Aberdeen Christmas Classic champion sells for £5,000

Blue Texel ewe lambs sell to £600

A top price of £600 was achieved at the show and sale of prime lambs for 49.5kg Blue Texels from Faye Wilkie, Skene which sold to Grant Dinnie, Alford.

Next at £500/head were the reserve overall champions, a pair of 55kg Beltex cross ewe lambs by Woodies Chaos from Ellie Miller, Midmar.

The show was dominated by Rory Gregor, Thainstone who was the first exhibitor to rule supreme in all three sections - the open championship, the Young Farmers’ section and the butchers’ classes.

His open champions, a pair of 51.5kg, home-bred Beltex cross ewe lambs by a home-bred sire and out of three-quarter Beltex cross ewes, made £300/head. The buyer was the judge, Tom Hutchon of J.B. Penman Butchers, Crail who also paid £300/head for Mr Gregor’s pair of similarly bred 55kg butchers’ lambs.

Anna Forsyth of W.T.S. Forsyth Butchers, Peebles, bought the 51.5kg Young Farmers’ champion pair for £300/head.

Average - 128 head, 263p/kg (£122.62/head).

Limousin leads pedigree bulls at 4,600gns

Pedigree bulls met a selective trade topping at 4,600gns for the Limousin champion from Andrew Burnett, Blair Drummond, Stirling.
This was Spittalton Oban, a February 2018-born bull by Ampertaine Gigolo, out of the Haltcliffe Vermount-sired dam Spittalton Gerti which sold to Ballintomb Farms, Grantown-on-Spey.

Next at 3,600gns was the overall champion, a British Blue bull from Garry Patterson, Aultmore, Keith. By Bluegrass Cyclone, out of Aultmore Honey, this February 2018-born bull was knocked down to D. Whyte, Hindstones, Fraserburgh.

Selling for 3,400gns to D. and A. Bruce, Alford, was the similarly aged Limousin bull Murrays Oscar by Lodge Hamlet from Ian Murray, Banchory.

The Simmental champion from Brian and Stuart Grant, Inverness, made 3,000gns to D. and P. Petrie, West Maldron, Torphins, Banchory.

Centre record of 4,500gns matched for Texel gimmer

THE centre record of 4,500gns for a pedigree female sheep was matched by the reserve champion Texel gimmer, a Garngour Alabama daughter out of a Glenside Razzle Dazzle dam from Kenny Pratt’s Hilltop flock, Peterculter. It sold, scanned with twins to Sportsmans Chieftan to Jemma Green, Corskie.

Next at 4,000gns was the champion Texel, a gimmer by Mullan Armarni, in-lamb with twins to Deveronvale Aftershick from Graham Morrison of the Deveronvale flock, Cornhill. It sold to Roy Adams, Dee Valley flock, Banchory.

George and Melvin Stuart’s Birness Suffolk flock, Ellon, peaked at 3,800 for the champion from the pre-sale show, a gimmer by Limestone Legacy scanned due with twins to Castleisle Capaldi. It sold to telephone bidder, Paul Delves of the Bridgeview flock, Powys.

Martin Bignel, Islay, paid 3,000gns over the phone for the third prize ewe lamb from Birness. This was a daughter of the 7,000gns Castleisle Gareth.

Jimmy Douglas, Cairness, received 2,800gns from Lee Dunn, Muir of Ord, for a Suffolk gimmer by Cavanagrove Catalyst scanned with twins to Cairness A Star.

Averages - 30 Suffolk ewes, £345.67; 38 Suffolk gimmers, £761.84; 16 Suffolk ewe lambs, £700.63; 65 Texel gimmers, £749.85; 8 Texel ewe lambs, £641.25; 8 Bluefaced Leicester gimmers, £537.50; 4 Beltex ewes, £482.50; 20 Beltex gimmers, £528; 3 Beltex ewe lambs, £773.33; 3 Blue Texel gimmers, £900; overall 199 head, £641.01.

Auctioneers: Aberdeen and Northern Marts.