VERITY hill farming families from Middlesmoor in Nidderdale clinched both red rosettes at Skipton mart’s annual shows for pens of horned wether lamb. (Oct 1)

Keith Verity, Suttill Farm, had the first prize Dalesbred pen, which sold for a class high of £47.50 per head, while William, Roland and David Verity, Middle Stean Farm, presented the first prize pen of Swaledale wether lambs, which also headed their class prices at £43.50 each. They also chipped in with the second prize Dalesbred pen at £41 per head.

The 581 Swaledale and Dalesbred on offer sold to an overall average of £38.52 per head.

As winter keep becomes available, the 1,546 Mule and Masham wethers forward were also keenly contested with Masham entries averaging £54.22 per head and Mules £52.87. The latter peaked at £56.80 each for a 95-strong pen from W Harrison & Son, of Weston, Otley.

A nice selection of lowland lambs saw strong types sell in the £60s, medium lambs in the late £50s and long keep lambs £46-54, depending upon size. Strong Suffolk and Continental gimmer lambs with good skins and clean heads also proved popular.

Store lambs averaged £54.91 each and gimmer lambs £69.89, with an overall selling average for the 7,302 head forward on the day of £56.24.

On one of the busiest sheep weeks of the entire year at Skipton, the previous day’s fortnightly Tuesday sale of 2,091 breeding sheep produced similar trade for young sheep.

Shearlings of all breeds were good to sell, with Mules making up to £170 and averaging £134, and Texels selling to £150 at an average of £134.

The second part the sale comprised 1,163 broken mouth correct below ewes. “Both Mule and Swaledale broken mouthed prices peaked at £85 per head."