SOME 10,644 North of England Mule ewe lambs sold to average £76.79 (-£24 on the year) at Bentham Auction Mart's show and sale, where a top price of £340 was paid for the first prize pen from R and P Hargreaves, Barley Bank, when sold to Mr Buck.
The sale saw a ready demand for well-bred tupping lambs but smaller running lambs proved difficult to place with southern buyers absent due to a shortage of grass and shearlings unsold.
Second top price was £220 for the fifth prize pen from K and A Brown, Appleby, while a pen from AC and K Pye and Son, Dunkenshaw, realised £205.
An entry of 1494 Masham ewe lambs sold on the same day levelled at £80.42 (-£3 on the year) and peaked at £210 for a pen from JM Wilson and Son, Harrogate, when knocked down to Mick Allen, Whitby.
Dales Mule lambs sold to £125 for the first prize pen from R Capstick and Son, Ingleton and averaged £70.57 (-£14), while Cheviot Mule ewe lambs reached £138 for the first prize pen from SR and PA Thompson, Sedbergh, to average £105.32.
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