ONE of multiple highlights on a busy May Day bank holiday at Skipton Auction Mart, the annual show and sale for hoggs and ewes with lambs at foot and geld gimmer hoggs, saw almost 700 outfits, comprising 1,885 breeding sheep in total, put before a very busy ringside of customers, with trade strong all round and demand remaining high.

Indeed, trade for smarter outfits with well-grown lambs to match was flying as high, if not higher that previous weeks, with the requirement for younger lambs actually stronger.

The show class for five Continental hoggs with lambs was won by multiple former victors, Skipton brothers John and George Stapleton, High Skibeden Farm, again with Texel-x hoggs with single Beltex lambs, which topped their section at £360 per outfit (£180 per life) when joining C Jackson, Steeton. Other top end outfits were £300-plus, good commercial sorts £215-£250 and farming outfits £175 to £210.

There was a coup in the Mule hoggs and lambs show class with all three rosettes falling to first-time breed exhibitor John-Harry Hitchen, Crib Farm, Halifax – the family also runs a 200-strong commercial dairy herd - his charges all arriving with single Suffolk lambs, his Mules again purchased at the 2022 annual NEMSA gimmer lamb sales.

John-Harry, who said he had been “amazed at the ease of lambing” of the breed on his first use of them, saw his red rosette winners top their section at £225 per outfit when going to the Ryder family, Haverah Park, Harrogate.

Other Mules also met a very nice trade, better outfits away at £200-plus, with commercial farming outfits in the £190s and a solid breed average of £201 for Mule hoggs with singles.

Showing in the class for the first time at Skipton, Suffolk hoggs and lambs winners were Monty Burton and Jill Welford, Hayburn Beck, Cloughton, Scarborough, their charges with single Dutch Texel lambs selling at £195 to Simon Spensley, Gargrave, the section averaging £186.

A very strong show for pens of ewes and lambs saw leading honours fall to the Okane and Morgan farming partnership, Newtown, Powys, North Wales, their six Beltex-x with singles making £235 to Martin and Val Brown, Leyburn.

The ewes/shearlings and twins average was a robust £248.70, top price of the entire day at £400 per outfit going to a group of four ewes with eight lambs from the Derbyshire-based Furness Partnership, Wheston, Buxton, who also headed the Texel singles prices at £322.

Tremendous trade for Charolais shearlings saw a top-notch consignment of nine single outfits from Skipton regular Charles Marwood, Foulrice flock, Whenby, York, all make over £300, peaking at £320, also heading the shearling twin trade at £390.

Geld gimmer hoggs, though a mixed selection of 331 head, were keenly bid for, with North of England Mules again especially in high demand, selling to £170 for the first prize pen of ten from the three-generation Johnson family ¬- dad Raymond, son Robert and his daughter Gemma – Summerfield Farm, Felliscliffe, Harrogate. All were again purchased last autumn at the NEMSA gimmer lamb sales, going to D&A Fenwick, Gainsborough, the section averaging £131.

A show class for geld continental hoggs was won by Easingwold husband and wife, Ken and Hazel Gamble, Brickyard Farm, their home-bred ten pure Texels making £154, the section topping at £196 and averaging £146.

Hoggs with lambs were judged by Hywel Williams, Llandovery, ewes and lambs by Rose Foster, Tarleton, Preston, geld hoggs by Ian Lancaster, Wiswell. Sponsors were Top Tags Animal ID and Skpton NFU Mutual. All section/breed top prices and averages are at www.ccmauctions.com ENDS Pic caption 1 John Stapleton with his latest five Continental hoggs with lambs show class winners at Skipton, joined by shepherdess Grace Bristow.