Sheep

TRADE at the Thame summer sheep sale, which was held over three days to reduce attendees on each day, was up across all sections by at least £14/head with some breeds up considerably more.

A new charity hoping to help farmers and their partners cope with mental illness has received a ‘significant’ donation from Prince Charles.

With environmental considerations at the heart of management decisions on his Shropshire farm, Hugh Pocock set about finding the best livestock for the job. Clemmie Gleeson reports.

The poor trade for previously sought cattle and sheep hides is having an impact on farmgate returns, with Quality Meat Scotland estimating that cattle hides have dropped in value by 60 per cent and sheep skins by 70 per cent over five years.

The National Sheep Association has planned a series of virtual events for 2020 and early 2021.

An Irishman, a Welshman and an Englishman travelled to Scotland to shear sheep and this month the young shearers hit their goal, each shearing 400 plus sheep in a day. Well done lads.

Tight supplies are supporting beef prices, but increases may be limited by poor processor returns.

Lamb prices remain above those of last year, although values have weakened a little in recent weeks.

With a long-standing passion for the stratified sheep breeding system in the UK, Derek Hall is keen to promote Bluefaced Leicester and Mule breeding. Hannah Park reports.