It’s not been the best year for making hay or silage in many parts of the country, but there is an abundance of grass north and south of the Border, which should bear fruit for next week’s Lairg lamb sale and the many other store lamb events.

Add in the fat trade which at 260+p per liveweight kg, is 20p ahead of this time last year, coupled with a reduction feed prices, and there is confidence in the market to buy.

The first of the early store sales have already seen an increase in value for the strongest, with the latest sale of 6585 head at United Auctions’ Stirling on Monday, revealing values up £1-£8 per head on the week, albeit with little difference in the cost of longer-keep types.

Texel cross lambs averaged £90.29; Beltex crosses at £88.11; Mules, £84.24; Suffolk crosses, £86.12 and Cheviots cashed in at £82.26.

“Prices are pretty much a par with last year per kg and they’ve been easier to sell compared to 2022, but then there is a lot more grass and more customers looking for lambs,” said United Auctions’ auctioneer Peter Wood.

“The shortage of grass in many areas of the country last year and the price of feed put a lot of people off buying, but this is a completely different year and there is more confidence about,” he said adding that the strongest lambs have seen the biggest increase in value with longer-keep entries not as easily sold.

While there is an abundance of grass in all areas, Mr Wood said the lambs forward to date have been shown in good bloom but slightly lighter due to the dry weather in June and the shortage of grass.

Furthermore, with grass growth expected to continue well into the back-end of the year, he is confident for the breeding sheep sales too.

“Grass makes all the difference when it comes to sheep sales. We’re also seeing far more interest in next week’s Lairg store lamb sale which will be bigger this year when there will only be the one store sale there.

“The breeding sheep sales will be fine when the fat trade is holding up and producers don’t have the same feed cost worries this year.”

At Dingwall and Highland Marts’ first big sale of 7628 head at Dingwall, lambs were £3.23 per head down on the year, albeit much the same per kg, due to the smaller size of the lambs forward.

Texel crosses averaged £75.04; Suffolk crosses £80.52; Beltex £73.97; Cheviots at £62.93; Mules at £79.14; Millennium Blues at £92.02 and Cheviot Mules at £83.62.

Auctioneer Luke Holmes said: “We had really bad weather up here in April and the grass was late to come, which combined with the dry, hot weather in June meant most lambs would have been 2kg lighter than this time last year. Lambs were in good enough bloom and fit, they just didn’t have the weight.

“We were also missing a few buyers who are still trying to tidy up second and third cuts of silage because it’s been so wet, but they’ll still buy because there is a bit more confidence in the market compared to last year, and there is grass,” he said.

Further south at Harrison and Hetherington’s Borderway Mart at Carlisle, on Monday, small lambs were described as making a ‘blistering trade.’ The 1200 head sold to a top of £109 per head with many buyers requiring more numbers to satisfy demand.