North Craven’s Robert Towers was champion at the Easter prime lamb show at Skipton for the second year in succession.

Mr Towers, who farms with his wife, Jackie at Greenlands Farm, Ingleton, saw his home-bred single 53kg Suffolk-cross ram lamb, by a tup bought out of Skipton two years earlier, sell for a sale topping £195, 367.9p per kg.

Mr Towers, who runs a small flock of some 20 sheep, was also on the mark with the first prize Continental pairs, a brace of pure Charollais gimmer lambs, by an Ingrams tup bought out of Worcester last year. The 46kg duo sold for £140 per head, or 304.3p per kg.

Show judge, Baxenden butcher George Cropper, awarded the reserve championship to the first prize single Continental lamb, another pure-bred Charollais from Charles Marwood, of the Foulrice pedigree flock in Whenby, York.

By the stock ram, Sheldon Supreme, and weighing 48kg, the overall runner-up was later snapped up in the sale ring for £154, or 320.8p/kg, by the judge, who also went to £134, or 311.6p/kg, to claim the same vendor’s third prize pair of same way bred 43kg Charollais lambs.

The remaining show class for Suffolk-cross pairs was won by Giggleswick husband and wife, Jack and Rebecca Wallbank, with 46kg lambs by a Rouge ram, out of pedigree Suffolk ewes, of which their North Craven flock numbers 20. These, too, were among Countrystyle Meats’ acquisitions at £140, or 297.9p/kg.

Two other prize-winning purchases were the runners-up in the pairs show classes, both consigned by Andrew Bailey, of Eldroth. All weighed in at 49kg and sold for the same price £135, or 275.5p/kg.

The Easter sale attracted a turnout of 101 new season lambs, with handy weight butchers lambs trading at 250-300p per kg and to an overall selling average of £115.88 per head, or 246.96p/kg.

A solid weekly entry of 4223 sheep also comprised 3786 prime hoggs, which sold to an overall average of £93.66 per head or 195.08p per kg, peaking at £127 and 300p per kg for Beltex pens from, respectively, David Graveston, of Bolton-by-Bowland, and Felliscliffe’s Henry Atkinson.

Also penned for sale were 293 cull ewes, which averaged £62.24 per head, selling to a top of £118 for Texels from Eric Marshall, of Summerbridge. Cast rams averaged £71.07.

Auctioneers: CCM Auctions