SPRING lambs made their second appearance of the year at Skipton Auction Mart for the annual Easter highlight and yet again it was regular early season Charollais vendor Robert Towers who shone in the show area, winning all but one of the four classes, again clinching the supreme championship, and standing runner-up in the other. (Mon, April 3) Robert, who farms with his wife, Jackie, and daughter, Josie, at Greenlands Farm, Ingleton, claimed an unprecedented fifth consecutive Easter title with his first prize single home-bred 45kg Charollais-x-Beltex gimmer lamb by a tup acquired from local breeder Michael Hall, Airton, that was responsible for all the North Craven prize winners. The victor was first picked out, then claimed by show judge and multiple purchaser Anthony Swales for Knavesmire Butchers, York, at £195 top gross, 433p/kg.

Robert also won the both the single and pairs Down-x show classes, the former selling at £170, 369.6p/kg, again to Knavesmire, the latter at £160, 355.6p/kg, to Halifax meat wholesalers J&E Medcalf. His runners-up in the Continental-x pairs class made £160 per head, 421.6p/kg, going to A&D Meats, Rossendale, these finishing second to the reserve champion Continental-x duo, as in 2022 again presented by seasoned Charollais breeders Charles Marwood and family, who run the Foulrice flock in Whenby, York.

By a Dutch Texel ram that has already produced top price new season lambs at Skipton and elsewhere this year, the overall runners-up weighed in at 42kg and again sold to J&E Medcalf, at £188 each, 447.6p/kg top by-weight.

Charles also presented the third prize single Continental-x single lamb, sold at £175, 364.6p/kg, to Knavesmire, with his daughter Deborah Whitcher, who runs her own Galtres pedigree Charollais flock in nearby Skewsby, responsible for the second in class, a 41kg gimmer lamb by an Anglesey-bred tup that topped her run at £180, 439p/kg, again going to Knavesmire.

Deborah also stood third in the single Down-x class with a tup lamb away at £168, 280.7p/kg, to Lister Brown, Halifax, who also paid £152, 292.3p/kg, for the third prize winner from local Suffolk breeder Mark Evans, Steeton.

A tidy entry of 67 Spring lambs met a sharp trade, again proving in strong demand for the Easter market among both retail and wholesale butchers, selling to an overall average of £159.32 per head, 360.9p/kg (SQQ 373.1p/kg), while the same day’s robust turnout of 3,846 prime and lightweight hoggs drawn from most of the Northern counties produced an SQQ average of 293p/kg and an overall level average of 287p, a 17p/kg rise on the week, or £129.22 per head.

The standalone monthly hoggs show was won by Jeff Burrows, Hanlith, with five 44kg Beltex-x lambs, all got by home-bred tups, the victors again claimed by Knavesmire Butchers at £185 per head, the third prize 50kg pen from the same home making £152 to J&E Medcalf, the 44kg runners-up and reserve champions from Hayley Baines, Gisburn, away at £165, 468.4p/kg top by-weight. First and second tickets in the horned show class fell to A&AR Philipson, Briercliffe, with 52kg and 50kg Lonks sold at £135 and £129 respectively.

All hogg classes sold well, with heavy lambs taking a very good rise on the week, as did commercial lowland and hill lambs of all breeds, all finding a much improved trade. The 46kg-52kg weight range levelled at 282p/kg, £136.75, for 1,002 head, while 601 hoggs weighing 53kg or more averaged 275p/kg, or a solid £155.40 each.

Heavies saw some excellent trade, David Hargreaves, Malhamdale, topping the day’s per head hogg prices at £190 with 49kg Beltex, and Walter Parkinson, Claughton-on-Brock, the by-weight prices at 419p/kg with a 41kg pen. Among the hill lambs, Lincolnshire feeder/finisher Steve Dorey had pens of Mules and Mashams into the 273p/274p/kg bracket and breed averages of 255p/kg.

The heady 4,286 prime sheep entry also included 373 cast sheep, trade for trailer upon trailer of strong ewes from both local and travelled farmers from the east side of the country stepping up a gear again when selling to a full ringside. White-faced ewes Texel and Texel-crossed ewes themselves averaged £130, with a top of £209.50 from JJ Dalby & Sons, Harewood, the overall section average coming out at £122.56, cast rams averaging £195.17 and trading to a top of £224.50 for a Texel from Stephen and George Breare, Silsden.

Trade for a larger entry of 266 breeding sheep was also said to be ‘red hot,’ concluding with an overall average equivalent to £91 per head for both twins and singles, the former selling to £330 for Texel-x, the latter to £255 for Suffolk-x, both from the Wallbank family, Embsay.