The 109^th Annual Border Leicester Show and Sale was held on Monday 23^rd September 2024. This was a tremendous sale with averages up consistently on the year, 21 Rams averaged 920gns, 8 Shearling Rams averaged 830gns, 4 Aged Rams averaged 1050gns and 10 Shearling Ewes averaged 630gns.

Leading prices as follows

Ram Lambs: William Semple 2200gns, 2000gns

                          Joanne McFarlane 1900gns, 1900gns

Shearling Rams: Harold Dickey 2100gns

                                   Jim Penny 1500gns

                                   Stephen Wallace 1000gns

Aged Rams: A & R Megarrell 1400gns

                        Stephen Wallace 1300gns

                        Jim Penny 750gns

                        Sonya Smyth 550gns

Shearling Ewes: A & R Megarrell 1100gns

                                 Callum Patterson 950gns

                                 A & R Megarrell 850gns

                                 Harold Dickey 620gns

Ewe Lambs: W J Hanna 1500gns

                          Joanne McFarlane 800gns

                          A & R Megarrell 800gns

                          William Semple 750gns

The annual Bluefaced Leicester Show and Sale was held in Ballymena on Saturday. This year was a fantastic trade, the sale topped at a record breaking 28,000gns for the Reserve Champion, a Shearling Ram from J Mills, Kilwaughter followed by 16,000gns for a Ram Lamb from D McCrystal, Maghera. Shearling rams averaged 1450gns, Ram Lambs averaged 1330gns and Females 400gns. 

Leading prices as follows:

Ram Lambs:

D McCrystal 16,000gns, 10,000gns

T Wray 10,000gns

D McCrystal 7400gns

I Montgomery 7000gns

M Kelly 5500gns

A McKillop 5000gns

I Montgomery 4800gns

Shearling Rams:

J Mills 28,000gns 

S Wilson 14,000gns

M Kelly 6000gns, 2900gns

J G Loughery 2800gns

T Wray 2650gns

O F McKenny 2600gns

J Mills 2600gns

Females:

A McKillop 520gns

I Montgomery 520gns

T Butler 500gns

M Kelly 450gns

T Butler 420gns

I Montgomery 420gns

The annual sale of Blackface breeding sheep at Ballymena attracted a large entry of over 3200 sheep and similar to other sales this year prices and averages were up in all categories. The hogget section returned a particularly high average of £217.42 for 1290 sold which was an increase of £28 per head on 2023 while in the lamb ring almost 1000 lambs averaged £148 per head up £8 per head on 2023 with significantly more sold. Top price of the day was paid to I Lynn Armoy for a show hogget which fetched £680 closely followed by a pen of 6 from G Crawford Parkmore at £640 per head. Ewe lambs sold to a high top of £560 paid for a single lamb from D&J O’Mullan Rasharkin and to £500 for a pen of 5 from B&B Douglas Castlederg and in the cast ewe ring O&S Brannigan Glenbegg received £390 for a pen of 7 cast ewes.  Leading prices in each section were as follows:- Hoggets – I Lynn Armoy 1 @ £680, G Crawford Parkmore 6 @ £640, I Lynn 1 @ £600, H McGilligan Dungiven 6 @ £410, J Fegan C’wellan 8 @ £380, P McGuigan Maghera 8 @ £360, O Brannigan Glenbegg 6 @ £360, D&J O’ Mullan Rasharkin 8 @ £345, I Lynn 2 @ £340, K McFadden Dunloy 11 @ £330, I Lynn 12 @ £320, J Fegan 6 @ £310, V Rodgers Cushendun 15 @ £305, G Crawford 7 @ £300, K McFadden 5 @ £300, S McIntyre Loughgiel 10 @ £290, K O’Mullan Glenbuck 10 @ £285, H McGilligan Dungiven 12 @ £285, 12 @ £280. Ewe Lambs – D&J O’Mullan Rasharkin 1 @ £560, B Douglas Castlederg 5 @ £500, 5 @ £400, S Boyle Carrick 1 @ £360, L Finlay Glenwherry 6 @ £340, D McCollum Loughgiel 2 @ £320, D&J O’Mullan 4 @ £300, G&I Davidson Larne 5 @ £275, J McCalmont Drumcrow 6 @ £265, E McKenna 6 @ £245,4 @ £225, I Lynn 4 @ £225, 2 £215, 2 @ £215, E McKenna 10 @ £215, C McNamee Dunamore 9 @ £215, A Magee Kilwaughter 14 @ £215. Cast ewes – O Brannigan Glenbegg 7 @ £390, J McCurdy Broughshane 5 @ £240, O Brannigan 6 @ £230, L&J Armstrong Broughshane 12 @ £210, J McCurdy 5 @ £170, A McFarlane Dungiven 10 @ £155, S Adams 10 @ £155, O Brannigan 9 @ £145.

The first ram fair in Ballymena for 2024 resulted in a fantastic trade. 150 rams averaged 560gns.

Leading prices as follows 1400gns x2, 1250gns, 1100gns, 1100gns, 1100gns, 1050gns, 1000gns x3.

Breed top prices

A Irwin Texel at 1400gns, T. Butler Suffolk at 1400 gns, C&D Dunlop Charollais at 1250gns, G&J Loughery Dutch Spotted at 800gns, W. Chambers Wicklow Cheviot at 450gns.

A Irwin, Donaghadee Tex Ram 1400gns, T Butler, Ballycastle Suff S/R 1400gns, C&D Dunlop, Ballymoney Char S/R 1250gns, Char S/R 1100gns, M Magill, Glenarm Tex S/R 1100gns, R S Robinson, Tandragee Tex S/R 1100gns, M E Clarke, Comber Tex R/L 1050gns,M&S Riley, Moneyreagh Char S/R 1000gns, M E Clarke, Comber Tex R/L 1000gns, R S Robinson, Tandragee Tex S/R 1000gns, Tex S/R 980gns, T Butler, Ballycastle Tex S/R 950gns, A Irwin, Donaghadee Tex S/R 950gns, R Totton, Dungannon Suf S/R 920gns, N Ross Larne Tex R/L 900gns, T Butler, Ballycastle Tex S/R 900gns.

An entry of 1350 Mule ewe lambs were presented at the 2^nd Annual Sale in Ballymena on Tuesday evening. A super crowd of active buyers in attendance reflected on the trade selling to a high top of £295 for the first prize winner, kindly judged by Steven Wilson and awarded to David Anderson. 2^nd prize Charlie Magill £170, 3^rd prize David Anderson £175 and 4^th Seamus McLaughlin £170. An overall average of £137 was well improved on the year. 

Mule Ewe Lambs (1350)

D Anderson, Kilwaughter 12 Mul £295, 3x 12 Mul £175, 12 Mul £170, S McLaughlin, Garvagh 10 Mul £170, C Magill, Larne 12 Mul £170, D Anderson, Kilwaughter 12 Mul £165, S McLaughlin, Garvagh 10 Mul £165, D Anderson, 12 Mul £162, 14 Mul £160, 12 Mul £160, R Workman, Kilwaughter 2 Mul £158, H O’Kane, Carnlough 10 Mul £158, R Workman, Kilwaughter 10 Mul £155, D Andeson, Kilwaughter £155.

The annual sale of lambs at Cushendun saw a large entry of 3081 lambs meet an excellent trade on a day of fine weather with both buyers and sellers enjoying the sunshine. A show of Mule ewe lambs was held prior to the sale and was judged by Declan McKillop who found his champions in a pen presented by John McNeill The Park and these went on to sell for £154 per head. Top price of the day however was paid to K O’Hara for a strong pen of Suff Chev ewe lambs which sold to £162 per head. Store lambs were very much in demand with Texels selling to £111, Suffolks to £110.50 and Mules to £110. Leading prices were as follows:- Ewe Lambs:- K O’Hara 12 S/C @ £162, Blaney & Delargy 4 Mules @ £158, K O’Hara 12 S/C @ £155, J McNeill 12 Mules @ £154, K O’Hara 10 Chev @ £150, S McDonnell 10 Mules @ £148, P McCormick 10 Mules @ £148, D O’Hara 12 S/C @ £146, D Convery 11 S/C @ £144, S McDonnell 10 Mules @ £140, 2 @ £140,  JJ McAllister 12 Mules @ £138. Store lambs – P McNeill Ballyvoy 25 Tex @ £111, 11 Suff @ £110.50, J&A Murphy Torr 50 Mules @ £110, P McSparran 32 Suff @ £109, K O’Hara 24 Suff @ £109, J&A Murphy 53 Mules @ £108.50, P McSparran 39 Suff @ £107.50, D O’Hara 21 Suff @ £107.50, J&A Murphy 43 Mules @ £107, P McCormick 40 Mules @ £106.50, D Convery 25 Suff @ £106. 

 A great show of 2052 Mule ewe lambs at the annual sale in Ballymena on Tuesday evening resulted in a super trade with averages up on £26 on the year, with an overall average of £138.  The show was sponsored by URBA and judged by Packie Donnelly: 1^st prize James Mills, 2^nd prize James Harkin, 3^rd E Loughran.

Leading prices as follows:

Mule Ewe Lambs

J Mills, Kilwaughter 10 Mul £240, E Loughran, Cookstown 10 Mul £220, G Loughery, Limavady 10 Mul £215, M Kelly, Limavady 10 Mul 210, E Loughran, Cookstown 3 Mul £205, J Harkin, Plumbridge 10 Mul £198, W Adams, Ballymena 10 Mul £195, E Loughran, Cookstown 11 Mul £195, M Kelly, Limavady 12 Mul £195, R Workman, Kilwaughter 10 Mul £192, J Mills, Kilwaughter 13 Mul £192, M Kelly, 12 Mul £192, S & P McNaughton, 12 Mul £190, S Kerr, Kilwaughter 12 Mul £190, J Harkin, Plumbridge Omagh 8 Mul £190, M Kelly, Limavady 15 Mul £188, J Mills, 12 Mul £185, M Kelly, 15 Mul £185, R Workman, Kilwaughter 12 Mul £182, E Loughran, 14 Mul £182, M Kelly, Limavady 15 Mul £182, 14 Mul £180, S Kerr, Kilwaughter 12 Mul £178, J Mills, 12 Mul £178, E Loughran, Cookston 12 Mul £175.   

Flock averages:

J Mills (152) ave £148.

E Loughran (216) ave £143.

G Loughery (172) ave £137.

M Kelly (174) ave £161.

J Harkin (30) ave £175.20.

S Kerr (122) ave £159.

R Workman (116) ave £145.

S & P McNaughton (174) ave £130.

The Annual Braid Sheddings sheep sale was held on Saturday. Gordon Crawford topped the sale with a tremendous pen of Lanark type hoggets selling to £810, Perth hoggets topped at £210 for Cathy Adams.

Lanark ewe lambs topped at £310 for Luke Finlay.

Perth ewe lambs topped at £210 for Noel Frew.

Perth ewes topped at £178 for Tam Adams.

Mule ewe lambs topped at £210 for Hugh Crawford.

Averages

Blackface ewes £103 down £8 per head on last year.

Blackface hoggets £214 up £38 per head on last year.

Blackface Lambs £125 up £14 per head on last year.

Mule ewe lambs £133 up £22 per head on last year.

Blackface Ewes

T Adams, Ballymena 8 Blackface £178, W&G Watson, Coleraine 6 Blackface £145, A Carson, Ballymena 9 Blackface £115, S Adams, Broughshane 11 Blackface £108, 1 Blackface £108, T McCroary, Ballyclare 13 Blackface £100.

Blackface Hoggets

G Crawford, Ballymena 7 Blackface £810, S McIlwaine, Glenwherry 11 Blackface £178, R McNabney, Broughshane 12 Blackface £250, 12 Blackface £220, W Knowles, Cloughmills 12 Blackface £210, R McNabney, Broughshane 12  Blackface £195, W Knowles, Cloughmills 12 Blackface £190, G McConnell, Glenarm 8 Blackface £188, J Hurl, Carnlough 12 Blackface £185, 9 Blackface £170, 1 Blackface £170, W Knowles, Cloughmills 12 Blackface £170.

Blackface Ewe Lambs

L Finlay, Broughshane 10 Blackface £310, N Frew, Glenwherry 10 Blackface £210, S Mulvenna, Larne 12 Blackface £160, A Adams, Ballymena 15 Blackface £160, T Adams, Ballymena 6 Blackface £156, S Mulvenna, Larne 12 Blackface £150, S Adams, Broughsane 12 Blackface £142, 12 Blackface £140, T Adams, Ballymena 10 Blackface £132, S Adams, Broughshane 14 Blackface £132, S McIlwaine, Glenwherry 13 Blackface £128.

Mule Ewe Lambs

M Crawford, Glenarm 12 £205, J Magee, Kilwaughter 11 £185, Standalone Farm, Broughshane 12  £185, N Frew, Glenwherry £180, J Magee, Kilwaughter 12 £180, T Adams, Ballymena 12 £170, D Smyth, Moorfields 13 £162, J Magee, Kilwaughter 14 £160, J Hamilton, Ballymena 12 £158, D Smyth, Moorfields £152, M Crawford, Glenarm 14 £152, £150.

The annual sale of Mule and Greyface hoggets and Suffolk Cheviot ewe lambs at Ballymena continued the upward trend of rising sheep prices with averages up by £38 per head to level at £212.31 for 2349 hoggets sold and lamb averages up by £21 to £169.77 per head for 778 sold. Top price of £305 in the hogget section was paid to K O’Neill Racavan for a tremendous pen of Mules and Suffolk Cheviot ewe lambs sold to £318 paid for a show lamb from R Workman and to £250 per head for a pen of 10 presented by D&D Robinson. Before the sale a show of Mule and Greyface hoggets was judged by A McFarlane and S McLoughlin respectively. The top places of 1^st and 2^nd in the Mule section were taken by Packie Donnelly and the Greyface show was won by James Graham. Leading prices and averages in each section were as follows:- Hoggets – K O’Neill Racavan 10 Mules @ £305, P Donnelly R’kenny 10 Mules @ £290, K McFadden Dunloy 2 Mules @ £290, W&W Purcell Castlerock 11 Mules @ £280, P Donnelly 10 Mules @ £280, 10 Mules @ £280, W Byers B’mena 12 Mules @ £280, K Lennon Cookstown 10 Mules @ £270, P Donnelly 10 Mules @ £270, C Adams Clough 12 Mules @ £265, J Currie B’money 10 Mules @ £265, D Bamber B’mena 10 Mules @ £265, I McCluggage G’ford 10 Mulles @ £260, P Donnelly 10 Mules @ £260, W&W Purcell 11 Mules @ £255, J Currie 10 Mules @ £255, P Donnelly 11 Mules @ £255, 10 Mulles @ £255, J Graham D’drod 9 G/face @ £255, W Blackburn Fintona 14 Mules @ £255, D Bamber 14 Mules @ £255. Leading (Averages for exhibitors with 5 pens or more – P Donnelly 151 ave £254, J Currie 122 ave £245, W Byers 64 ave £239) Lambs – R Workman K’waughter 1 @ £318, D&D Robinson Glenarm 10 @ £250, R Workman 10 @ £245, IJ&A Wilson I’magee 11 @ £235, N Walsh R’friland 9 @ £220,R Workman 12 @ £210, G Walsh B’nahinch 12 @ £210, R Workman 12 @ £205, D&D Robinson 10 @ £205, J McCurdy B’shane 15 @ £200.

The recent buoyant live trade for fat lambs and ewes resulted in a record trade at the first of the breeding sheep sales at Ballymena Mart where 2764 Suff Chev & Texel X hoggets sold to average £241 per head, a rise of £53 per head on 2023. Top price of the day was paid to regular exhibitor Morris Breen who received £380 per head for a tremendous pen of 12 hoggets which was followed by pens at £370 paid to WJ Donaghy and Desmond Knox. In all 11 pens made £300 per head and over. In the lamb ring averages rose by £31 per head to average £149 per head and sold to £250 per head paid to L Anderson for a tremendous pen of Suff Chev ewe lambs. Leading prices and averages in each section were as follows:- Hoggets – M Breen Tempo 12 @ £380, WJ Donaghy B’mena 12 @ £370, D Knox Kesh 12 @ £370, W Blackburn Fintona 12 @ £360, 12 @ £350, D Knox 12 @ £340, W Blackburn 12 @ £330, I McCluggage 12 @ 300, W Blackburn 14 @ £300, 12 @ £300, WJ Donaghy 11 @ £300, B McKinley Armoy 12 @ £295, W Blackburn 14 @ £290, M Breen 12 @ £290, P Donnelly R’kenny 10 @ £290, RN Weatherup Carrick 14 @ £290, W McCurdy B’shane 12 @ £290, 12 @ £285, 12 @ £285, WJ Donaghy 10 @ £285, M Breen 12 @ £285. Leading averages:- WJ Donaghy 43 ave @306.74, M Breen 47 ave £296.49, D Knox 121 ave £284.95, W McCurdy 55 ave £279.45, W Blackburn 313 ave £264.87, J Currie 84 ave £260.18, P Donnelly 179 ave £258. Lambs – L Anderson K’waughter 10 @ £250, S Hunter Bushmills 8 @ £228, 7 @ £210, L Anderson 8 @ £205, C&M Mullan 12 @ £185, 12 @ £180, 12 @ £180, 12 @ £170, J Adams Glarryford 7 @ £170, 10 @ £168, C&M Mullan 12 @ £168.

The annual show and sale of Mule ewe lambs at Ballymena mart saw a 96% clearance returning an average of £112.61 for 2570 sold, down £1.40 on 2022. The top price of £400 was paid for a show lamb presented by S O’Kane followed by £255 per head for a pen of 10 offered by E Loughran for his first prized pen purchased by the judge W Byers. Leading sale prices and prizewinning positions:- S O’Kane 1 @ £400, E Loughran 10 @ £255 (1^st ), 12 @ £180, M Kelly 10 @ £175 (2^nd ), R Loughery 10 @ £172, JR Loughery 10 @ £170, S Kerr 10 @ £168, J Loughery 10 @ £168, J Mills 10 @ £165 (3^rd ), 12 @ £162, R Workman 10 @ £160, E Loughran 12 @ £160, JR Loughery 10 @ £160, J Loughery 10 @ £158, R Workman 12 @ £155, JR Loughery 15 @ £155, M Kelly 12 @ £152, W Adams 14 @ £152, S Kerr 15 @ £150. Leading averages:- M Kelly 159 ave £132.22, S Kerr 107 ave £128.76, E Loughran 221 ave £126.65, R Workman 154 ave £122.36, J Mills 183 ave £122.08.

The annual show and sale of Mule and Greyface hoggets saw a reduced entry resulting in a rise in the average of £11 per head to level at £174.60 for 2517 hoggets sold. Prior to the sale the show of Mules was judged by J Loughery who awarded first prize to Packie Donnelly for a tremendous pen of hoggets which subsequently claimed the top price of £275 per head with Packie also achieving the highest sale average of £210 per head for an entry of 176. A show of Greyface hoggets was judged by Joe Adams with first place awarded to Ian McCluggage. In the lamb ring there was an excellent entry of Suffolk Cheviot ewe lambs which returned an average of £148.30 per head for 628 forward, similar to 2022. Top price of £280 was paid for a single show lamb offered by Robert Workman while IJ&A Wilson took the next top price of £190 per head for a pen of 12 lambs, a price also matched by Sandra Hunter for a pen of 10 S/C lambs. Leading prices in each section were as follows:- Hoggets – P Donnelly 10 @ £275, W Byers 12 @ £265, S Wilson 12 @ £242, P Donnelly 10 @ £240, M&D McAleese 12 @ £240, P Donnelly 10 @ £235, J Currie 10 @ £228, W Byers 10 @ £225, S Wilson 14 @ £225, P Donnelly 10 @ £220, 10 @ £220, J Currie 10 @ £220, 10 @ £218, M&D McAleese 12 @ £218, P Donnelly 11 @ 215, G Armstrong 14 @ £212, P Donnelly 11 @ £210, 10 @ £210, C Adams 11 @ £210, D Bamber 12 @ £210. (leading averages – P Donnelly 176 ave £210, M&D McAleese 42 ave £208, W Byers 62 ave £200, S Wilson 113 ave £193, J Currie 216 ave £190). S/C Ewe lambs:- R Workman 1 @ £280, IJ&A Wilson 12 @ £190, S Hunter 10 @ £190, R Workman 10 @ £185, N Walsh 11 @ £182, R Thompson 10 @ £180, N Walsh 5 @ £175, R Workman 12 @ £175, N Walsh 10 @ £170, J Lamont 13 @ £170, M Johnston 10 @ £168, N Walsh 10 @ £168, R Workman 12 @ £165, A Chambers 1 @ £165, IJ&A Wilson 11 @ £162, J Lamont 12 @ £162, R Hunter 10 @ £162, N Walsh 11 @ £160, 12 @ £160, R Workman 12 @ £160, D&D Robinson 10 @ £160.

BALLYMENA SUFFOLK CHEVIOT & CONTINENTAL HOGGET SALE 2023

The first of the 2023 annual breeding sheep sales at Ballymena Mart kicked off with a strong start for the entry of 4200 hoggets and lambs. Whilst trade was strong for good quality hoggets they returned an average of £188.79 per head for 3441 sold which surprisingly was down £14 per head on 2022 whereas in the lamb ring whilst trade appeared sticky they returned a similar average to the previous year of £117.40 for 840 sold. Topping the sale at £390 for a show hogget was Packie Donnelly whilst the top price of £310 for pens of hoggets was paid to WJ Donaghy and D Knox.  In the ewe lamb section lambs sold to £175 per head paid to Joel Lamont for a super pen of S/C lambs with L Anderson taking the second top price of £170 per head also for S/C lambs. Leading prices and averages in each section were as follows:- Hoggets – D Knox 12 @ £310, WJ Donaghy 12 @ £310, W Blackburn 6 @ £295, D Knox 12 @ £292, B McKinley 11 @ £275, W Blackburn 12 @ £260, M Breen 12 @ £250, D Knox 8 @ £250, W Blackburn 12 @ £245, P Donnelly 10 @ £245, 10 @ £245, 11 @ £245, WJ Donaghy 10 @ £245, D Gibson 11 @ £240.  (Leading averages – WJ Donaghy 28 ave £267.50, D Knox 69 ave £254, P Donnelly 181 ave £221, B McKinley 98 ave £214, J Currie 115 ave £210, W Blackburn 264 ave £208) Ewe Lambs – J Lamont 14 @ £175, L Anderson 12 @ £170, R&J Robinson 2 @ £165, 2 @ £160, J Adams 3 @ £155, A McFarlane 10 @ £155, C&M Mullan 12 @ £155, L Anderson 7 @ £150, S McGilligan 12 @ £145, C&M Mullan 11 @ £145.

MULE EWE LAMB SALE 2022

The annual sale of Mule ewe lambs at Ballymena Mart attracted an entry of 3083 lambs and while averages were back by £18 per head on the year to £114 per head some excellent prices were recorded. A show lamb from Seamus O’Kane sold at £440 while pens of 10 sold to £255 and £250 per head paid to M Kelly and J Mills respectively. Leading average of the night was claimed by S Kerr, the last exhibitor in the ring, who’s 109 lambs forward averaged £144.55per head. Leading prices and averages were as follows:- S O’Kane 1 @ £440, M Kelly 10 @ £255, J Mills 10 @ £250, G Loughery 10 @ £200, J Mills 12 @ £178, O Loughran 10 @ £175, G Loughery 12 @ £175, R Loughery 10 @ £175, 10 @ £170, S Kerr 12 @ £165, 14 @ £165, O Loughran 14 @ £160, J Mills 14 @ £160, M Kelly 12 @ £160, 12 @ £160, O Loughran 10 @ £158, R Workman 10 @ £155, O Loughran 14 @ £150, R Loughery 15 @ £150, 15 @ £150, S Kerr 12 @ £150, 12 @ £150, 14 @ £150. Averages – S Kerr 109 ave £144.55, J Mills ave 139.27, M Kelly 154 ave £136.60, R Loughery 201 ave £122.05, R Workman 178 ave £121.76, O Loughran 238 ave £119.14.

The first of the annual breeding sheep sales at Ballymena mart saw an increase of 20% in the entry on 2021 with 4500 sheep forward and a 96% clearance. Despite the recent falls in fat lamb prices hogget averages rose by £10 per head to £202.85 and sold to a top of £335 and £325 per head both paid to Morris Breen who also achieved the top average of £260 per head for his entry of 63. The large show in the ewe lamb section however saw averages back by £3 per head to £117 but with quality very much in demand a top price of £230 per head was paid to L Anderson for a tremendous pen of S/C lambs. Leading prices and averages were as follows:- Hoggets – M Breen Tempo 12 @ £335, 12 @ £325, R Carlisle N’abbey 8 @ £300, W Blackburn Clogher 12 @ £285, 4 @ £275, D Knox Kesh 12 @ £275, W Blackburn 14 @ £270, 2 @ £260, V Anderson Clough 12 @ £260, A Simpson Dungannon 14 @ £252, W Blackburn 12 @ £250, J Currie B’money 10 @ £250, J Graham Dundrod 12 @ £245, W Blackburn 12 @ £245, 1 @ £240, M Breen 10 @ £240, D Knox 12 @ £240, W Irvine 6 @ £240, V Anderson 12 @ £240, 12 @ £240, WJ Hanna 12 @ £240. Leading Averages – M Breen 63 ave £260, V Anderson 147 ave £225, W Blackburn 255 ave £222, N Rollston 100 ave £218, D Gibson 188 ave £215, P Donnelly 178 ave £214, B McKinley 144 ave £212. Ewe Lambs – L Anderson K’waughter 10 @ £230, AM McFarlane Dungiven 12 @ £175, L Anderson 10 @ £170, AM McFarlane 12 @ £160, 12 @ £150, L Anderson 8 @ £150, AM McFarlane 12 @ £145, C&M Mullan 12 @ £142, 12 @ £140, IJ&A Wilson 12 @ £140.

An entry of 2222 sheep in Ballymena on Wednesday resulted in a steady trade. Fat hoggets sold to 578p for a pen of 19kg Beltex at £110 from B McAllister, Kells and a top per head of £136.50 for 2 Texels 35kg for John McFall, Broughshane. Fat ewes sold to £232.

Fat Hoggets (1950)

Top per Kg

B McAllister, Kells 1 Bel 19kg £110 (579), B McAllister 2 Bel 21.5kg £124 (576), local farmer 18 Suff 21kg £120 (571), local farmer 22 Bf 21kg £119 (566) I Montgomery, Glenwherry 2 Tex 22.5kg £126 (560), C Hamilton, Carnlough 169 Suff 22kg £123 (559), R T Buchanan, Doagh 17 Tex 21kg £115 (547), G Longstaff, Kells 14 Dor 22.5kg £123 (546), M Stewart, Coleraine 40 Tex 22kg £120 (545), I Montgomery 12 Char 23kg £125 (543), C Millar, Kilrea 5 Tex 23kg £125 (543), W Ferguson, Stewartstown 24 Tex 22kg £119 (540), J Lamont, Kells 11 Suff 20.5kg £110 (536), S White, Cloughmills 25 Tex 22kg £118 (536), R Hamilton, Carnlough 78 Suff 23kg £123 (534), A Dobbs, Carrickfergus 4 Tex 22.5kg £120 (533), A Dobbs 20 Tex 22.5kg £120 (533), I Frew, Cullybackey 3 Dor 24kg £128 (533), S Mullan, Armoy 2 Dor 23.5kg £124 (529), A Andrews, Kells 2 Dor 8kg £95 (578).

Top per head

J McFall, Broughshane 2 Tex 35kg £136.50, J Graham, Crumlin 2 Rou 32.5kg £136, R & S Graham, Dundrod 8 Tex 30.5kg £135, R&S Graham 3 Suff 30.5kg £134.50, K McClenaghan, Antrim 6 Char 33.5kg £133, B McAllister, Kells 2 Tex 29kg £133, I Gibson 10 Tex 30.50 £132, H Carson Dundrod 27 Tex 28.5kg £131, M Currie, Antrim 2 Tex 33kg £131, H Carson 25 Tex 29kg £130.50, J Gilliland, Muckamore 5 Suff 30.5kg £130.50, H Carson 23 Tex 28kg £130, J Angus,                 Kircubbin 9 Cro 25kg £130, N Boyd, Broughshane 21 Cro 30kg £130, B Paisley, Ballynure 11 Tex 28.5kg £130, A Angus, Kircubbin 45 Tex 28kg £129.50, J G Birt, Portglenone 29 Tex 26.5kg £129, J Simpson, Dervock 11 Tex 25kg £129, J Fenton, Glarryford 9 Bel 26kg £129, H McCracken, Ballywalter 16 Tex 27kg £128.50.

Fat Ewes (272)

1^st Quality

Suff - £140-£172

Tex - £150-£232

CB - £110-£172

BF - £60-£75