A brisk and buoyant NSA Wales Border Early Ram Sale is expected at Brecon Livestock Market on Monday, August 5.

Organisers are upbeat about the prospects for the first sale at the new venue. It is aimed at providing top quality tups for early lamb producers and is a popular choice among leading flockmasters.

The venue is owned and run by McCartneys and the partner in charge is Jenny Layton Mills. She is looking forward to the event and says the location is perfect, with a good road structure linking it with South, Mid and West Wales and beyond.

She says: “We’re looking forward to hosting it and we’ll make sure the day runs as smoothly as possible. Together with the other auctioneers involved, we’ll be working hard to get the best prices possible.

“Our market is also just over an hour to the Severn Bridge and so attracts a lot of buyers from the South West.

“It’s a centralized market with easy loading and unloading and access to Hereford, Gloucestershire and Shopshire. These are all areas where people are early lambing. We also have a great café!”

James Amphlett of McCartneys represents livestock auctioneers on the NSA Wales & Borders Ram Sales committee.  He stresses that the sale will follow the same pattern as it has in previous years.

And he says: “We aim to provide quality tups from all breeds to continue providing for early lambing flocks. This service is essential to the future of the sheep industry in the UK.”

Chairman Geoff Probert, says the move to Brecon marks a brand new chapter for the Early Sale and reflects the positive outlook for its long term future. He says Brecon has a modern purpose built market with covered sheep pens and is an out of town location off a roundabout on the A40 trunk road. 

He feels: “We feel this is our best option to maintain the Early Ram Sale in its usual format. Brecon Market is a good facility, a spacious site with plenty of room to park.

“It’s the best move we can make. It means we’ll be able to maintain the two sales going forward, with a positive cash flow.

“We’ll be able to maintain the standards and improve on them. We’ve turned things round and we’re in a lot better position this year.”

The NSA Wales & Border Ram Sales committee has agreed to sell all the sheep through one ring, so as not to split the buyers. McCartneys porters will assist and their staff will collect licences and MV forms. The NSA Ram Sale will provide staff on the exit gate.

The order of sale, by drawn lots filmed to ensure accuracy, will be: Texels first, sold by Clee Tompkinson and Francis, followed by Hereford Market Auctioneers with the Charollais and thenMcCartneys with the cross breds. Non MV sheep, entered by two vendors, will be sold after the MV sheep.