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This unseasonably warm weather isn't something I'm liking at all, and like most folk, I'm sick to the back teeth of this blooming rain.

It’s been a week of ups and downs. The retained hoggs were fluke and vitamin drenched at the weekend and considering the wet weather, they’re not looking too bad.

We’re in the throes of lambing the Suffolks which held to AI. At one point I have to admit I could have thrown the towel in and sold the lot after a disastrous 24 hours in the lambing shed. I'm over it now - it’s amazing what a night’s sleep and a couple of decent lambs can do to rally your optimism and enthusiasm.

I'm finding it hard to believe Christmas is at the end of this week! I’m sure most people like us will be pushing on to get as much feeding up and scraping out done before the big day. I plan to toddle out between copious amounts of turkey and the odd glass, to check on the lambs and lambers, but that will be it!!.

If you’re dairy farming of course, it’s business as usual either end of the day, and unfortunately at present, with little reward for the effort. But even those who have decided to get out, it is only the better end of fresh calvers which are making anything like decent money, and most dairy auctioneers will tell you it is an uphill job selling anything 'run of the mill'.

A few sales coming up over the next week or two are:
  • Saturday, December 28 – Store and breeding cattle sale at Bakewell Livestock Mart.
  • Sunday, December 29 – Weekly Sale of prime sheep, including young handlers show and sale of prime lambs at NWA, Lancaster Mart.
  • Tuesday, January 5, 2016 – A Mart's the Heart supported sale of Welsh Black pedigree cattle at Dolgellau Mart.
Have a happy and healthy Christmas and New Year.

Steph Ryder
Head of Commercial Sales & Development, Farmers Guardian
Well the weekend was eventful with one of our best Simmental calves looking like it has taken a kick in the mouth, unfortunately breaking its jaw. The best part of Saturday night was spent with the vet stitching and tying it back in place! Unbelievably he is sucking again, so fingers crossed he makes a full recovery.


We brought the lambing ewes inside and not a moment too soon as on Monday night a ewe carrying triplets lambed. A few days early, but all alive and well thankfully.

The pedigree in-lamb sales I attended saw fair trade, anything decent making good money. Particularly strong trade was seen for Beltex ewe lambs and in-lambers at Carlisle, where they reached 1,900gns and 2,500gns respectively.

The Red Ladies sale saw trade topping at 24,000gns for a young cow, in-calf again, and a very smart weaned bull calf made 10,000gns. I'd say trade overall was firm throughout, with a clearance of almost 90 per cent. The prime lamb trade seems to be up and down depending where in the country you are – so best not to comment further!

Sales coming up:
  • Friday, December 18, The Christmas Lights pedigree Texel sale at Llandovery Market
  • Monday, December 21, Skipton's annual Christmas sale of dressed poultry
  • Tuesday, December 22, sale of primestock, from 7am, at Longton auction market
Hope you manage to find time to get all your Christmas shopping done!
Steph Ryder

Head of Commercial Sales & Development, Farmers Guardian
Well what a horrific time for those affected by the floods! Living so close to the river, we had a sleepless Saturday night. We were fortunate though. Although the beck at the back of us came up into the yard and found a route through one of the outbuildings, we still managed to keep the house water-free.

On a positive note, horrendous situations like this get farming communities pulling together. If you want to support farmers whose livestock are now in need of forage or bedding, then please click here to go to the Forage Aid website.

Some encouraging prices were seen over the weekend for pedigree Texel and Suffolk gimmers. Suffolks topped at 9,000gns for Gary Beacom, Texels at 22,000gns for Jim Innes, and Blue Texels at 9,500gns for Steve and Sarah Gibbons.

It's also been a reasonable week for commercial
sheep sales, with the prime market holding up – and even increasing for the best lambs in some markets – and the store lamb trade remaining firm. Even though Christmas sales tend to distort the prime cattle averages a little, no-one seems to have seen any big boost in the underlying trade in the run-up to Christmas, which is disappointing.

Some sales to look out for this next week:
  • Friday, December 11, continental in-lamb sheep sale, a Mart's the Heart-supported sale, at Borderway Mart, Carlisle.
  • Friday, December 11, combination dispersal of two NMR-recorded Holstein Friesians at Beeston Castle.
  • Saturday, December 12, select seven sale of 134 Texel in-lamb gimmers at Lanark.
  • Tuesday, December 15, dispersal sale of tractors, trailers, grassland and cultivation equipment, dairy cattle sundries, and a large range of sundry items. Sold by Barbers, in conjunction with Fisher German, on-farm at Caldecott Farm, Farndon, CH3 6PE.
Bye for now,
Steph Ryder
Head of Commercial Sales & Development, Farmers Guardian
What a soggy start to December! We have brought the Suffolks, which are due to lamb around Christmas, closer to home. We've started giving them a tickle of feed now and jabbed them with a anti-cloistral vaccine. Preparations of the lambing barn are under way, so all being well, we can think about bringing them inside in the next couple of weeks.

There have been a few new additions to the place, a healthy Charolais heifer calf from one of the favourite cows and three black Runner ducks, which were an early Christmas present! They are housed with some other Indian Runners and fit in well. All of them are crazy and highly strung like you wouldn't believe! It’s impossible not to laugh at the pure panic they fall into every time you come across them.

Now the Christmas shows and sales are getting into full swing there have, and will be, some eye-watering prices paid for the primestock champions by all those butchers who are happy to support the markets and the exhibitors lucky enough to win. Good job their shop customers don’t have to pay the pro-rata price for the Sunday roasts! It’s great to see all those fantastically turned-out animals.

Sales to look out for this week are:




  • Friday, December 4, machinery sale with about 1,100 lots. Halls at Shrewsbury Auction Centre.
  • Friday, December 4, Suffolk sheep dark diamond sale at H&H Borderway Mart, Carlisle, 3pm.
  • Friday, December 4, Christmas show and sale of 50 calves and 100 dairy cattle, Mitchells, Lakeland Livestock Centre.
  • Sunday, December 6, and Monday, December 7, Mart's the Heart Christmas primestock show and sale, Bagshaws at Bakewell Livestock Centre

    All the best,
    Steph Ryder
    Head of Commercial Sales & Development, Farmers Guardian

    P.S. This week's issue of Farmers Guardian includes our hotly-anticipated A1 wall planner, with all the main agricultural dates you'll need for 2016. It's sure to sell fast, so make sure you don't miss out.





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