Another Happy New Year for Garnetts at Skipton

It was another Happy New Year for John and Judy Garnett at Skipton Auction Mart, as their pen of five Beltex-cross lambs landed the venue’s January prime lambs show championship title (Monday 4th January) for the second year running.

The news became even better for John and Judy, of Lane End Farm, Draughton, when the January 2010 championship-winning lambs sold for an impressive top show price of £109 per head, bought for Yorkshire Halal Meat Suppliers at Ossett.

YHMS also acquired the class-winning Mule & Masham pen, sent out by J. Drake of Carlton, for £84 per head and the Horned Class-winning Swaledales from Roy Nelson of C. Nelson & Sons at Bordley, near Hetton, which sold for £88 per head.

Stephen Pepper of Oxenhope sent out the overall Reserve Champions – a pen of Texel-cross lambs, which were the runners-up in the show’s Continental Class – and which later sold to Andrew Atkinson of Harrogate for £104 per head.

Across the board, top prices and average prices for 1,563 lambs and ewes were markedly better than the corresponding event in January 2009. The top sale price of 236p per kilo compared with 204p last year, while the overall average of 192p per kilo was more than 30p per kilo, or £12 per head, higher than at the same event 12 months ago.