Fort William Tup Sale 2021

FORT WILLIAM

Averages:

Blackface – 74 ram lambs, £564.59 (-£26.37 for 22 more sold); 245 shearling rams, £497.43 (+£144.81 for 40 more); 45 two shears, £347.67 (+£173.29 for 29 more); 26 three-shears, £342.31 (+£65.39 for 13 more); three aged, £316.67 (+£134.17).

More than 60 head of sheep sold at four-figure prices at a Blackface ram and multi-breed tup sale at Fort William, where a high of £4500 was achieved for a lamb from Ian Hunter, Dalchirla, Crieff.

All bar two of the top sellers were Blackies, with the sale leader being a son of a £24,000 Connachan out of a ewe by Boris, a home-bred son of a £10,000 Nunnerie. He sold to Martin Wood, West Bracklinn, Callendar.

Dalchirla also produced the second top priced shearling at £2500. He is a £45,000 Nunnerie, and was knocked down to David Johnstone, farm manager of Ballindalloch Estate, Ballindalloch.

Shearling rams and tup lambs from Willie Dunlop and sons, Quintin and William, Elmscleugh, Dunbar, also sold well with the former peaking at £3000 for a son of a £70,000 Glenrath. The buyer was M Hannah, 2 Drumfern, Isle of Skye.

Top price for Elmscleugh lambs was £3200 paid for a son of the £80,000 Allanfauld lamb bought last year. He headed home with Messrs Little, Letar, Callendar.

Two other Blackface lambs sold for £3000, with the first, from Archie and John MacGregor, Allanfauld, Kilsyth, selling to Jimmy and Graeme Sinclair, Crookston, Heriot. The lamb, brought out by Davie Kinloch, is by a £9000 Dalchirla.

Later, Hugh and Alan Blackwood, Auldhouseburn, Muirkirk, received the same money for a lamb by a 30,000gns McCurdy bought at Ballymena last year, purchased by John Carruthers, Silloans, Rochester.

Other breeds peaked at £1000 for a cross-bred ram from Balmaglaster, Spean Bridge and a Bluefaced Leicester from Crookston.

LEADING prices

BF ram lambs – Dalchirla, £4500, £1600; Elmscleugh, £3200, £1400, £1200; Allanfauld, £3000; Auldhouseburn, £3000, £1500, £1200; Dalblair, £2400, £2100, £1100; Midlock, £2000; Greenside, £1200; Killoch, £1000.

BF shearlings – Elmscleugh, £3000, £1700, £1000; Dalchirla £2500, £1800, £1600, £1400, £1000; Midlock £2000, £1700; Clashnoir £1500 (x2), £1050; The Beeches, £1400.

BF two-shears – Dunalastair Estate, £1000; Craig £800; Shenlarich, £700 (x2); Aitkenhead, £600.

BF three-shear – Dalbuiack, £800; Aitkenhead, £600; Dall, £500.

BF aged – Balrazzie, £550.

Auctioneers: Dingwall and Highland Marts