CALEDONIAN Marts sold 1702 prime hoggets and cast sheep in conjunction with its annual show and sale of Beltex Prime Hoggets at Stirling on Tuesday.

The judge for the show was Stuart Stark of M J Stark, Paisley, who awarded the Champion’s ticket to hoggets that weighed 41.6kg. They went on to be purchased by the judge for £135, while the reserve champions in the 46kg+ class sold for £136.

Outwith the prize list, top prices were for Texels at £131 and 293p/kg for 41.6kg Beltex. The overall average for 1,205 sold was 227p/kg which was down 12p this week but up 34p on the year.

There were also 500 cast sheep which sold to £160 twice for Texels to average £112. Export Ewes averaged £75 selling to £84 for Blackfaces.

C&D Auction Marts had 2,469 sheep at its weekly sale of store hoggets and feeding ewes at Longtown on Tuesday.

A large show of hoggets was topped by Beltex at £117. Texels sold £101, while Suffolks made up to £97. Feeding sheep had a top price of £115 for Texels, while hill ewes were topped at £87 for Blackfaces and Swaledales sold to £65.

Messrs Craig Wilson sold 169 prime and cast cattle at its weekly sale at Ayr on Tuesday. Prime cattle met a similar trade to last week with 14 heifers selling to a top of 223p/kg or £1343 for the same Limousin to average 216p or £1195.

Trade for all classes in the rough ring were firmer again. Forty-five beef cows sold to £1,330 for a Simmental or 146p for a Saler to average 125p, while 88 dairy cows sold to £1,090 or 127p for Friesians to average 102p. Two cast bulls were topped at £1,530 or 153p for a Charolais to average 131p.

Twenty clean cattle peaked at £1,070 or 188p for Aberdeen Angus bullocks to average 144p.

There were 11 dairy cattle this week which sold to a top of £1,900 for a Holstein Friesian.

The firm also sold 1,658 prime and cast sheep at Newton Stewart yesterday where 1,381 prime hoggets sold to average 226p/kg. Heavy hoggets sold to £120 for Texels and three other pens made £119. Topping the price per kilo was a pen of 59 Blackfaces at 251p/kg.

Included in yesterday's sale was a small but quality show of Blackface wedder hoggets. The judge Mr Scott Rorison awarded his champion ticket to a pen from J Mitchell & Son, Little Larg. They weighed in at 47kg and made £115 selling to the judge. A total of 866 Blackface hoggets averaged 227p. Cast ewes were, once again, a flyer selling to a top of £176.