Brown back-to-back Beltex title win at Skipton

A SECOND successive monthly prime lamb championship was clinched by well-known North Yorkshire Beltex sheep breeders, husband and wife Martin and Val Brown, at Skipton Auction Mart’s March fixture.

The Browns, from Beechwood House Farm, Newton-le-Willows, Bedale, again consigned the first prize pen of five Continental-cross lambs, which, like their February title winners, were home-bred, near pure-bred Beltex.

Weighing in at 41kg, they sold for the day’s high of £135 per head, or 329.3p/kg, to regular wholesale buyers Vivers Scotlamb, of Annan.

The Browns were also responsible for the third-prize Continental pen, five 37kg Beltex sold for £119 each, again to Vivers.

Show judge Chris Staines, primestock buyer for St Merryn Foods in Merthyr Tydfil, awarded the reserve championship to the second prize 38kg Beltex-cross pen from Trawden’s Hayley Baines. They made £114 each when joining Saltaire butcher Dick Binns.

Mr Staines was also in action at the ringside when paying £84 per head for the first-prize pen of 44kg horned lambs, Swaledales, from MIR Heseltine, of Summerbridge, while the show class for Suffolk-cross lambs saw first and second prizes fall to 50kg and 51kg pens both from PA&NS Tattersall, of Ellerton, York.

However, it was the third prize 61kg pen from Newark’s Steve Dorey that achieved top price in class at £102 per head when falling to Stanforths Butchers in Skipton.

With a turnout of almost 3,400 prime and lightweight hogs, with plenty of the best end making £3 per kilo.