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There was a strong demand for aged Blackface ewes from the bidders that squeezed around the ring in Gortin mart on Friday evening for the annual reduction sale from the flock of Seán Bradley from Draperstown, Co Derry.
On offer were 350 ewes that were a range of ages and were either mainly Lanark or Swaledale bred or a cross of the breeds. Top price on the night was £162 for a pen of ten Lanark-bred hoggets. The first pen of Lanarks in the ring made £142 with prices dropping off for the other three pens that sold from £128 to £112.
Lanark Swaledale-cross hoggets were sold first, with the top pen making £150 and overall six pens averaged £132. Demand reduced for the 60 purebred Swaledale sheep on offer with the first pen of hoggets selling for £100 and the highest-priced pen going for £128.
The older ewes on offer sold well accordingly with a pen of two and three-year-old cross bred hoggets selling for £150, with six pens averaging £132. Four-year-old ewes sold from £95 to £120 and three pens of broken-mouthed ewes guaranteed with correct udders all sold for £85.
Auctioneer Richard Beattie also sold five Lanark shearling from the flock with the top ram making 360 guineas and the five going for 300 guineas on average.
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