THE MARKET report from Sedgemoor Auction Centre for Friday, May 22 and Saturday, May 23 is as follows. The total stock was 4,333 head.

A scorching Store Cattle trade, near £60 per head up on the equivalent week last year.

95 Dairy Cattle. Auctioneer's comments:

Greenslade Taylor Hunt report largest entry since returning to the ring produced a much improved trade for the lower end. 1st quality heifers and cows in short supply this week. AR Edwards & Son of Newport put forward 4 smart heifers from their 'Wentlodge' herd to top the market at £1920. Others sold at £1800, £1760 and £1700 from FG Summerhayes & Son and A Ractliffe at £1750.

Friesian cows to £1250 from GW Bevan & Sons, Hereford. Bulling heifers to £780 (2x) from GJ & FL Robertson. April born organic Friesian heifer calves to £250 (10x) from M Tizzard.

879 Store Cattle, Grazing Cows and Stirks. Auctioneer's comments:

Greenslade Taylor Hunt report what a trade! 879 stores penned, part of a huge 1302 with the stirks, which met a flier. The overall average was £841, which compares with £783 for 847 penned on the equivalent week last year. Near £60 per head up on last year, finished cattle prices are on the up.

Top was £1265 for three grand Charolais steers (22m & FA) from ME Sampson & Son, Upottery, who also sold a smart Simmental steer at £1250 (21m & FA). Further best feeding Charolais steers £1225 (3x 18/20m) and £1180 (4x 17/18m only) LE Sweetland & Son, Musbury; £1165 (7x 15/16m only! & FA) and £1030 (8x 13/16m only! & FA) from Kingsdown Farm Ltd, Longbridge Deverill; £1120 (2x 21m & FA) IR Worth, Shirwell; £1085 (24m & FA) and £1070 (5x 21/23m & FA) D Marshall, Badgworth. Further Simmental steers to £1175 (18m) LE Sweetland & Son again. Blue steers rose to £1215 (24m) for a well grown feeder from DW Parris, Dalwood. Further feeding Blues £1215 (25m) Adams Bros, Clayhidon; £1210 (21m & FA) PA Strawbridge, Offwell; £1205 (18/19m & FA) WJ Elston & Son, South Molton; £1180 (18/20m) LE Sweetland & Son again; £1165 (25m & FA) EA & DA Ellis, St Ives; £1160 (22m & FA) SJ & EH Coles, Edingworth; £1135 (24m & FA) GW King, Meare and £1110 (28m & FA) RMG & RG Salter, Buckland St Mary. Fit Blue steer at £1170 (only 15m & FA) SER Hunt, Kilve. Feeding Limousin steers shot to £1215 (4x 18/22m) DW Parris again, who sold others at £1150 (22m) and £1120 (2x 24m). Smart red Limousin steers at £1195 (3x 20/21m & FA) R Jones & Son, Dulverton. Showy feeding steer £1170 (22m & FA) PA Strawbridge again. Well grown red £1155 (25m & FA) SR Bishop & Son, South Perrott; £1100 (23m & FA) Holsworthy; £1090 (26m & FA) RC Rowe & Son, Upottery and £1070 (23/26m, FA & outwintered) EA & DA Ellis again. Of interest, an Aubrac (23m & FA) rose to £1120 for R Jones & Son again.

Read more: Sedgemoor Livestock Market report for Friday May 15 and Saturday May 16

Native steers on fire to £1170 for a red Angus (20m, FA & sire) from Knapp Farm Ltd, West Pennard. Further Angus £1110 (5x 21/22m, FA & sires) IR Worth again; £1100 (30m, FA & sire) and £1100 again (24/25m, FA & sire) IJ & SA Bell & Son, Cossington; £1095 (5x 19/23m, FA & sire) A Male & Sons, Kingsbury Episcopi; £1080 (8x 12/15m, only 15m! FA & sire) and £1065 (4x 13/14m only! & FA) JH, MB & DJ Jewell, Durston; £1070 (2x 21m, FA & sire) and £1060 (2x 29m & FA) AC House & Son, Thornfalcon and £1040 (23m & sire) SJ & MG Payne, Knowstone. Near fit Devon at £1095 (23m & FA) from F & EJ Strawbridge, Axminster. Further Devon at £1080 (26m & FA) NJ & RS Hector, Cocklake. Hereford steers sold to £1050 (24/25m, FA & sire) from RA Reed, Seaton.

Dairy steers were a scorching trade to £1130 for a grand Holstein (27m & FA) from KJ & CP Dunn, Dinder, who sold a further Holstein and Fleckvieh at £1060 (22/25m & FA) Fleckvieh and £920 (19m & FA) Holsteins twice at £900 (6x 20/26m & FA) and (2x 25/28m & FA) and Swedish at £900 again (19/25m & FA). Further Fleckvieh at £1080 (24/26m & FA) ND & RA Pearce, Chew Stoke; £1070 (2x 21m & FA) and £1025 (2x 21m & FA) IR Worth again. Montbeliarde at £1070 (21m & FA) also IR Worth. Further black and whites £1060 (28m & FA) £895 (2x 19/20m & FA) JC & FF Dovey, Bridport; £1015 (7x 21/23m, FA & sire) A Male & Sons again; £970 (2x 26m & FA) and £950 (3x 23m & FA) F & EJ Strawbridge again; £945 (4x 26m & FA) IF Ford & Partners, Olveston; £900 (20m, Norwegian & FA) PA Cleave, Bideford; £900 (25m, Ayrshire & FA) SR Bishop & Son again; £890 (2x 19m & FA) WJ Elston & Son again and £885 (6x 25/30m & FA) IJ & SA Bell & Son again.

Heifers incredible! Top was £1290 for four top drawer red Limousins (21/29m & FA) from MM Gollop & Son, Willand. Another very smart, lean, Limousin at £1190 (24m & FA) RB Cox, Stawell. Quality suckler bred Limousins at £1185 (21m) PFJ Saunders, Hemyock; £1145 (25m & FA) SR Bishop & Son again; £1120 (20/24m) DW Parris again; £1100 (24m & FA) and £1055 (only 17m! & FA) and £985 (17/23m & FA) R Takle, Exton; £1080 (22/24m & FA) PA Strawbridge again; £1075 (2x 28m & FA) and £990 (2x 29m & FA) RC Rowe & Son again; £1050 (23m & FA) and £900 (7x 13/15m only! & FA) P Melville & Son, Holsworthy. Forward dairy bred Limousins at £1050 (24m & FA) RH & AM Turner, Stockland; £1000 (19m & FA) HK & LS Cligg, Musbury and £930 (2x 28m & FA) RMG & RG Salter again. Charolais rose to £1280 for two superb heifers (25m) from W Hilborne & Son, Easton. Dairy bred Charolais at £1080 (21/25m & FA) JC & FF Dovey again. Very young suckler Charolais at £1055 (16m & FA) from TJ Samways & Son, North Perrott. Very young again Charolais at £975 (4x only 14/15m & FA) from Kingsdown Farm Ltd again. Further suckler Charolais £975 (3x 22/23m & FA) D Marshall again; £920 (21m & FA) TJ Samways & Son again and £900 (18/19m & FA) P Melville & Son again.

Good dairy breds £905 (5x 25/26m & FA) MJ & DA Johnson, Membury. Very good dairy Blues at £1085 (4x 19/20m & FA) from WJ Elston & Son again. Fit dairy Blues at £1075 (23m & FA) £1055 and £1035 (both only 15m & FA) from SER Hunt, Kilve. Suckler bred black and white Blue at £1065 (26m) Adam Bros again. Good dairy Blues £1050 (22/25m & FA) RH & AM Turner, Stockland again; £1010 (3x 21/22m) RH Mabbett & Sons, Winscombe; £960 (2x 24m & FA) NJ & RS Hector, Cocklade; £905 (18m & FA) P Moon & Sons, Blackborough and £900 (only 16m & FA) MD Fone & Sons, Upottery. Simmental heifers to £950 (36m) P Tregear, Newbridge, Cornwall. Blonde heifers to £920 (21m & FA) TJ Samways & Son again.

Native heifers to £1000 twice. Firstly for four Angus (only 16m, FA & sire) AE Vile & Son, North Curry and for a Hereford (24m & FA) JM & JM Baker, Meare. Further fleshed Angus £965 (30m, FA & sire) and £870 (4x 26/29m, FA & sire) IJ & SA Bell & Son again; £965 again (4x 18/20m, FA & sire) RA Reed again; £950 (2x 19m & FA) Kingsdown Farm Ltd again; £895 (27m, FA & sire) RMG & RG Salter again; £885 (4x only 14m & FA) JH, MB & DJ Jewell again and £880 (5x 25/26m, FA & sire) IF Ford again. Further Hereford heifers to £910 for a fit type (22m, FA & sire) from RA Reed again. Others £900 (23m, FA & sire) K & N Crang, Mudford and £895 (21m & FA) JM & JM Baker again after their £1000 heifer above.

7 Suckler Cows, Calves and Stock Bulls. Auctioneer's comments:

Greenslade Taylor Hunt report small weekly entry of sucklers catapulted to £1290 for a Blue heifer with show potential Charolais heifer calf (1m) at foot from KJ & LC Popham.

27 Grazing Cows (pre-movement tested). Auctioneer's comments:

Greenslade Taylor Hunt report as with our Monday barren cow market, grazing cows are on fire. Good meat cows £1170, South Devon, LR House, Dunwear; £1115, Simmental, EA & DA Ellis, St Ives; £1095, Simmental, BS Davis, Othery; £1070, Shorthorn, RM Miller, Saxlingham, Norfolk; £985 twice, Herefords from EA & DA Ellis again; £980, Angus, PD & SA Godfrey, Lopen and £900, Charolais, HJ Davis, Othery.

416 Busk Calves and Stirks. Auctioneer's comments:

Greenslade Taylor Hunt report a larger entry of stirks forward sold to another fast trade.

Top price steer to £985 (2x 10m) for top drawer Limousins from EA Cox & Son. Further Limousins to £840 (13m) £770 (4x 13m) £765 (12m) £720 (2x 13m) £650 (3x 11m) AW Hiles & Sons; £800 (2x 11m) RAD Legg; £755 (2x 13m) M Ogborne and £740 (11m) EJ & HM Hull.

Charolais to £860 (5x 9m) KJ & LC Popham, who sold others to £750 (5x 8m) and £695 (2x 9m). Further good Charolais to £832 (3x 13m) £685 (9m) JJ Cooper; £810 (10m) £725 (7m) B Calder; £790 (14m) WE & AG Taylor; £778 (2x 8m) HR & BM White & Sons; £772 (12m) £655 (2x 11m) R Barrow; £738 (2x 11m) AR Fewings; £715 (12m) £690 (3x 11m) EJ & HM Hull and £675 (2x 10m) GM Veysey. Simmentals to £828 (3x 11m) SG Stacey, when others sold to £700 (2x 14m) WE & AG Taylor again. Herefords shot to £780 (4x 10m) NC Witcombe, when others sold to £645 (2x 12m) RC Hutchings. Fleckvieh sold to £770 (14m) WE & AG Taylor. Angus to £740 (2x 11m) EA & DA Ellis, when others sold to £650 (8m) JJ & SM Spiller; £630 (4x 12m) G Clarke; £610 (5x 7m) RJ & CH Palfrey & Son and £610 ET & E Dare. British Blues to £725 (10m) EJ & HM Hull, who sold others to £705 (13m). Further good Blues to £680 (6x 9m) £660 (5x only 7m) and £645 (5x only 7m) RH & CH Palfrey & Son again. Devon to £720 (13m) WE & AG Taylor.

Heifers sold to the day’s top price of £1035 (14m) for quality pedigree Limousin from JC & JCM Carroll, who sold another good Limousin heifer at £950 (15m). Further Limousins to £700 (7m) KJ & LC Popham; £690 (12m) £585 (2x 12m) WA Williams & Son; £650 (3x 13m) JA & G Aldworthy; £605 (2x 14m) M Ogborne; £595 (8m) T Williams and £560 (3x 10m) RAD Legg. Herefords shot to £690 (13m) R Hares; £560 (10m) and £555 (2x 11m) RC Hutchings. Charolais to £685 (5x 10m) KJ & LC Popham, who sold others to £670 (4x 9m) and £665 (2x 9m). Further Charolais to £600 (13m) JJ Cooper; £595 (2x 12m) R Barrow, when younger types sold to £530 (7m) JJ & SM Spiller. Simmentals to £685 (3x 11m) SG Stacey, who sold others to £650 (11m) and £610 (3x 11m). British Blues in demand and shot to £620 (2x 6m) RJ & CH Palfrey & Son, who sold others to £595 (6x 9m). Further Blues to £565 (10m) SJ Caddy; £550 (2x 10m) HR & BM White & Sons; £545 (3x 8m) £540 (5x 8m) T Williams and £540 (5x 7m) MJ & C Plowright & Son. Angus to £575 (5x 15m) G Clark, who sold others to £525 (5x). Younger types to £525 (5x 8m) RJ & CH Palfrey & Son.

416 Non-export Calves. Auctioneer's comments:

Beef Breeds (356) – not able to be exported from market

Greenslade Taylor Hunt report another strong entry in terms of numbers, with much improved quality on the whole, which sold to a continuing fierce trade. A superb consignment from NF George topped the day at £460 for a trio of reared (12 wk) Blue bulls. Younger Blue bulls to £353 AA House & Son; £348 RF Lee & Son and J & EM Phillips. A small Charolais bull entry topped at £385 SM & DM Turner Ltd; £350 CE Veysey and £340 RD Knight & Son. A good number of Simmental bulls forward sold to £330 EA & DA Ellis, Others £298 and £295 DE Down & Son; £292 N & J Ham & Son. Limousin bulls to £322 Higher Farm. Other fresh Limousin bulls to £300 RJ Stitch; £295 KF & LW Mitcham and £290 DWT, EG & PW Jones.

Native bulls to £355 for reared (12 wk) Herefords (2x) as part of NF George’s consignment, who sold others to £342 (2x) and £340 (5x). Younger Hereford bulls to £320 House & Sons; £310 DN Woollacott and £315 and £295 House & Sons again.

Reared Angus bulls (16 wks) to £330 and £318 from DN Woollacott. Others £318 and £290 from LC Curtis; £268 from DJ, MJ & PW House and £265 D Godfrey.

Continental heifers to £408 for a smart Blue from NF George, who sold others to £338 and £335. Young Blue heifer to £332 MC Powell; £308 ES Triggol; £290 JWO Marsh & Partners. Limousin heifers to £265 MC Powell; £232 DWT, EG & PW Jones; £230 RA Plowright. Charolais heifers to £265 SM & DM Turner; £262 and £248 RD Knight & Son. Simmental heifer to £300 NF George (12 wks). Younger to £298 and £290 DE Down & Son.

Native heifers topped at £270 for a 16 week Angus from KJ & SE Robbins matched by LC Curtis. Others to £248 Stuart Bros; £242 RW Sheldon. Hereford heifers to £250 (2x) DN Woollacott; £192 NL Reeves & Son and £185 LG Heal & Son.

Friesians (60) – not able to be exported from market

Greenslade Taylor Hunt report trade for dairy sired bulls continues to be competitive with plenty of demand. HF bulls to £172 from EA & DA Ellis. Others £155 from FE Hill & Son; £130 from RW, JA & AE Barton and LC Curtis. Brown Swiss to £150 from AE Allen & Sons. Normandy to £150 from EG & CS Rowe & Son. Montbeliarde to £225 from the same Vendor. Best rearing black and white £80-£100, mediums to £60-£70 and plainer types £30 plus.

2436 Sheep. Auctioneer's comments:

Greenslade Taylor Hunt report the following sheep trades:-

Store Lambs (582)

A larger entry of 582 store lambs sold to another strong trade, although a large proportion of late season and scaled hoggs held the average back. Best lambs sold to £104.50 from A Lawler, when others sold to £102 from K Otton; £98 from NR Sturrock; £97.50 from JR Snell; £97 from H & JL Parker and H Morgan; £96 from Peckmoor Farming Ltd; £92.50 from R Westbrook; £92 from GM Veysey and £90.50 from A Curtis. Overall average £73.73.

Cull Ewes and Rams (1154)

A good entry of 1154 cull ewes and rams sold to a noticeably easier trade for all forward, in line with the trend throughout the week. Best continental ewes topped at £121 from Kingswater Livestock. Other best ewes to £114 from DH Westmore; £105 from Brymore Academy; £99.50 from AB & GR Dodgson; £98.50 from EJ Gwyn; £90 from R Westbrook; £88.50 from M & R Vellacott; £88 from AJ Willcox and £86 from ME Kidner. Cull rams sold to £119 from H Crofts, when others sold £114 (2x) from RG Brooks; £104 from LM & V Haskell; £100 from PF Tythcott and MWJ, ME & LR Greenslade. Medium ewes £55-£70, leaner types £35-£55 and boners generally £20 plus. Overall average £67.89.

Goats (41)

An average entry of 41 goats sold to £74 (2x) from J Wood, when others sold to £64 from the same Vendor. Overall average £70.

Couples (268 Ewes & 391 Lambs)

Another good entry of 268 ewes with 391 lambs at foot sold to a good level of demand, on a par with previous weeks.

Some cracking doubles forward from JH & HJ Diment topped the section at £270 (£90/life). Other best doubles to £228 (£76/life) from EA Cox & Son and SR Neate; £205 (£68.33/life) from RG Stitch and £200 (£66.67/life) from JH & HJ Diment, S Snell and Vigar & Son.

Singles to £205 (£102.50/life) for a forward pen from JH & HJ Diment. Others to £190 (£95/life) from the same Vendor; £180 (£90/life) from D Lukins and £162 (£81/life) from RG Stitch.

Triplets to £242 (£80.67/life) from JH & HJ Diment.

A price of note was £220 (£76.52/life) achieved by Somerset Lamb Ltd for their bunches of 8 ewes with 15 lambs at foot.

Overall average holding firm at £60.52/life.

84 Pigs. Auctioneer's comments:

Greenslade Taylor Hunt report a smaller bank holiday entry met good competition throughout from start to finish.

Weaners to £48 and £38 from P Clark, Blandford; £38 and £32 from D Adams, Taunton.

Stores to £65 and £56 from R Phelps, Wells.

Heavier weight fat pigs to £137 from N Bevan, Hereford; £122 from J & R Hopkins, Thornbury. Lighter weights to £83 from both TWT Palmer, Chard and TJ Nicholas, Abergavenny; £78 from N Zerk, Gwent.

Breeding gilts to £93 from TJ & SM Hobbs. Breeding sow to £112 from J Gregory, Truro.