Over £3,000,000 worth of tups were sold at Kelso last week, with the average price of £710/head.

There was a full range of prices, with rams going for between £130 and £23,000/head.

Texel and Suffolk were still the most popular breeds, accounting for almost 60% of the tups for sale.

There was a busy ring at number 15, where Bluefaced Leicesters were being sold with the highest breed average of £1,008.95/head.Of the pure-bred sheep, over 55% were continental breeds.

Thousands of farmers attended the event, which showed off the breadth and quality of UK sheep breeding.

The bell to announce the start of the sale at 10am was rung by Border Union Agricultural Society’s secretary Ron Wilson for the last time before his retirement.