World records were broken at this year’s Scottish National Texel sale at Lanark Mart, with trade peaking at 350,000gns, the dearest price ever paid for a sheep.
In what would normally be a packed ringside, just 50 buyers were allowed around the ring, to adhere to social distancing rules.
However, with online bidding in place and auctioneers taking bids from outside the ring in the pens and the foyer, Lawrie and Symington managed to pull off a successful sale, which saw 283 ram lambs sell to average £4702.78 (+£1317 on the year).
Without doubt, the most talked about sheep in the market were those from the Boden family’s Sportsmans and Mellor Vale flocks from Stockport, Cheshire – all sons of Garngour Craftsman – which Charlie Boden bought for 65,000gns.
In particular, the pen number one, Sportsmans Double Diamond, proved popular. Out of a home-bred ewe by Plasucha Big Gun, he created a bidding war between two syndicates, with the hammer falling at 350,000gns, to Hugh and Alan Blackwood, Muirkirk; Procters Farm, Lancashire, and Jeff Teward in Darlington.
From the same pen, Sportsmans Dirty Harry sold at 50,000gns, to a team of five – Bruce Renwick, Legars, Kelso; the Arnotts at Haymount, Kelso; Donald MacPherson, Castlehills, Berwick-Upon-Tweed; the Nicolsons at Duns; and Robbie Wilson, North Dorlaithers, Turriff.
From their Mellor Vale flock, the Bodens sold Mellor Vale Déjà vu at 40,000gns, which went to Stuart Barclay at Insch, and John Forsyth, Glenside, Maybole. Robert Cockburn, Errol, forked out 28,000gns for Sportsmans Deal Breaker, another son of Garngour Craftsman, with Thomas Muirhead also taking a share for his Orchilmore flock at Blair Atholl.
The second top price of the sale was 65,000gns, paid for Hexel Django, a son of the 15,000gns Procters Chumba Wumba, from Donald MacPherson’s Kelso-based Hexel flock. He sold to the Knox family, Mid Haddo, Turriff; the Campbells at Argyll, and the Wights, Crawford.
On the other side of the coin, Graeme and Andrew Knox sold their best lamb, Haddo Dynamite, a son of the 8000gns Hexel Born To Be Wild, for 34,000gns, to fellow north breeders, Brian Buchan, Clinterty, New Aberdour, and Albert Howie, West Knock, Peterhead. Making that same price was Claybury Dunkirk, from James Draper, Shropshire.
A Strathbogie Cannonball son, sold to Archie and John MacGregor, Allanfauld, Kilsyth; Gordon and David Gray, Sunnycroft, Selkirk, and the Wights at Midlock.
Robbie Wilson, North Dorlaithers, Turriff, went on his own to pay 30,000gns for Teiglum Dancing Brave, a Procters Chumba Wumba son from Andrew Clark’s flock at Blackhill Farm, Carluke.