Suffolks sold to 20,000gn at the national Scottish area show and sale in Stirling.
Averages were up by £413 on last year’s fixture, with 139 lots selling to average £2,131.
The sale topper was a third-prize winning ram lamb from the Ballynacanon flock, which is run by Denis Taylor in Coleraine, Co Londonderry.
The January-born lamb, which is an embryo son of Ballynacanon Discovery and out of a ewe by Strathisla Shadrach, sold in a three-way split to fellow Northern Irish breeders Stephen Sufferin, of Maghera, J. Grant, of Cookstown, and P. Grant, of Newry.
The next best price of 16,000gn was paid twice. First at this price was a ram lamb from Jim Innes’s Strathbogie flock at Dunscroft, near Huntly, which was crowned best bred in Scotland at the pre-sale show.
The January-born lamb, which is an embryo son of the 19,000gn Muirton One Direction and out of a Deveronside ewe by Strathisla Speed, sold in a two-way split to Iain and Judith Barbour’s Solwaybank flock at Annan, Dumfries, and D.P. and R.A. Delves’s Bridgeview flock at Powys, Wales.
Next at 16,000gn was a ram lamb from John Gibb’s Cairnton flock at New Pitsligo, Fraserburgh. The January-born lamb is a son of Baileys Rock Solid out of a ewe by Cairnton The Cracker. He sold to Jimmy Douglas who runs the Cairness flock at Woodhead of Cairness, Fraserburgh.
The next best price of 13,000gn was paid for a January-born ram lamb from Andrew Wilson’s Castleisle flock in Co Donegal. This embryo son of Birness Murray, out of a ewe by Limestone To-Tal, sold in a two-way split to Aberdeenshire breeders. The buyers were Jimmy Young, who runs the Muirton flock at Corse, near Alford, and Stewart Duncan, who runs the Pennan flock at Jacobshall, Gamrie.
Other leading prices included 11,000gn for a Birness Murray son out of a ewe by Cairness Liam from S. and W. Tait’s Burnview flock at Co Tyrone. This one sold to T. Irwin and Son who run the Kings flock in Devon.
The Taits also achieved 8,000gn for their reserve supreme champion, a January-born son of the 5,500gn Birness Murray and out of a ewe by Forkins Ferrari II. He sold to Julia Cornish of Buckfastleigh, Devon.
Lastly, the supreme champion, a December-2015 son of Cairness Ignition and out of a ewe by Strathisla Sea Bird, from Alfred and Norman Robinson’s Benrafton flock in Co Down, sold for 10,000gn to M. L. Evans, Tower Gate Farm, Keighley.
Leading averages from north-east flocks were (flock, number sold, top, average): Deveronside, three, 1,100gn, £700; Strathbogie, five, 16,000gn, £5,775; Tillydesk, two, 600gn, £525; Slackadale, two, 600gn, £577.50; Middlemuir, one, 700gn, £730; Birness, nine, 2,800gn, £1,120; Bullers, two, 400gn, £420; Balquhain, four, 2,000gn, £958.13; Muirton, six, 2,000gn, £1,067.50; Cairness, 10, 1,800gn, £698.25; Cairnton, three, 16,000gn, £5,950.