A show and sale of 700 mule ewe lambs is to be held by Aberdeen & Northern Marts at Thainstone Centre, Inverurie this Friday (September 2nd).

This year sees the Bluefaced Leicester Sheep Breeders Association sponsor the event, with a £100 prize on offer to the top pen of ewe lambs. Judge for the show will be Jim Mathew of Whitelums, Gartly, Huntly.

Aberdeen & Northern Marts prime, store and breeding sheep manager Colin Slessor said: “Our mule ewe lamb entry has been increasing over the last number of years and we are delighted to offer prize-money donated by the Bluefaced Leicester Sheep Breeders Association.”

He added: “The entry will be of a high standard and well worthy of buyers’ attention.”

The show will begin at 10.30am and the sale will commence at 11am.

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The autumn livestock sales season will swing into action at Caithness Livestock Centre with two shows and sales in the coming week.

On Friday, September 2nd the venue is to host a show of 160 top quality sheep in conjunction with the North Country Cheviot Sheep Society. The rams and ram lambs from 23 registered flocks around Caithness and Orkney will be competing for the overall champion’s Alexander Sutherland Cup in the event sponsored by Dectomax.

The show will begin at 9.30am and the sale, which begins at 11.30am, will also feature a dispersal sale of 35 gimmers and 67 ewes from Messrs G. A. D. Clyne’s ‘Field of Noss’ North Country Cheviot Flock (NC 13).

In 2003, the top price of the sale was £2,400 which was achieved by a genotype 2 shearling by Lynegar Topline shown by D. J. & M. Allan, Durran Mains, Castletown.

And on Monday, September 5th Caithness Livestock Centre will celebrate its 13th anniversary with a show and sale of 1,500 store cattle.

The event is again being sponsored by Harbro Ltd who have put forward a number of prizes, including the Perpetual Cup and £100 which will be awarded to the overall champion animal.

The anniversary show and sale has attracted entries from throughout Caithness, and buyers from throughout the UK are likely to make the trip to view the selection on offer. The show will commence at 8am and the sale will take place from 9am.

The overall champion in 2004 was a 487kg 16-month-old home-bred Limousin heifer from W. A. Oag of Brims Mains, Forss, Thurso which sold for £1,200.

Commenting on both events, John Bremner said: “We are looking forward to two busy days which will bring tremendous selections of cattle and sheep to Caithness Livestock Centre.”

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Buyers flocked to the latest Thainstone Saturday Sale which took place on Saturday (August 27th).

A team of ten auctioneers sold for a total of 27 hours on the day and, as well as farm equipment and machinery, the event also included a range of building, gardening and engineering equipment.

The busiest section on the day, however, was commercial vehicles, 4x4s and tractors and top prices included £10,000 for a Fermec 860 digger, £9,800 for a Valmet 8400, £8,800 for a Caterpillar telehandler and £7,550 for a Mercedes Benz M Class 4x4.

There was also good demand for the selection of car trailers, containers and articulated trailers that was on offer.

Commenting on the auction, Thainstone Specialist Auctions general manager Grant Rogerson said: “This was yet another very busy Thainstone Saturday Sale, with a good crowd remaining right until the end of the event.”

The dates for the remaining Thainstone Saturday Sales in 2005 are October 22nd and November 26th.

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Around 1,200 lots of antiques and collectables will be offered for sale at Elgin Auction Centre on Wednesday (August 31st).

The latest auction has again attracted a good variety of lots including silver, porcelain and furniture, and it is hoped that the wide selection on offer will attract a large number of buyers.

“This sale has attracted the usual interesting selection of lots and will offer something to suit every taste and budget,” commented Elgin Auction Centre manager Gordon Pirie.

Viewing takes place between 6pm and 9pm on Tuesday (August 30th) and from 9am on the day of the sale. The auction itself will commence at 11am on Wednesday.

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Thainstone Centre, Inverurie is gearing up for another busy day on Saturday, September 3rd.

Among the events taking place will be a sale of rare and minority breeds of cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, poultry, waterfowl – and even two llamas.

Around 750 cages of poultry and waterfowl will also be auctioned with turkeys, large fowl, bantams, pheasants, quail, guinea fowl, peafowl and pigeons (in sale order) to go under the hammer from 10.30am. Ducks, geese and hatching eggs will be sold from 11.30am and will be followed by poultry equipment.

From 11am a sale of implements and hand tools from a bygone era will take place in Thainstone Centre’s concourse, and a sale of harness and tack will begin at the same time in ring two.

Rare breeds of cattle including Dexter, Longhorn and Shetland, Tamworth pigs, a selection of 300 sheep including a show and sale of Jacob and Ryeland, goats, and horses and ponies will be sold in ring three from 10.30am.

And the busy day is also to include the annual show and sale of Highland cattle, which has attracted an entry of 70.

The show of 22 Highland bullocks will be held in conjunction with the North of Scotland Highland Cattle Club and sponsored by Heatherhills Glenlivet Fold and Finnies 4x4s who have donated bottles of a rare Fettercairn single malt whisky as prizes.

The show – to be judged by Mr C. Bruce of Bogside, King Edward – will begin at 10am with the sale to commence at 11.30am. The presentation of trophies will take place at approximately 12noon.

“Our twice-yearly sales of rare and minority breeds continue to go from strength to strength and we are looking forward to another busy and varied day,” commented Aberdeen & Northern Marts’ general manager John Gregor.

“We are particularly pleased with the annual show and sale of Highland cattle which has attracted a much increased entry.”

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Some of the country’s top show animals will be competing at the 2005 Thainstone Spectacular later this month.

A host of animals will take part in this prestigious annual show and sale of suckled calves and store cattle suitable for further showing on Tuesday, August 30th and Wednesday, August 31st.

A prize-fund totalling more than £3,300 and an array of silverware is up for grabs thanks to generous sponsorship from Clydesdale Bank. In addition, Aberdeen & Northern Marts are offering £500 prizes to the buyers of any animals which go on to win the supreme championship at the Scottish Agricultural Winter Fair at Ingliston or the Aberdeen Christmas Classic at Thainstone Centre.

Iain Clark, managing partner at Clydesdale Bank’s Thainstone financial solutions centre said: “We are delighted to be involved in another Thainstone Spectacular. The event always provides a great display of calves which are evidence of the high quality production base that exists in Scotland.”

This year’s Spectacular will be judged by Richard Naylor, Sandy Lane Farm, Kirk Langley, Derby (steers) and Harry Emslie, Kinknockie, Mintlaw (heifers) in Thainstone EXCHANGE from 6pm on Tuesday, August 30th. The sale will begin at 10am on Wednesday, August 31st with Clydesdale Bank’s head of rural Henry Graham to present the prizes and trophies at 11am. This will be immediately followed by the sale of champions.

Among the exhibitors who are gearing up for the event are D. & R. Durno, Auchorachan, Glenlivet whose “Happy Hips” has been hitting the headlines throughout the summer months with a string of successes on the summer showing circuit. This Charolais cross heifer by the Durnos’ own bull Glenlivet Singlemalt was cross cattle champion at no less than five shows and was supreme inter-breed champion at Black Isle, Grantown and Tarland.

Another four animals from Auchorachan will join her at the Spectacular, including an unnamed spring-born Charolais cross steer by Glenlivet Rumpus. He was unbeaten at six of the summer shows and was male champion at Keith.

Making the trip from Smallburn Farms, Rothes will be Andrew Anderson who is bringing six animals to the 2005 event. His black Limousin cross Belgian Blue heifer “Makosi” was champion at Echt, female champion at Nairn and reserve supreme champion at Grantown earlier this summer. She is by Mr Anderson’s new stock bull Bailea Teletext which has sired most of this year’s show calves from Smallburn Farms.

Continuing the Big Brother theme is the Belgian Blue cross Limousin “Saskia,” a half sister of Mr Anderson’s 2003 Spectacular champion “Jack the Lad” and, like last year’s champion “Bobo Balde,” is sired by Salomon.

In addition is an unnamed red Limousin bullock by Bailea Teletext which took two prizes in two outings – it was champion at Nairn and male champion at Grantown. Mr Anderson will also exhibit an unnamed spring-born red Limousin bullock, again by Bailea Teletext, which was reserve champion at Nairn.

From West Cairnglass at Gollanfield near Inverness comes “Bovril” from J. & J. Wilson. This home-bred Limousin cross by Ronick Hawk was overall champion at Dornoch and reserve male champion at both Turriff and Grantown. He is one of five home-bred Limousin crosses that the Wilsons will exhibit at this year’s Spectacular.

Barry Paterson from Cairndaie Croft, Sauchen will take two animals to the Spectacular one of which, “Maverick,” is a full brother of his reserve champion at the 2003 event. This home-bred Limousin cross is by Shatton Pedro and out of Xsara. It was reserve champion at this year’s Tarland show and came first in his class at a total of five summer shows.

Commenting on the forthcoming event, Aberdeen & Northern Marts’ store and breeding cattle manager Allan Taylor said: “We look forward to welcoming a superb entry of showy cattle suitable for this year’s Christmas prime market and the spring and summer shows of 2006.”

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