Grant Anderson, Commercial Sales Manager at Harrison & Hetherington discusses the Spring sales season and looks forward to the Summer pedigree sales.
“The beginning of July coincides with the start of the main pedigree sheep sales, and during the next few weeks we will see these sales gaining momentum for what is one of the key trading periods of the year for the sheep sector.
In recent weeks we have held several online specialist sales, with a number still to come, and for many vendors this is now a preferred method of selling their stock as it does not take them away from their farm.
Traditionally, this is a quieter time of year, so it opens up the opportunity for these pedigree sales, for both vendors and purchasers. We are experiencing strong demand, and May saw plenty sheep sales with a fantastic offering of ewes with lambs at foot, previous year lambs, shearlings and dry hoggs too. We tend to get a lot of shearling female and ram lambs through May and June, and then move more to rams in July.
We are expecting trade to remain strong through the summer following the Government’s announcement that, in a bid to support farmers with cost pressures caused by demand and the worldwide economic instability, Direct Payments will hereby be paid in two instalments each year for the remainder of the transition period to help farmers with their cashflow. This means that the first payment will be made from the end of July with the second following from December. This will hopefully allow more farmers freedom to invest in these summer sales and take full advantage of the phenomenal stock on offer.
Our online sales are mainly requested by the vendors, especially the Irish breeders who cannot come across here as easily and freely as they used to because of Brexit conditions. These sales allow us to accommodate them. They want a market with a recognised brand and here at Harrison & Hetherington we have an outstanding reputation for selling pedigree stock.
Prime cattle numbers have been good for the time of year; however, I think on the whole, that numbers have not been as fruitful as abattoirs would have liked. Demand is higher than supply at the moment. There are less cattle around hence the prices – we continue to see record prices week after week, which is fantastic for sellers.
What we do need to watch as a market, is with people looking at economies of scale, people are choosing the less expansive systems and going for quality over quantity. On a positive note, we are now sending entry forms out for most of our August sales, and it looks like numbers are going to remain similar for the year. Trade wise, we are expecting to see prices in a similar ballpark to 2021.
In terms of store cattle, as people fear increasing winter costs and a perhaps a drop in trade, we are seeing cattle being brought forward and sold earlier than normal. Here at Borderway we were expecting June to be as usual a relatively quiet month, however we saw strong numbers throughout June and going into July this looks set to continue. This is a definite change from the norm. Producers are keen not to put all their eggs in one basket and are looking to capitalise on the current good trading levels, by selling stock early in the season.
On the sheep front, prime lamb sales have been excellent. On average we started off less than last year, but the quality and numbers have been very good with the majority of consumers looking for new season lamb. Prices are around £15 per head, ahead of last year and looking ahead, supply and demand will certainly be driven by external factors and input costs.
In terms of what people are buying, quality rams and females will surely shine as people are looking to invest in superior breeding stock to improve their flock’s productivity. We are also seeing a shift in the commercial market towards breeds that were, in the past, looked upon more as a hobby breed. When they first arrived, for example, the Dutch Spotted was viewed as a novelty breed, but now they are well established as commercial terminal sires.
As in previous years, a major highlight of August, are the Suffolk and Beltex ram sales along with the continental and traditional tup sales and this year will I am sure be no exception. People are also realising that there is a premium for top end quality which helps drive the market. When their stock sells well, they have more money in their back pockets to invest the following year, so it’s a continuing investment.
Overall, the markets are good, and looking ahead without a doubt, the biggest influences are going to be the weather – hopefully it stays fine and farmers get a decent harvest – and how they can manage increasing input costs. Margins are going to be extremely tight and it’s going to be more of a case of seeing how farmers handle this. Thankfully in the short term, the recent rains and warm weather have been great for livestock which are all thriving.