A GOOD entry of finished cattle met another fast and competitive trade at the Ross-on-Wye livestock market on Monday, October 19.

Auctioneers RG and RB Williams report that with finished cattle remaining in short supply nationally, buyers showed increased appetite throughout the sale, resulting in another excellent day's trading.

Steers topped the market at £2,990 per head from DM & CS Andrews from Glen Court Farm and heifers to £2,332 from DE & SJ Cheacker of Ostbridge Manor Farm who also had a superb run of Limousin cross heifers which attracted fierce competition and sold to 405p per kilogramme.

Retail and wholesale buyers remained keen to secure quality finished cattle, with well-finished Continental cattle regularly selling between 350p and 380p per kilogramme.

The auctioneer William Probert pointed out that more finished cattle are required to satisfy current market demand.

A nice entry of cull cows met a blistering trade peaking at 325p per kilogramme topping out at £3,049 from G E Phillips & Son from Dairy Farm with cows from the same vendor also selling to £2,733.

Young bulls topped at £2,168 from N Scudamore and averaging 355ppkg and proves that meat is money with more bulls required to meet demand.

A larger entry of lambs met a fast and furious trade especially on the handy weights, however heavy weights stepped up a gear from the end of the previous week.

Lambs peaked at £200 per head (372p per kilogramme).

Well-finished lambs weighing between 38kg and 43kgs were in greatest demand, generally selling between 350p – 372p per kilogramme.

Top price of the day was £200 per head for an excellent run of Texel lambs from Monnow Marquees. There continues to be strong demand from buyers for all weights and grades of well-finished lambs.

The overall average price of lambs was £157/head.