There was a flying trade for quality Suffolk lots in Ballymena at the NI Suffolk branch export sale of in-lamb ewes and ewe lambs.

With bidders from across Ireland, the UK and Europe, it led to a strong clearance rate of 95%.

Judge for the pre-sale show was the NI Suffolk branch chair Ben Lamb of the Richhill flock.

Overall champion and sale topper was the day's first-prizewinning ewe lamb from the Cherrylea flock of John Trimble.

The eye-catching Limestone Dark Knight-sired ewe lamb went on to sell for 6,000gns (€7,566) to John Robson.

John sold his second ewe lamb for 1,700gns (€2,143) to N Christie, giving him an impressive pen average of 3,850gns (€4,853).

Third prize

The next-top price was the third-prizewinning ewe lamb. She came from the flock of Sean and Jane McCloskey and was the third-last sheep through the ring at the sale.

She found her new home in Wexford after selling for 4,000gns (€5,045) to Sean O’Gorman.

Sean and Jane sold their final two ewe lambs for 1,150gns (€1,451) and 1,550gns (€1,956) to Tyrone man John O’Neill.

Judge Ben Lamb and breeder John Trimble with the overall champion and sale-topping ewe lamb that sold for 6,000gns.

Also having a strong day in the sales ring was the judge Ben Lamb, selling his pen leader for 3,500gns (€4,414) to C McLaughlin. Lamb sold a further five ewe lambs to give him a strong pen average of 1,717gns (€2,165).

Ewe lambs sold very consistently throughout the sale to average a strong £1,722 (€2,068).

Shearling ewes

The in-lamb shearling ewe section was topped at 1,900gns (€2,396) by Micheal McNally, with his Castleisle A Kingsman shearling ewe.

She was scanned in-lamb with a single to Limestone Daredevil and sold to Galway-based breeder M Killikea.

The McNallys achieved a pen average of 1,169gns (€1,474) for their pen of eight in-lamb shearling ewes.

The next-top price given for a shearling ewe was 1,500gns (€1,891). This price was obtained by the Castlewood flock of Martin and Eoin Butler for their Causeway Ranger-sired shearling ewe in-lamb to Cairnton Chaos.

The Butlers sold a total of seven shearling ewes in-lamb to Cairnton Chaos to average 879gns (€1,108).

The day's first-placed shearling ewe and overall reserve champion achieved a price of 1,300gns (€1,639).

She was presented for sale by Nick Lowry of the Fourscore flock. The prizewinning shearling ewe was scanned in-lamb carrying twins to Limestone Commando and was purchased by European breeder JD Ter Maaten.

With a large number of in-lamb shearling ewes present, an average of £912 (€1,096) was obtained.

Aged ewes

It was the second-prizewinning aged ewe from the flock of Sean and Jane McCloskey that topped the aged ewe category, selling their Rookery Ace of Hearts-sired ewe for 1,000gns (€1,260).

She was scanned in-lamb to Crewlands Dancing Brave and she was purchased by S Haslett.

Demand for aged ewes remained very consistent producing an average of £745 (€895).