With all the recent extra regulations and the 20 day standstill restrictions, the bottom falling out of the fat lamb market and struggling sales of the mule gimmer lambs, due to the accumulation of all of the above, this years sale was always going to be quite a struggle.

The highlight of the day was the champion, a really sharp tup lamb from Martin Archer, Carry House which justified its placing by the judge, Elfyn Owen when it sold for the days top price of 1900 gns, travelling all the way to Devon to join the Heddon Valley flock of Barry Nicholls who was buying some of his bloodlines back as it is sired by one of his own rams which Martin bought out of Builth Wells, and it is out of a ewe by the Cocklaw T1, which was sold last year as an aged ram for 4200 gns at Kelso, after winning and siring many show winning sheep from both the Carry House and Cocklaw flocks.

The next highest price went to Christine Bisset, East Dukesfield , when she sold her 3 rd prize lamb to Robin Peart, Mayland for 1100 gns. It was sired by a Clennel X6 and out of a ewe sired by Cocklaw V11.

Joint top prices in the shearling section saw the first placed ram from T Forster & Son, Lowes Fell sold to the Association Chairman Sid Ivinson for 700 gns. He had been shown earlier this summer, when shows were still on, taking the Male Champion at the Northumberland Show. He is by the V11 Ewanston tup that was one half of the pair, along with Cocklaw sparky, which won the Queens cup at the Highland show and out of a ewe by a homebred sire, Lowes Fell P27. The other shearling at 700 was from the Carry House flock.

The real story of the day though really was the fact that Trevor Simpson the auctioneer had to work extremely hard to get the bids. Only the best sheep were attracting any sort of interest, with only 102 shearlings selling out of a catalogue of 181, at an average of £201, whilst the ram lambs averaged £278.42 for the 48 sold out of 167 lambs entered.

People were in no doubt as to where the blame lay, squarely at the door of government officials at DEFRA for there total mishandling of the whole FMD debacle stemming from their own leaking drains. “DEFRA really should be made aware of these figures to show how much damage has been done to British Agriculture” Trevor Simpson said. “A whole years work or more just totally devastated for the innocent farming community is just not on” he said.

There's always next year….. Things can't get a lot worse!!