Lanark Ram Lamb Sale 2021

LANARK LAMBS

Averages:

155 ram lambs, £7665.06 (+£1951.50 for seven more sold).

Demand for Blackface ram lambs soared to some giddy heights on the second day at Lanark, when three broke the £100,000 bracket and averages increased just shy of £2000 on the year to £7665.57 for more sold.

Add to that another 27 five-figure prices and it was a sale few will forget and least not, Archie and John MacGregor, who added another 50 grand onto their previous best of £80,000 paid

last year for a tup lamb from Allanfauld, Kilsyth.

Setting the trade alight half-way through the sale was a lamb by Allanfauld Strike – an ET brother to the MacGregor £80,000 lamb sold in 2020 being a son of the £3500 Dalchirla shearling bought at Dalmally in 2019, bred from a ewe by a £100,000 Elmscleugh that was out of Lady Mac, the National Show winner at Stirling.

The £130,000 lamb is bred from a ewe by a £5500 Elmscleugh and sold in a two-way split to Alastair and David MacArthur, Nunnerie, Elvanfoot, and Hugh and Alan Blackwood, Auldhouseburn, Muirkirk.

The £80,000 Allanfauld lamb produced the goods for his purchasers, the Dunlops, from Elmscleugh and the McArthurs, of Nunnerie, with sons selling at £125,000 and £62,000 from the MacArthurs and £13,000 off Elmscleugh.

Producing a personal best for the 2100-ewe flock at Nunnerie, which had already bred two £100,000 tup lambs, when selling for £125,000, was this year’s show lamb. Coming with a red ticket from the Royal Highland Showcase and placed at Muirkirk, he is bred from a ewe by a £30,000 Midlock and sold in a three-way split to Willie Dunlop and sons, Quintin and William, Elmscleugh, Dunbar; John Murray, Crossflatt, Muirkirk; and Paul Coulson, High Staward, Hexham.

The next lamb, by the same sire but bred from a ewe by a £50,000 Dalwyne, made £62,000, to Allanfauld; Jimmy and Donald MacGregor, Dyke, Milton of Campsie; Duncan MacGregor, Burnhead, Queenzieburn; Eoin and Kirstyn Blackwood, Dalblair, Muirkirk; and Neil and Stuart Barclay, Harestone, Insch.

Another Nunnerie lamb by the £60,000 Loughash lamb bought here in 2020 in partnership with Midlock and Elmscleugh, made £16,000 to David Murray, Lurgan, Aberfeldy and Andrew Walker, Crammie, Glen Prosen. His dam is by a £100,000 Elmscleugh lamb bought at Dalmally.

It was also a red letter day for Northern Ireland breeders, John and Patrick Harkin, Loughash, Donemana, Co Tyrone, when they sold lambs at £100,000, £82,000 and £13,000. Dearest was the pen’s No 2, a son of the £38,000 Dalchirla lamb sold in 2020 at the Dalmally/Stirling sale, bred from a ewe by an £11,000 Nunnerie. He was knocked down in a two-way split to Auldhouseburn, with the Harkins paying £50,000 to retain a share.

The pen leader, a son of last year’s £20,000 Loughash, purchased by Veronica Fullerton, made £82,000 for the Harkins when selling solely to Auldhouseburn. He is out of a ewe by a £30,000 Loughash.

Veronica Fullerton, Draperstown, Northern Ireland, then went to £13,000 to buy Loughash’s No 5, again by the £38,000 Dalchirla.

There were more celebrations to come when the Dunlop family – Jamie, Matthew, Hannah and young Andrew – who run 400 ewes at Upper Wellwood, Muirkirk, sold a cracking pen of lambs to a top of £40,000 and £10,000. Both were sons of John Murray’s McCoy Look Alike, a home-bred son of a £150,000 Auldhouseburn, retained for breeding at Crossflatt and used on loan.

The former, bred from a ewe by an £11,000 Auldhouseburn, goes out to work at Glenrath, Peebles, owned by Ian Campbell and Tommy and Tam Renwick’s Clovenfords-based hill unit at Williamhope, with the Dunlops retaining a third share.

The £10,000 Upper Wellwood lamb, out of a daughter of a £28,000 Auldhouseburn, headed home with JJ McAllister, Cushendun.

Sons of the 2020 £13,000 Glenrath lamb bought by Dalblair, Elmscleugh and Auldhouseburn, at Dalmally, proved popular too, with ram lamb sales at £32,000 and £30,000.

Taking top slot here, following a £14,000 sale at Dalmally the previous week for another by the same sire, was the best from Eoin and Kirstyn Blackwood, Dalblair, which made £32,000 selling to Glenrath, Williamhope; Billy and Andrew Renwick, Blackhouse, Yarrow and Burncastle Farming Co, Lauder, managed by Alan Rogerson. The dam is by the show winning £52,000 Crossflatt lamb.

Earlier in the day, Auldhouseburn sold its No 2, again by the £13,000 Glenrath lamb, for £30,000, to Billy Grant, Craigdoo. His dam is by an £85,000 Auldhouseburn.

The pen leader from the Blackwoods, at Auldhouseburn, by the £70,000 Harestone lamb bought here in 2020 and out of a ewe by a £160,000 Elmscleugh, made £18,000 to Lewis Smith, Towiemore, Drummuir, Keith.

Ram lambs from the Dunlops’ Elmscleugh hirsel, from Dunbar, were in the money, too, with sales at £30,000, £18,000, £13,000 and £10,000.

Dearest was the pen’s No 4, a son of the 2020 £15,000 Dalchirla lamb, bred from a ewe by a home-bred son of a £20,000 Midlock. He goes out to work at Milnmark, Dalry, having been purchased by the Ramsay family.

Another by the £13,000 Glenrath lamb bought in 2020, made £18,000. This was the pen leader, bred from a ewe by a £50,000 Auldhouseburn, and purchased by John Murray, Crossflatt, Muirkirk, and High Staward.

Allanfauld, Dalblair and Malcolm Coubrough, Hartside Farms, Lamington, teamed up to buy Elmscleugh’s second lamb at £13,000, a son of the £80,000 Allanfauld bought in 2020 bred from a ewe by a home-bred son of a £4600 Greenside.

And, just behind, on £10,000, the Dunlops sold a son of a £38,000 Allanfauld lamb bought in 2020, out of a ewe by a £45,000 Midlock, to Willie and Ewan Bennie, Merkins, Gartocharn, and JN McNicol, Fechan, Dalry, Ayrshire.

There were more big bucks to come when ram lambs from the Wights – father Allan, son Allan and his son, Ben – at Midlock, Crawford, came to the ring.

Top price here was £26,000 paid for the No 2, a son of the £60,000 Loughash lamb bought here in 2020, bred from a ewe by a £25,000 Crossflatt. He sold to Auchnafree, Amulree, managed by Andy Scott; neighbouring breeder, Mary McCall Smith, Connachan, Crieff; and Andrew Campbell, Highland Livestock, Fort William.

Another by Midlock Stag – a home-bred son of an £8000 Dyke retained for breeding – made £13,000. Elmscleugh and Williamhope were the final bidders on this No 5 lamb bred from a ewe by a £22,000 Lurg shearling.

The pen leader from the Wights, by a grand-son of £24,000 Connachan and out of a ewe by a home-bred son of an £18,000 Crossflatt, made £11,000, when selling to Nunnerie and Andrew Kay and sons, Robert and Andrew, Gass, Straiton.

Making £9000, John and Patrick Harkin, bought back some of their own genetics from Midlock in a son of last year’s £60,000 Loughash.

Sons of the 2020 £34,000 Crossflatt Ayr Raid, bought at the Newton Stewart sale at Ayr, produced some crackers for Richard Carruthers’ 900-ewe Merkland flock, from Penpont, Thornhill, Dumfries-shire, with sales at £20,000 and £11,000 twice.

Tops here was the No 2, purchased by Karol McElhinney, Glenmore, who gets for his money a lamb bred from a ewe by a £4800 Auldhouseburn.

The two £11,000 Merkland lambs were bred from Auldhouseburn gimmers bought privately by a £160,000 Elmscleugh. The first and pen leader, sold to Upper Wellwood; Andrew and Ian Cullens, Dollarbank, Dollar; and Rory Kerr, The Glen, Low Gartocharn, Drymen.

Minutes later, Sanny Blackwood, Greenside, Muirkirk; John and Iain Finlay, Blackcraig, Corsock; and Jim and Fiona Burns, Craignell, New Galloway, went to the same money for Merkland’s third lamb.

Another two lambs sold for £13,000, with the first from Sam McClymont and sons, William and Scott, Tinnis, Yarrow, purchased by WS Robson and Co, Yatesfield, Otterburn. The breeding behind this big fella includes a £14,000 Glenrath bought at Lanark in 2020 as a lamb, onto a ewe by a £6500 Happrew.

Keeping it in the family, Alan McClymont and sons, Sam and Oli, Kirkstead, Yarrow, received the same money for another by the same sire but bred from a ewe by a £24,000 Dyke. He goes out to work at Parkhall, Douglas, having been knocked down to Andrew Provan and son, Andrew.

Jamie Pirie, who is better known for breeding Bluefaced Leicesters at Blarnavaid, Drymen, also got in on the action, forking out £12,000 for a son of £200,000 Dalchirla lamb, from Ian Campbell, Glenrath. Brought out by Steven Renwick and Ross Stevenson, his dam is a daughter of a £160,000 Elmscleugh.

Elmscleugh bought another two of the big sellers at £11,000 and £10,000, with the dearest being a son of a £15,000 Elmscleugh, from Paul Coulson, High Staward. His dam is by a £150,000 Auldhouseburn.

The second was from John Murray, Crossflatt, Muirkirk, who sold two at £10,000, having decided to keep his best lamb for breeding. It is by a 30,000gns James McCurdy ram bought at Ballymena, and bred from a ewe by a £90,000 Blackhouse lamb bought many moons ago.

Mr Murray’s No 3 lamb, by a £150,000 Auldhouseburn, made the same money when selling to Mr McCurdy. His dam is by a 7000gns McCurdy.

Another two lambs went under the hammer for £10,000 with the first, from Malcolm Coubrough’s Whelphill hirsel, from Crawford, brought out by Gordon McDougal. His pedigree features a £38,000 Allanfauld lamb bought in 2020, onto a ewe by a £15,000 Balliemeanoch. The buyers were Colin Little, East Bracklinn, and John Little, Letar, both Callander.

Later, Buccleugh Estates’ Mitchellslacks, Thornhill, Dumfries-shire, took the same money from Tinnis, for a son of a £20,000 Auldhouseburn, bought privately. The lamb, brought out by Richard Colley, is bred from the same ewe that produced the £18,000 Mitchellslacks and sired by a £5200 Auldhouseburn, bought at Stirling.

Just behind, on £9000, Matthew Hamilton and son Matthew, South Cobbinshaw, West Calder, sold a son of a Crossflatt tup used on loan, to Malcolm Coubrough, Whelphill, and Angus Kennedy and son Angus, Mitchellhill, Broughton, Biggar.

OTHERLEADING prices

Ram lambs – £8500 – Auldhouseburn, by a £70,000 Harestone, to R Hamilton, Laigh Balernock, Helensburgh. £8000 – Orchilmore, by a £6000 Auldhouseburn, to R Loughery, Limavady; Dyke, by a £15,000 Crossflatt, to J Wallace, Fingland, Dalry, and Glen, Gatehouse, Castle Douglas; Blackcraig, by an £8000 Glenrath, to D Morrison, Dalwyne, Barr.

FLOCK averages