Sedgemoor Livestock Market report for Friday May 8 and Saturday May 9

A flying store cattle trade to £1260 (3x) others £1240 & £1200 (9x).

Covid 19 update May 11:

In addition to our ongoing weekly sales of Store Cattle, Stirks and Calves and fortnightly sales of Pigs on Saturdays, from Saturday May 2 we have recommenced selling Dairy Cattle and Ewe & Lamb Couples at our Saturday market on a weekly basis. The Dairy Cattle are sold through Ring 1 at 11am starting with the calves, maiden and incalf heifers sold first. The Ewe & Lamb Couples are sold at 10am. Calves have reverted to the calf shed. The Store Lambs, Cull Sheep and Cull Goats are currently sold on Friday afternoons, gates opening at 12 Noon with the sale of Store Lambs starting at 4pm, followed by the Cull Sheep & Goats. From Saturday June 6 Store Lambs & Cull Sheep & Goats will revert to Saturdays.

69 Dairy Cattle. Auctioneer's comments:

Greenslade Taylor Hunt report a smaller entry when silaging kept some purchasers away, resulted in an easier trade on the week, when second quality stock were harder to place.

Pedigree heifers to £1900 for RA Reed, Seaton. Others £1850 from AR Edwards & Son, Newport; £1750 (4x) Panda Holsteins, FG Summerhayes & Son, RJ Goss and M & K Churchill & Son.

Only 3 cows forward sold to £1550 for a 2nd calver from DJ & J Keedwell. Incalf heifers due end of June £1200 from RJ Shreeve. 6 month old Shorthorn heifer £350 from RA Plowright. British Friesian heifer calves (3x) £150 from AE Allen & Sons.

Read more: Sedgemoor Livestock Market report for Friday May 1 and Saturday May 2

714 Store Cattle and Grazing Cows. Auctioneer's comments:

Greenslade Taylor Hunt report an excellent entry of 714 store cattle, part of 981 with the stirks, met a flier. Trade is primarily being supply driven. Numbers through April have been very tight, when insufficient have been sold to satisfy demand. Hence buyers are now very keen to source cattle to graze. Demand is also flying after campaigns to promote steaks and the drive for mince continues unabated.

Top was £1260 for three well grown, shapely, yet lean near pure Charolais steers from KLH Sweet, East Huntspill. Further quality Charolais steers £1200 (2x 24m & FA) EJ Collins & Son, Chard; £1200 again (2x 23m & FA) and £1130 (2x 23m & FA) KD Browse, Sampford Peverell; £1125 (27/29m & FA) £1025 (4x 27/29m & FA) and £1020 (6x 27m & FA) AJ & MJ Rodd, Lapford; £1045 (19m & FA) AW Selley & Son, Ash Mill and £1015 (24m & FA) Kibbear Farm Partners, Taunton. Top drawer, red, lean Limousin steer at £1240 (22m & FA) from PA Strawbridge, Offwell, who sold another at £1125 (22m & FA). Very smart bunch of red Limousin steers at £1200 (5x 22/24m & FA) from ME Sampson & Son, Upottery. Further better Limousin steers at £1165 (2x 24m) and £1135 (23/25m) FJ Tucker, Hutton; £1145 (only 14m) £1135 (23m) and £1005 (23m) LR House, Dunwear; £1105 (2x 20m) PFJ Saunders, Hemyock; £1095 (only 14m & FA) £1075 (3x only 12/13m & FA) £1035 (3x only 12/13m & FA) and £995 (only 12m & FA) DC & SA Martin, Truro; £1090 (24/25m & FA) SR Bishop & Son, South Perrot; £1060 (23m & FA) RC Rowe & Son, Upottery and £1020 (19m & FA) SJ & EH Coles, Edingworth. Blue steers peaked at £1150 (20m) from LR House again. Fit Blue steer at £1145 (16m & FA) SER Hunt, Kilve. Better Blues £1125 (2x 24m & FA) DH & KM Edwards & FA Ford, Banwell; £1055 (26m & FA) MC Durbin, Compton Martin; £1040 (2x only 12/13m & FA) DC & SA Martin again; £1040 again (2x 24m & FA) Kibbear Farm Partners again; £1025 (29m & FA) AJ & MJ Rodd again and £1000 (2x 19m & FA) AW Selley & Son again. Forward pure Simmental at £1150 (23m & FA) from DH & KM Edwards & FA Ford again. Good red Simmental steer £1120 (20m & FA) PK & RJ Heard, Cheriton Fitzpaine. Warm Simmentals £1015 (4x 26/27m & FA) ND & RA Pearce, Chew Stoke. Top quality Blonde steers at £1125 (only 12/13m & FA) from DC & SA Martin again. Others £1015 (20m & FA) Kibbear Farm Partners again.

Native steers rose to £1170 for a fleshed Hereford (23m, FA & sire) from DH & KM Edwards & FA Ford again. Forward Hereford at £1060 (22m, FA & sire) from Holsworthy. Smart bunch of grazing Herefords at £990 (5x 20/23m, FA & sire) from Kibbear Farm Partners again. Angus rose to £1125 (26m, FA & sire) from Arscott Partners, who sold another at £1095 (18m, FA & sire). Feeding Angus at £1025 (5x 26m & sire) WR & NA Rich, Colyton. Grazing Angus £1020 (2x 24m, FA & sire) Dimond Farming Ltd, Sherborne and £1000 (19/20m, FA & sire) Kibbear Farm Partnership again. Good South Devon steers to £1045 (26/27m & FA) from RD Middleton & Son, Ashreigney. Devon steers to £990 for a pure fleshed type (20m) from L Hodeson, Wiveliscombe, who sold another at £960 (24m). Forward dairy bred Devons at £980 (2x 23m, FA & sires) RH & AM Turner, Stockland.

Dairy bred steers a tremendous trade to £1100 for a giant Friesian (74m) from A Eddy & Son, Penzance, who sold another at £890 (27m). Well grown Holstein at £905 (25/27m & FA) from AF & AH Powell, Blagdon. Run of good Friesians at £895 (29m & FA) £800 (4x 17/20m & FA) £800 (6x 17/20m & FA) and £725 (8x 16/18m & FA) from D & S Williams & Son, Priddy. Further Friesians £865 (3x 27m & FA) £850 (3x 24m & FA) and £790 (28m & FA) RC & K Wright & Son, Dunkeswell; £845 (26/28m & FA) £815 (30/31m & FA) and £770 (27/28m & FA) DR Loveridge & Son, Weymouth. Further framed Holsteins £800 (3x 22/23m) DJ & J Keedwell, Winford; £795 (20m & FA) and £770 (19/22m & FA) CM Parker & IF Burnett, Templeton; £795 (5x 18/23m & FA) CG & WL Rich & Son, Yarcombe and £780 (9x 15/19m & FA) from AJ & RA Turner, Axminster.

Fleshed heifers in great demand to £1195 (19m) for a Limousin from LR House, Dunwear, who sold others at £1135 (23m) £1125 (19m) and £1115 (15/16m) who also sold a Blue at £1135 (23m). Further fleshed Limousins at £1135 (2x 25m & FA) R Westbury Agri Contractors, Chepstow. Shapely red feeding Limousins at £1125 (22/23m & FA) from PA Strawbridge again. Well bred feeding Charolais at £1120 (19m & FA) £1090 (23m & FA) and £1080 (21/24m & FA) from KD Browse, Uplowman. Forward Charolais at £1105 (4x 20/24m & FA) and £990 (5x 20m & FA) SJ & SJ Church, Mark. Smart Limousins at £1095 (3x 19/20m & FA) from SR Bishop & Son, South Perrott. Top drawer Limousin cross Blues at £1050 (only 12/14m & FA) from DC & SA Martin again. Young, fit Blue heifers at £1040 (18m & FA) £1020 (15m & FA) and £985 (20m & FA) from SER Hunt, Kilve. Forward Blue at £1025 (21m & FA) from FG, NK & AJ Gammon, Tolland, who sold another at £995 (19m & FA). Lean, shapely Blues at £1015 (18/22m) R Langley, Spreyton. Good Simmental heifers at £990 (3x 17/22m & FA) from PK & RJ Heard again.

Native heifers to £1040 for a fit Hereford (25m & FA) from St Ives. Fit Angus heifers at £1035 (4x 28m & FA) RC Rowe & Son again; £1035 again (3x 16/21m & FA) PK & RJ Heard again and £995 (3x 19/20m, FA & sire) Arscott Partners again. Further well grown Angus £925 (37m) Manor Farms; £900 (3x 19/20m & sire) AP Ractliffe, Gloucester and £895 (5x 21/24m, FA & sire) AF & AH Powell again. Smart South Devons at £980 (3x 25/26m & FA) RD Middleton & Son again. Hereford heifers to £895 (3x 25/26m & FA) from SL & TA Bell, Otterhampton. Others £885 (30m) from Manor Farm.

6 Grazing Cows (pre-movement tested). Auctioneer's comments:

Greenslade Taylor Hunt report grazing cows on fire to £1000 twice. Firstly for a shapely, lean, Simmental from R Langley, Spreyton. Again for a fleshed Holstein heifer (24m & FA) from FAW Bakers Kingston, Crewkerne, who sold another at £965 (25m & FA). Hereford cow at £930 from Manor Farm.

267 Busk Calves and Stirks. Auctioneer's comments:

Greenslade Taylor Hunt report a reasonable entry of stirks in terms of numbers, when there was an abundance of quality forward sold to an electric trade.

Top price of £900 (12m) for a Limousin steer from JC & JCM Carroll. Further good Limousins to £885 (9m) £758 (3x 9m) £700 (9m) RJ & SR Bunn; £860 (11m) £825 (12m) £805 (11m) AT Dawe; £770 (13m) £695 J & S Creed & Doyle; £765 (2x 9m) £755 (3x 10m) RAD Legg; £765 (3x 11m) and £730 (11m) PR Nicholls and £745 (13m) JC Salmon. British Blues to £865 (3x 14m) JC Salmon, who sold further good Blues to £795 (2x 13m) £795 (3x 12m) £775 (2x 14m) £775 (2x 13m) £770 (4x 14m) and £762 (14m). Further British Blues to £820 (3x 16m) R & F Barrow & Son; £760 (10m) £755 (10m) £650 (9m) R Langley and £750 (14m) CDT Sobey. Pure Simmentals shot to £855 (5x 11m) R & J Cook. South Devons in demand to £835 (11m) P Hutchings, who sold others to £740 (4x 11m). Charolais to £790 (13m) CDT Sobey again, when others with shape sold to £780 (2x 9m) £770 (10m) and £755 (11m) EA & DA Ellis. Herefords shot to £755 (3x 11m) RC Hutchings, when others sold to £660 (2x only 6m) RJ Sparshott. Blondes to £745 (11m) EA & DA Ellis, when others sold to £675 (3x 11m) RM Prouse.

Few Angus forward sold to £675 (2x) AC & PVJ Purchase.

Holstein Friesian steers in strong demand sold to £495 and £440 (8m) Bendle & Linton; £455 (2x 7m) and £395 (2x 7m) WJ Harraway, when pure Friesians sold to £420 (8m) TE & SJ Popham; £405 (7m) and £400 (2x 7m) MJ & RD Russell. Bulls sold to £400 (5x 7m) SJ Perry.

Heifers sold to a top price of £855 (9m) for a British Blue with shape from R Langley, who sold further good Blues to £835 (10m) £760 (10m) and £650 (9m). Further British Blues to £840 JC Salmon; £690 PJ Etheridge and £575 (11m) R & F Barrow & Son. Quality Limousin with shape (halter trained) shot to £850 (10m) RJ & SR Bunn, who sold further good Limousins to £660 (3x 10m) and £620 (2x 8m). Further Limousins to £770 (11m) PR Nicholls, £770 (2x 11m) and £740 (11m) AT Dawe; £655 (2x 15m) RAD Legg. Parthenaise to £770 (12m) D Brice. Blondes to £720 (2x 13m) EA & DA Ellis, who sold others to £680 (12m).

Angus in demand to £580 (6x 13m) G & D Purchase, when others sold to £520 (10m) RLG Long and £505 (8m) EA & DA Ellis. Charolais to £692 (8m) EA & DA Ellis.

277 Non-export Calves. Auctioneer's comments:

Beef Breeds (238) – not able to be exported from market

Greenslade Taylor Hunt report a smaller entry for the bank holiday weekend sold to a fierce trade with competition for all types. Top of the day was £415 for a 12 week Limousin bull from Billingsmoor Ltd, who sold other younger Limousins to £290 and £242. Other fresh Limousin bulls sold to £275 and £265 from Baker & Son. Blue bulls to £360 from DAJ & JM Down; £356 from J & EM Phillips; £350 from DAJ & JM Down again and £348 from Hill Partners. A smart Simmental bull from W & EA Tratt sold to £318 and another to £295. Other good Simmental bulls to £308 from JC & MJ Mayo & Son.

Native bulls to £385 for a pair of Angus from N & C Holland & Son. A shapely young Angus from RJ & MA Curtis to £300, matched by J & EM Phillips & Son for the same. Young Hereford bulls to £340 from Billingsmoor Ltd, matched by A Wiggins for the same. Other Herefords to £285 from Arrijan Farming.

Continental heifers topped at £350 from RJ Head & Son for a 3m Blue. Similar Blue heifers to £330 from RJ & GJ Tucker and £315 from RJ Head & Son again. Limousin heifers to £345 from RJ & GJ Tucker, who sold another to £315. Young Limousin heifer to £300 from RJ Stitch. Simmental heifers to £270 (2x) from AA & JM Churchill & Son. Young Simmentals to £248 from JC & MJ Mayo. A small number of Charolais heifers sold to £240 and £238 from RD Knight & Son.

A continued demand for native heifers when a 3 month Hereford heifer sold to £340 from Billingsmoor Ltd. Other younger Hereford heifers to £250 from NF & CO Ellis & Sons and £245 from Arrijan Farming. Angus heifers to £248 (3x) from N & C Holland & Son. Others to £220 (2x) from RL & ME Trott and £190 from AW Hewlett & Son.

Friesians (39) – not able to be exported from market

Greenslade Taylor Hunt report another strong dairy sired trade when the best sold to £155 (2x) from P & C Wyatt. Other black and whites to £100 from RL & ME Trott and £93 from WT & EA Tratt. Norwegian Red to £100 from J & D Tillbee. Fleckvieh £170 from RF & BA Larcombe.

1482 Sheep. Auctioneer's comments:

Greenslade Taylor Hunt report the following sheep trades:-

Store Lambs (497)

A larger entry of 497 store lambs sold to an even stronger trade for both late season hoggs and the new season store lambs. Top price of £96.50 went to RF Lee & Son. Others to £96 from SJ & JB Clatworthy; £95 from R & K Dorpman; £94 from AP Carter and BS Lang; £93.50 from A Dagger and F Farmer; £93 and £89.50 from Beeswax Dyson Farming; £90.50 from W Bowen; £90 from GI Mayes; £89 from J Beach; £88 from R Stevens & Co and £87.50 from FJ Broom & Partners. Overall average up to £79.09.

Cull Ewes and Rams (549)

A similar sized entry of 549 cull ewes and rams sold to a noticeably dearer trade for all forward, when again the smaller types looked particularly strong money in comparison to the best ewes. Best continental ewes topped at £109 from C Tooze. Other best ewes to £107 from SJ & JB Clatworthy; £104 from MH Miller and Dimond Farming Ltd; £100 from DT Hayes; £96 from DH Westmore; £97 from FH & DB Gibbons & Son. Cull rams sold to £135 from GT Warren Farming, when others sold to £124, £110 and £100 from A Dagger and £101 from GJ Warren Farming. Mediums ewes £60-£80. Leaner types £40-£60 and boners generally £30 plus. Overall average up to £81.34.

Goats (8)

A small entry of 8 goats sold to £96.50 for a billy from DWJ Skinner, when others sold to £70 from the same Vendor.

Couples (165 Ewes & 263 Lambs)

A slightly larger entry of couples, when 165 ewes with 263 lambs at foot were presented. All grades of stock sold to a strong trade, when many more could have been sold to advantage. Topping the sale was a cracking pen of doubles from RG Stitch, which achieved £230 (£76.67/life). Others to £222 (£74/life) from J & G Howieson; £212 (£70.67/life) from AP & PJ Neads and £200 (£66.67/life) from D Takle. Singles rose to £182 (£91/life) from RG Stitch. Others sold to £165 (£82.50/life) from J & G Howieson and £150 (£75/life) from R & D Passmore. Large bunches from DL & ME Gillard met fierce demand and sold to £198 (£67/life) for 22 ewes with 43 lambs and £192 (£68.92/life) for 42 ewes with 75 lambs. This proves – big bunches sell well! Overall average rising further to £65.92/life.

123 Pigs. Auctioneer's comments:

Greenslade Taylor Hunt report cull sows and boars really difficult to place yet everything else sold really well. An excellent weaner trade topped at £44 and £42 from SG Stacey, Dulverton. Others £42 from MJ Hodges, Honiton.

Lightweight store pigs to £74 from PF & HJ Cole, Launceston and £72 from R Everitt, Pembrokeshire.

Breeding gilts to £145 from N Tope & Sons, Totnes and £130 from AW Acreman, Gloucester.

Forward stores to £120 from N Tope & Sons, Totnes. Sows to £125 from RJ Maltby, Dorchester and £100 (2x) from LE Miller & Son.