Buyers ‘desperate search’ for livestock

The NBA said: “Last week many large companies instructed buyers to ignore list prices and pay ‘whatever is necessary’ to fill their lairages. This resulted in competing companies offering up to 5p a kilo more than had been agreed just a weekend earlier.”

NBA director, Kim Haywood said: “The market is so hot there is a real risk of feeders underselling their stock because ex-farm prices are galloping ahead of the list price figure.”

She advised farmers to take advantage of record prices for cull cows and comb their herds free of poor animals, while holding on for even better prices for prime stock.

Harrison & Hetherington reported £1185 for an 11-year-old Charolais-X at a cast cow sale at Kirkby Stephen this Monday, and an overall average 124.05p/kg.

Bagshaws at Bakewell reported “remarkable highlights” the same day, with OTMs (Over Thirty Months) averaging 121.2p and going to 172p and £1,334.

Auctioneer Oliver Hiles said: “Trade was incredible, with the best beef cows regularly over 140p; second quality sorts over 130p; and grazers anywhere from 110p to 130p. We had 103 black & white & ex-dairy cows averaging 114.8p – including a good deal of very plain and hard-worked cows.”

Sheep prices were also outstanding at the big opening seasonal highlight for Mule ewe lambs at Skipton Auction Mart on Tuesday.

Overall average selling price of 6,235 gimmer lambs presented by members of the North of England Mule Sheep Association was £120.51 per head, almost £29 per head higher than the corresponding fixture last year, which was itself £20 a head up on 2009.

Prices peaked at £245 per head and 26 pens sold at £150 each or more.

General trade for tupping lambs was £130 to £150, medium lambs £120 to £130 and running lambs £108 to £120.

A big sale at Kirkby Stephen on the same day saw Beltex prime lambs topping at £92.80. Cast ewes topped at £121.50 for Suffolks. Store lambs topped at £65 for a pen of Beltex-X.

At the September prime lambs sale in Skipton on Monday, five 47-kg Texel-cross lambs from John and Alison North, of Fenwick, Doncaster, got £116 a head from butcher Richard Binns of Saltaire. And overall selling average for Spring lambs was £71.75 per head, or 171.17p/kg.

In the monthly prime cattle show, James Middleton, of Arncliffe, sold a Limousin-cross bullock for £1,280, or 227.5p/kg. Prime heifers averaged 161.6p/kg and prime steers 176.9p/kg.