Copious amounts of grass, the fall in the value of sterling and increased prime lamb prices on the year have bolstered confidence in the sheep trade to such an extent that the first of the store lamb sales are up on the year and often for more sold.

Add to that the news that financial support for farmers will continue at least up until 2020 following the Brexit vote, and finishers were keen to invest in the future and in particular the sheep sector, which has witnessed finished lamb prices up by as much as 40p per kg on the year in some weeks.

Even the biggest store lamb sales in the country at Lairg, on Tuesday, where some 15,648 head were cashed – an additional 2600 head more than at the same event last year – saw price rises, albeit at lesser amounts compared to some centres.

By the end of a decidedly long day, some 11,454 wedder lambs were sold to average £54.43 per head, which is up £2.57 on the year, having sold to a top of £68 for North Country Cheviots from South Balkeith, Tain. The entry of 4194 ewe lambs peaked at £145 from the same home, to level at £70.79, showing a rise of £1.02.

"We had a lot more lambs forward compared to last year but then flockmasters had a better lambing up here and their lambs were shown in pretty good bloom," said United Auctions' auctioneer, George Purves.

"Farmers are fairly upbeat for the future of the sector too given the fact the pound has weakened and their finished lambs are worth that bit more, which in stills confidence in the market and the overall sheep trade.

"As long as the prime sheep sales remain strong, the store lamb trade should remain good which all bodes well for the start of the breeding sheep sales," added Mr Purves.

Ian Tolmie, managing director of Dingwall and Highland Marts, at Dingwall, also highlighted the renewed confidence in the trade, with the first of their store lamb sales also showing a rise on the year and often for more sold. Their first main sale saw 13,702 head of lambs average £54.06, with some of the breed sections showing price increases of almost £7 per head.

"Many producers suffered bad lambings last year, but they have bigger lamb crops this year and their lambs are all looking well which helps to sell them," he told The Scottish Farmer.

"Our top end, bigger, shorter-keep lambs were shown in good bloom and would have been £8-£10 per head up on the year but then that is only following on from the fat trade which is seeing some lambs £11-£12 rise on 2015 values.

"Longer keep lambs are anything from £2-£5 up on the year depending on the quality," added Mr Tolmie who also reported new purchasers this year and some buyers buying earlier than normal due to the large amounts of grass available."

"There is so much grass up here this year too that many finishers have bought lambs earlier than normal which has also helped," concluded Mr Tolmie.

Prime lamb prices at GB live markets have also continued to rise as the pound weakened further and throughputs have actually increased.

Latest figures show the GB SQQ at auction markets for the week ended August 10, rose by 7p on the week to 189.8p/kg. This means that the price has moved a massive 39p above the same week in 2015 as prices at this time last year were declining.

Prices have risen throughout the period, with prices on Wednesday 10 August up 5p week on the week at 190.1p/kg. Prices also rose despite numbers of lambs coming to the market rising as the value of the pound has fallen further in the past week. Some of the rise may however have been attributed to increased demand to cover both “Love lamb week” in the first week in September and the Muslim festival of Eid al Adha in the second week.

Throughputs at GB auction markets were up both on the week and compared to the previous year. Numbers were 14% higher than the previous week and were up by 5% on the previous year. These higher numbers are thought to be due to higher prices leading to producers bringing more lambs to market, while the slower start to the season means that increasing numbers are becoming market ready.

Deadweight prices declined in the week ended 6 August, down by 4p on the previous week. However, prices remained 67p above levels from last year. This is despite estimated slaughterings in the week falling by 1% compared to the previous week and down 5% compared to 2015.