A SHORTER entry of very commercial finished cattle met a more cautious trade in line with that of the falling deadweight price at the livestock sale in Ross-on-Wye on Monday, May 11.

However, auctioneers RG and RB Williams report that demand remained consistent throughout the sale with steers topping out at £2,573 per head.

Meanwhile cattle remained keenly sought after by retail buyers, with prices ranging between 340p and 418p per kilogramme.

There were few traditional butcher-type native heifers and steers forward sold well either side of 300p per kilogramme.

The auctioneer suggested that more cattle could have been easily sold to this electric trade. The overall average price of finished cattle was £1,916 representing 329p per kilogramme.

The top vendors were EJ & JM Westoby & Sons, Brooklands and DE & SJ Cheacker of Ostbridge Manor Farm.

A nice entry of cull cows peaked at £1,929 per head, representing 289p per kilogramme.

Many quality sorts sold between £1,750 and £1,929 while leaner cows traded hands either side of 220p per kilogramme.

The overall average price of cows was £1,867 representing 271p per kilogramme. The top vendors were GH & GG Savidge of Dean Common farm and J Howells of Colethrop Court Farm.

Another large entry of spring lambs met strong competition from start to finish peaking at £222 representing 495p per kilogramme.

Many large runs of spring lambs were presented by local farmers with strong demand shown throughout. Lambs topped at 495p per kilogramme representing £222 per head.

Strongest demand was shown for lambs weighing between 36kg and 41kg export lambs which sold between 470p and 495p per kilogramme.

However, the entry was dominated by heavier sort of lambs with all those weighing more than 43kg trading between £200 and £222.

The overall average price of lambs was £193p/head. The top vendors were L Reynolds of Beauville Farm and EJ & JM Westoby & Sons of Brooklands.