6 The Chronicle, Thursday, 7th July, 2011. www.chronicleseries.co.uk

Markets

Leek

Plenty of life about at the market this week, although an increasing number of lambs forward is tending to “cool” the trade.

The next Red Market for TB effected herds has been fixed for Tuesday, 19th July. Farmers should let the market know if they have stock and get a TB24B Licence from their local Defra office.

CLEAN CATTLE (11): A few less than of late met a firm trade with one particular local butcher going home short of stock.

Light steers saw 139p for a good shaped Friesian from Peter Richardson with heavy Steers to 161p for a prime Limousin from Mick Clowes with Simmentals from Peter Richardson and Herefords to 146p.

Medium heifers topped 149p for a prime Limousin from John Pegg with heavy heifers to 165p for a Belgian Blue from John Griffin and a Simmental from Brian Hadfield.

Young Bulls saw medium weights to 153p from Mrs Leadbetter who took 155p for heavy South Devon Bulls. Top rice Steer £1,078.70p; top price Heifer £981.75p; top price bull £999.75p.

Quality price reporting: Steers: Prime max 161p average 153p; heifers: Prime max 165p average 160p; bulls: Prime max 155p average 154p.

OVER 30-MONTH STOCK (59): Slow coming in, in consequence some had plenty of elly. Best Continentals saw a top rice of 147.5p for a Blonde from Mr Smith with Limousins from J Beard to 141p and from Messrs Percival to 137.5p.

Top price Friesian 130.5p to give an average for Grade one stock of 127p.

Grade two to 119p per kg, average 107p with Grade three to 102p, average 93p.

Stock Bulls to 120p per kg for a young Limousin from Messrs Clark.

DAIRIES (62): A tremendous weekly entry of 48 milkers met with an excellent trade that saw a top price of £2,090 for a fresh heifer from Messrs Johnson of Longnor. She went to Mr R Backhouse who also took a second from the same home at £2,080. A smashing heifer from Mr M Candy of Buglawton reached £1,940 to Mr E Clowes of Kingsley with a Penn-England Garrison daughter from Mr A Hudson of Buglawton at £1,900.

Cows peaked at £1,720 for a second calver giving 30kg from Mr Ian Lemon of Alkmonton.

1st quality heifers to £2,090 average £1,938 2nd quality heifers to £1,780 average £1,562. 1st quality cows to £1,720 average £1,720; 2nd quality cows to £1,630 average £1,485.

STORE CATTLE: 18-monthold Charolais heifers from Woodward Partners to £595 with others to £440.

BUTCHERS’ SHEEP (526): As more come about prices are easing.

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Best butchers lambs, lightweights, sold to 2218p with medium weights to 220p and heavy lambs to 210p.

Quality price reporting: Lambs premium max 220p average 218p; prime max 206p average 188p; commercial max 164p average 163p.

EWES and STORE SHEEP (68): A sharp trade throughout topping £110 apiece for Ewes from David Williams with others from George Myatt to £108 to give an average for the section of £80.

CALVES (116): Bull calves to £358 for Simmentals from Harry Seabridge with others from Eric Moss at £340. Younger Simmentals from H E Bailey to £288, giving an average for Simmentals of £285.

Blues from Robert Johnson to £285 to give an average of £214 for 10.

Limousins from Cyril Hudson to £280, giving an average for 12 of £226.

Blondes to £225 from Peter Stone.

Herefords to £210 from Frank Brookes.

Angus to £170. Friesians to £98 from Peter Gilman.

Heifers saw Blues from Graham Robinson at £285 with nine calves averaging £202.

Simmentals from Eric Moss to £280 with four averaging £197.

Limousins to £250 from Beryl Kirkham, 16 to average £177.

Charolais to £178 from David Tomlinson.

Angus to £152 from Harry Nicholls.

Chelford

FRESH CALVES (144): 53 black and white calves £28 to £150 (£60.42).

Another good trade for all calves on offer. Black and white averages tell the tale. Some medium continental heifers less than previous weeks. Regular buyers have proved the demand.

Bulls: Holstein x (44): (£60.73) to £150; Friesian (9): (£58.89) to £136; Ayrshire (8): (£40.50) to £46; Hereford (8): (£167.75) to £226 (Kermincham); Charolais x (1): to £350.

Heifers: Holstein x (1): to £36 (Siddington); Hereford (5): (£105.20) to £158; Charolais x (1): to £190; Charolais x (9): (£188.67) to £248; Limousin x (3): (£140) to £175 (Sutton).

Top price bulls: Charolais x £350; Limousin x £330 (Lower Withington); Simmental £330; British Blue £325 (Gawsworth); Simmental x £300.

Top price Heifers: Simmental x £248; British Blue £240 (Astbury); Simmental x £208 (Brereton); Simmental x (£194 (Knypersley); Charolais x £190.

HEADS OF POULTRY (869): a brisk sale on a hot summer’s day saw very large quantities of yearling layers fetch between £1 - £5, while point of lay pure breeds continued to attract £10-£12.

Fewer families of poultry entered this week fetching between £10 - £30 depending on breed and number of young. Ornamental waterfowl maintained sound prices at £20 for Mandarins. White call ducks averaged £11. Other best pries included: buff Orpingtons at £20; turkeys £22; black silkie hen £21; Rhode Island reds, Wellsummer and Vorwerk pullets £11; black Dutch bantams £10.

DAIRY AND BEEF BREEDING CATTLE (172): considering the favourable weather conditions the cattle section was somewhat busier than expected.

DAIRY CATTLE (15): a cracking trade for all classes of dairies. John Whittaker consigned a couple of smart pedigree heifers to lead the trade at £2,020 and £1,680.

A smart cow fresh in her third lactation made £1,560 for Messrs Dutton and local producer Richard Thornicroft put forward a pair of neat Friesian type heifers at £1,460 (calved) and £1,210 (in-calf).

In-calf Ayrshire’s got to a creditable £1,200 and a grand fourth calver from John Knight made £1,130.

Maiden heifers, likely to improve, sold for £440-£460.

SUCKLERS (22): an entry dominated by the last of the cattle from Pat and Susan Wright at the Harrington Arms. Prices peaked at £1,200 for an Angus cow and heifer calf. Generally prices were £930 - £1,070.

STORE CATTLE (135): a surprisingly good entry of stores given the time of year and the weather.

Those who consigned cattle were rewarded with a first class trade with only the longer keep types looking slightly less money.

Kevin Jones was in the pound seat with his forward Angus x steers at £995, just pipping John Appleton at £945.

Forward cattle were easy to sell and one of two smart youngsters also rang the bell, Messrs Potts’ Blues at £815 and Peter Mansfield’s Simmental x at £785.

Best of the heifers came from Alan Bennion at £815 and £790 (Angus x). Good forward heifers were thin on the ground and were generally around £700 and included Hereford x to £675 from Nick Dale. Smart young heifers from Tom James to £655 and Peter Mansfield’s 11-month-old Simmentals at £570.

Quality bulls got to £720 for a fine specimen from Stu Marson. Younger sorts generally £400-£470.

Steers: Aberdeen Angus x (25 months old) £955; Aberdeen Angus x (21 months old) £945; Simmental x (20 months old) £910; Bazadaise x (16 months old) £850 (Byley x 2); Saler x (26 months old) £835.

Heifers: Bazadaise x (17 months old) £815 (Byley); Aberdeen Angus x (24 months old) £790 (Byley); Limousin x (19 months old) £725; Aberdeen Angus x (25 months old) £725; Limousin x (23 months old) £695 (Byley).

Bulls: Limousin x (15 months old) £720; Charolais x (12 months old) £470; Limousin x (six months old) £440; Friesian (27 months old) £395; Black (19 months old) £390.

PIGS (220): CULL SOWS AND BOARS (3): a small entry met a similar demand with sows to 62p.

BUTCHERS’ PIGS (56): (£100.64). The smallest entry for many weeks met a similar good demand to a top of 142p.

Porkers (10): to 137p (125.03p); cutter (12) to 123p (120.15p); baconer (24): to 142p (119.87p); overweight (10): to 106p (79.45p); overall (56): 111.39p.

Prices: 142p baconer, 141p baconer, 139p baconer 137p cutter, 134p baconer.

STORE AND BREEDING PIGS (161): a similar entry and while the good mowing weather conditions meant several purchasers were missing and prices eased on previous weeks, the price disasters that can happen elsewhere were averted by a couple of quick telephone calls.

Prices: £56 at 40kg; £51 at

45kg; £49 at 38kg; £44 at 47kg; £39 at 38kg.

LOADS FARM PRODUCE (10): the produce yard was short of both vendors and purchasers, most being in their own hay or silage fields. A small load of feed quality wheat straw made £86 per tonne with bedding straw at £46 and £78 per tonne. A load of pea straw made £80 and an 11-tonne load of meadow hay £95 per tonne.

The 11.34 tonnes of other big bale barley straw sold to £95 (£95); 32.66 tonnes of big bale wheat straw sold to £46 (£71); 15 tonnes of pea straw to £80 (£80).

EGGS (1,943 DOZEN): two new vendors of free range eggs on the same day over egged the pudding.

Free range: extra large £1£1.20; large 90p - £1.20; medium 70p - £1.10; small 50-90p. Cage: extra large to £1.05; large to 80p; medium to 70p; small to 40p.

A large entry of duck and goose eggs met another fast trade: 121 dozen duck to £2.40 (£2.20); 14 goose eggs £1.30 (£1.22).

Buffs to £3; blue splash to £3; Jersey to £4.80; turkey 50p, guinea fowls to £3.75.

BAGS OF NEW CHESHIRE POTATOES (176): almost a 40% increase in entries and a good demand ensued; eight Prince averaged £4.50; 23 bard £5.25 to £8.25 (£6.43); 42 Sceptre £4 to £6.25 (£5.33); 103 rocket £4.25 £5.50 (£4.58); 80 old bags of old season sold to £2.75 for Wilja and Maris Piper to £4.

PACKAGES

OF

VEGETABLES (1,051): a seasonal entry of vegetables met a good trade. First bunched carrots to 85p; beetroot £1.05.

Prices: summer cabbage x 6 £3; spring cabbage x 10 £2.50; Cos lettuce x 12 from £2; mixed Lollo lettuce x 6 from £1; Webb x 12 £1.50; oak leaf lettuce x 6 from £1.25; cauliflower x 6 £5; broccoli x 10lb £5.25; beetroot x 28lb £2.25; spring onions (bunch) 50p.

CULL COWS, BULLS AND OTM CATTLE (144): 65 black and white cows from £290.16 to £900.90 (£674.74).

More cows forward and another good trade. Meated suckler cows were again in demand. Even Jersey x cows to £690.

Cows: Limousin x at 810kg 133p or £1,077.30; Limousin x at 726kg 138p or £1,001.88; Aberdeen Angus at 642 155p or £995.10; Holstein x at 824kg 120p or £988.80; Holstein x at 800kg 122p or £976.

Bulls: Blonde D’Aquitaine x at 962kg 143p or £1,375.66; Blonde D’Aquitaine x at 1,012kg or £1,315.60; Holstein x at 766kg 121p or £926; Friesian at 646kg 128p or £826.88; Holstein x at 618kg 129p or £797.22.

Steers: Peimontese at 552kg 100p or £552; Limousin x at 848kg 144p or £1,221.12; British Blue x at 800kg 149p or £1,192; British Blue x at 752kg 139p or £1,045.28; Holstein x at 652kg 121p or £788.92.

Cull cows: Holstein x (50): to 124p (£105.01); Friesian (15): to 132p (£105.63); Black (1): to 126p; Hereford (15): to 147p (£117.90); Red (2): to 105p (£93.40)

Cull bulls: Holstein x (2): (£124.57p) to 129p; Friesian (1): to 128p; Blonde D’Aquitaine x (2): (136.34p) to 143p; Piemontese (1): to 100p.

Steer: Holstein x (1): to 121p; Limousin x (1): to 144p; British Blue x (2): (144.15p) to 149p.

BUTCHERS’ SHEEP (553): 404 new season lambs; top spot 222p (42.4kg) Texel crosses, J Trueman, Prestbury; overall average 199.9p.

Short entries in a number of centres this week as the gap is hit between the end of the “early” lambers and more traditional lambing time. With demand having slipped, however, the impact has been lessened.

Heavy overnight rain again didn’t help presentation of some lambs, those who were able to keep them dry were rewarded with stronger prices.

Jackie Trueman saw her very smart 42.2kg Texel crosses narrowly beat the Jacksons into second place, with several other pens of quality lambs over 210p.

Top pens per kilo: 219p 44kg Texel crosses; 218p 41.5kg Texel crosses; 214p 43.4kg Texel crosses; 212p 36.7kg Texel crosses; 210p 39.6kg Texel crosses.

Top pens per head: £108.90 55kg Texel crosses; £106 50kg Texel crosses; £105.45 53.8kg Texel crosses; £103.48 52kg Texel crosses; £98.12 52.8kg Texel crosses.

CULL EWES AND RAMS (149): ewes (£77.50); rams (£72); Texel cross ewes to £120; mule ewes to £101, £96 (twice) £95.

Similar strong trade for all shapes and sizes, although a few very plain ewes at £15 - £30 pulled down the overall averages.

BUTCHERS’ CATTLE (104): top of the pile was Cumbria’s Liz Kynsaton with a pair of choice heifers at 228p and 211p. Messrs Wilcock had heifers at 202p and 188p and Chelford stalwart Reg Beard was in the pound seat with steers at 185p and 179p.

No less than 18 cattle over £1,000 peaking at £1,172 for John Riley’s Angus x steers, £1,153 for heifers and £1,073 for bulls.

Although there were no recordbreaking achievements in the bull section, trade remained level throughout. Messrs Wilcock were out in front at 189p. Jim Thornhill came close at 188p and at the other end of the scale, Steve Jones sold black and whites to 151p with Gradwell Farm’s to 150p and John Fryer’s to 149p x 3.

Steers (23): to 185p (154.85p); heifers (40): to 228p (157.75p); bulls (41) to 189p (153.54p); overall average (104): 155.44p.

Steers: premium (5): to 185p (176p); prime (11): to 169p (158.45p); others (7): to 144p (133.83p).

Heifers: premium (2): to 228p (195.83p); prime (26): to 165p (154.92p); other (8): to 146p (141.25p).

Bulls: premium (5): to 189p (181.2p); prime (11): to 166p (159.81p); other (25): to 151p (145.04p).

Top bulls: British Blue x at 562kg 189p; Limousin x at 412kg 188p; Limousin x at 580kg 185p; Limousin x at 582p 172p (Schola Green); Blonde x at 574kg 172p.

Top cattle: Limousin x h at 506kg 228p; Limousin x h at 434kg 211p; Limousin x h at 500kg 202p; Limousin x h at 512kg 202p; Blonde x s at 512kg 188p.

First straw sale

At the first sale of standing straw in the area, Frank Marshall and Company, of Chelford, reported the sale of 291 acres o wheat straw behind the combine at £48 per acre.

At the regular Monday produce sale at Chelford, new season small bale hay made £175 to £230 pe tonne and new season big bale hay £80 to £142 per tonne.

Big bale oat straw £90, big bale wheat straw £88 and rape straw £58 per tonne.

Auction shows keen demand for rural properties with land

Whittaker and Biggs held a property auction at the Chimney House Hotel, Sandbach Heath, last month, when they offered Solaria Farm, Back Lane, Brereton, Sandbach, and Diglake Farm, Buglawton, Congleton.

Selling to a packed audience and after animated bidding, all the lots sold for well in excess of the guide prices, as follows: Solaria Farm: lot one comprising the house, equestrian buildings and 227 acres of land, £920,000; lot two, 16.98 acres of pasture/ arable land, £225,000 (£13,250 per acre); lot three, 69.67 acres of arable land, £690,000 (£9,903 per acre).

Diglake Farm: lots one and two combined comprising the house, farm buildings and 249 acres of land, £830,000; lot three, 17.82 acres of pasture, £125,000 (£7,014 per acre); lot four, 15.57 acres of arable land, £115,000 (£7,385 per acre).

The auctioneers said the sale highlighted the strong demand for rural properties with land and significant farming interest fo blocks of accommodation land, especially for the 69.67 acres o arable land at Solaria Farm. MP joins fight to make RE equal to maths on the new baccalaureate

The Chronicle, Thursday, 7th July, 2011. www.chronicleseries.co.uk

By Chris Young C o n s e r v a t i v e Congleton MP Fiona Bruce is opposing her arty’s stance on religious education, which she elieves should be a core subject.

She was speaking on Government plans to exclude the subject from the English Baccalaureate, which focuses on core subjects including maths, history, geography and the sciences.

The headteachers and RE departments of Holmes Chapel High School and Congleton High School contacted Mrs Bruce, and said that not including the subject would lead to a drop in students studying it at GCSE level.

From left Mrs Bruce, Stephen Lloyd MP, Tony Cunningham MP, Peter Kerridge of Premier Christian Radio, Andrew Selous MP, Jim Shannon MP and John Glen MP presenting the petition to Downing Street.

Mrs Bruce, described as eing “actively involved in church life”, was in a group of MPs who handed a petition calling for Education Secretary Michael Gove to include RE as a core subject of the baccalaureate, and on Thursday she raised the issue in Parliament.

She asked: “A petition with 140,000 signatures expressing concern at the exclusion of RE from the English accalaureate was presented to Downing Street yesterday. One unintended consequence of that exclusion is that the number of pupils applying to study RE at GCSE has dropped significantly, as have application rates for RE teacher training by some 25%.

“What action can the Church commissioners take to ensure that the study of RE is properly resourced, bearing in mind that it is still a statutory — that is, compulsory — subject for pupils in school up to 16 years old?”

Tony Baldry, MP responsible for answering questions on the Church, replied that the Bishop of Oxford, the lead bishop on education in the Church of England, had made clear “the concerns of the Church of England and indeed other faith groups, to ministerial colleagues in the Department for Education”.

He added: “I heard the Minister with responsibility for schools says in a debate in Westminster Hall that he would reflect on those representations, and we look forward to hearing what decisions Ministers take in respect of RE in the E-bac.”

The RE.ACT campaign, the group behind the petition, was organised by Premier Christian Media.

Mrs Bruce was chosen as the parliamentary Conservative candidate for the Congleton constituency in December 2009, amid claims that church groups had swayed the selection meeting. Mrs Bruce said that she had spoken to many organisations, including church groups.

The MP said: “Religious issues are frequently at the top of any news agenda. Today’s RE helps young people make sense of that

Schools could ease out Easter in favour of new ‘spring break’

A decision on whether schools in the Cheshire East Council area would standardise their term dates is to be made on Monday, with the possibility of renaming the Easter holidays “spring reak”. Cabinet members for Children and Family Services will decide whether, from September next year, the council will set terms in line with the Learn Together Partnership standardised year.

The partnership, made up of Cheshire councils and youth services, suggests that October half term should always be the last full week of that month, February half term the third full week of the month, and no more than two inset days to be taken consecutively.

The most controversial roposal of was that the Easter holidays should be renamed “spring break” and would always be the first two full weeks in April and that the option of primary schools having an additional week’s holiday at Whitsun be removed.

Following consultation, 54% of those who responded supported the Easter and Whitsun proposals; other individual proposals received support ranging from 72% to 86%.

A report for councillors stated that the spring break not necessarily linking with Easter had brought a “significant amount of criticism from respondents who perceived it as undermining this most significant Christian celebration”.

However, both Chester and Shrewsbury dioceses were reported to have no objections, as they preferred church schools to be in session during Holy Week, which was not currently always the case.

and wider world affairs. It also promotes community cohesion, as it allows young people, who are growing up in a diverse society, to discuss and understand the views and opinions of people whose beliefs and values differ from their own, in the safety of the classroom environment.

“With over 140,000 signatures the petition clearly shows the public value RE too.”

(Submitted photograph).

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