The first of the store lamb sales have kicked off in style with averages up £19 and £14 per head at Longtown and Skipton, respectively.

At Longtown on Tuesday, averages improved by almost £20 per head on the year for a lot of well-bred long keep lambs forward, to level at £93.

At C and D Auction Marts’ opening sale of 2729 head, buyers were forward from as far a field as Wrexham, with prices peaking at £150 for a pen of Texel cross lambs from M Cousin, The Laws Farm, Whitfield. His run of 95 lambs averaged £120 – up £22 on the year. At Skipton Auction Mart the previous week, some 2700 head averaged £102.97, up £13.69 on the same sale last year.

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Lambs were presented to a packed ringside, with the award for the best pen of 40 or more again won by Andrew Haggas, Grove Farm, Otterburn, who has won the title five times out of the past six years.

Grove Farm again took the top spot with a pen of April-born Beltex cross lambs, that went on to top the sale selling at £140 per head – up £14 on last year’s £126 best – when selling to the show judge, Tom French, Lincolnshire.

The reserve pen of 40, three-quarter Texel lambs from brothers, Albert and Fred Hewetson, Bank Newton, made £126 each, while the third prize, Beltex crosses from Bolton Abbey father and son, Chris and Tom Heseltine, made £118.

Adrian Leach, Owlers Farm, achieved £138 with a pen of 10 Beltex crosses. First draw continental cross lambs out of North of England Mule ewes sold well, with many pens making £110-£120, with the next grade selling for £98-£108 and longer-keep and younger lambs £88-£95.

Overall, Beltex averaged £122.24 and Texels cashed in at £102.86.

Suffolk lambs sold to £124 from Robert Metcalfe, Brearton, while Michael Parker, Winterburn, sold a pen of 40 at £120. Suffolks averaged £105.66.

North of England Mules averaged £91.33, peaking at £114 from the Dakin Partnership, Hellifield, while Charollais sold to £99 and £96 from North Lincolnshire regular Steve Dorey, to average £95.74.

Dutch Spotted lambs levelled at £91.17, with a top of £93 from J and L Mallender, Thornton-in-Craven, while Cheviots sold to £91 from R Taylor, Preston, to level at £89.46.