Clitheroe Auction Mart is seeing farmers returning.The trend is the same in the south of England, with rcord auctions at Holsworthy in Devon.
Clitheroe’s Directors have today announced a 37.7% increase in turnover to £7.2 million in the 2008 financial year.
Although livestock values rose during the year, it was record numbers of fat lambs (57,100) and store cattle (5,397) being sold through the busy mart that was the main reason for its healthy rise in turnover.
Auctioneer Jo Worthington said: "We are delighted with these figures, which show a 20 year high in terms of numbers of animals sold, and the Directors are optimistic that the market will remain healthy in the coming year.
"The move to selling store cattle on Thursdays has been a great success with old and new customers. Even in the first few weeks of 2009, we are seeing more customers selling their stock through liveweight auctions, abandoning deadweight sales as liveweight prices improve."
Other aspects of the Clitheroe Mart’s business also saw good increases, including the sales of pigs, fat cattle and breeding ewes. Weekly "Fur and Feather" and specialist poultry and goat sales have also helped the Mart thrive in a competitive market.
