The Farmers Mart Jun/Jul 2014 - Issue 34 | Page 43

LEYBURN AUCTION MART

Dales there really isn’t much of
an alternative and our farmers
are forever optimistic come
what may. They will always put
the tup out during the back-end
and farm for the future rather
than worrying about the past.”
Stephen told me that nearly
every livestock market around
the UK has reported good
prices in the past two and a
half years with the occasional
blip along the way and Leyburn
has been no different.

‘If stock is
good quality, it
will sell well’
“Most sections are still
buoyant,” he said. “Stores in
both sheep and cattle are
selling well and prime sheep
are still performing strongly
too. We don’t sell too many fat
cattle in Leyburn and they are
struggling just a little but on the
whole trade is good. We have

a reputation for bringing in the
buyers and on prime sheep we
have around a dozen around
the ring every week. “Store
cattle are a big thing for us
and are sold once a fortnight
with anywhere between 30-40
buyers. Interestingly, most
store cattle buyers are now
buying for themselves. There
are very few agents these days
and that’s quite a change from
pre-FMD times.
‘The horsemeat scandal last
year helped the prime sheep.
There was a rush for British
farmers selling red meat and
that meant prices rose rapidly
at this time in 2013 - just as the
first fat lambs of that season
were hitting the market. They
have largely stayed up since.”
Although many dairy farmers
in Wensleydale and Swaledale
have now left the industry,
Leyburn still runs a monthly
dairy sale.
“We used to have a weekly
sale but with fewer numbers

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‘Most cattle buyers are now
buying for themselves’
we have cut that back to
once a month, when we get
anywhere between 10 and 50
cows and because we’ve taken
it to monthly we do attract the
buyers. There is still the same
number of dairy cows in the
area, it’s just that they are now
in bigger herds.
“Whether farmers bring beef
cattle, sheep, fat lambs or dairy

cows, we will always find a
buyer. If stock is good quality
it will always sell well, but if
it’s moderate or less than that
it still gets sold, nothing ever
goes away unsold,” Stephen
added.
And as these comments are
tripping from Stephen’s lips and as if to emphasise his point
- a farmer passes by

FarmersMart Jun/Jul 2014

43