, with several wagons arriving from Norfolk, Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, South Yorkshire and the Vale of York, supplemented by regular consignments from Cheshire, Lancashire and northern vendors. Handy-weighted sheep were good to sell as expected, while quality runs of fed mediums were in high demand. Heavies were also good to sell, although commercial mediums and heavies were probably a shade less on price, while the smart end were not up to the recent extreme high rates seen in previous weeks, with 350p-380p/kg the mark for the best end.
SILSDEN Moor’s Ken and Lynne Throup, of Woofa Bank Farm, won the hill bred lambs supreme championship with their first prize North of England Mules at Skipton Auction Mart’s annual Christmas show. (Mon, Dec 14) The Throups clinched the title with a trio of 56kg wether lambs by tups bred by their daughter and son-in-law, Rachael and Ashley Caton, whose own local Otterburn Lodge flock has itself claimed multiple North of England Mule Sheep Association ewe lamb championships at Skipton’s annual September highlights. The Throups, who have been breeding prize-winning Mules at Woofa Bank for the past 44 years – with their sons Ian and Martin they also run a large commercial dairy herd - saw their festive hill lamb title winners first receive the Anthony Dean Perpetual Challenge Trophy for the best pen on the day, presented in memory of the former Craven Cattle Marts chairman from Threshfield.