Brecon Market saw a bumper entry for its annual Christmas Fatstock Show & Sale yesterday, with 870 finished lambs and 331 cull ewes and rams passing through the ring.

Trade for finished lambs remained strong throughout, leaving a standard quality quotation (SQQ) of 316.2ppk and an overall average of 315.4ppk, equivalent to £129.47 per head.

Champion honours went to Messrs AO & JEM Williams of Trecastle, with a pen of 47kg Beltex lambs selling at £200 each (425ppk). Reserve champions were Aled & Teifi Williams, whose lambs sold at £148 (340ppk). These also won the pen of lambs consigned by a YFC member.

The John Phillips Neuadd Shield for the best pen of hill-bred lambs was claimed by Messrs DC & SA Phillips for 44kg Cheviot lambs at 315ppk.

Most lambs sold between 310-325ppk for export weights, with lighter lambs reaching 300-330ppk and heavier lambs 280–300ppk.

Cull ewes were in strong demand, particularly meated types, with top animals making over £140 and half-meated ewes £80–£120. Plain types sold for £80 or less, with larger numbers needed ahead of Christmas.

McCartneys thanked vendors for turning out quality stock, Judge Emma Matthews, and sponsors Steve Jones Sheep Conveyors and Brian Jones of Agri Lloyd for their support.

Brecon Market holds primestock sheep sales every Tuesday, with weighing from 7am and the sale starting at 9:30am. Store lambs are sold every fortnight, following the Prime Lambs sale. Store cattle will be offered on Tuesday, December 30, and a strong entry will be required to meet buyer demand.

For up-to-date market information or to enter stock, farmers can contact the auctioneers: Lloyd Humphreys on 07534 532468 for store cattle and cull cows, Tom Pritchard on 07903 618253 for sheep, and Jenny Layton Mills on 07867 522859 for store cattle.