AUCTION marts across Cumbria have welcomed a thriving sheep trade so far in 2017.

The spring and summer lamb sales have increased significantly on what they were last year. During the early season Mark Richardson, auctioneer and livestock manager at Kirkby Stephen mart, has seen lambs selling at £15-£20 per head more than 2016.

Mr Richardson said: "We’ve seen a lot more prime lambs sold, with farmers taking advantage of the good trade and selling lambs at lighter weights.

"It is usual at this time of year to see a seasonal drop, however this year this has not been the case which is extremely positive for farmers."

This year’s lambing resulted in bigger lamb crops for many farmers across Cumbria which is evidence to the volume of prime lambs passing through the sale ring at Kirkby Stephen mart on a weekly basis.

This is likely to result in a tighter supply and demand ratio and Mr Richardson is hopeful this will prevent a surge of lambs coming on to market in September which is a common annual trend.

In addition, trade for cast ewes has unusually remained consistently good over the last few months, despite the large volumes coming to the market each week.

"Here at Kirkby Stephen mart, during the summer weeks, we have seen prime lambs averaging over £2 per kg, often with over 2500 lambs and a total of 4500 sheep, so far going through the sale ring," said Mr Richardson.

"Even though there hasn’t been the expected seasonal drop in terms of numbers, lambs are still selling at between £5 and £10 more than last year."

He added: "In the coming weeks the lamb trade is expected to remain buoyant, primarily due to the extra demand created in the run up to the Eid festival which starts on September 2.

"However, we must remember that as we head into autumn there will still be plenty of lambs coming onto the market following an excellent lambing time with bigger lamb crops."