Demand was strong for Charollais rams at the NSA South West Ram Sale held in Exeter Market (19th August 2026). Averages for shearling rams jumped by £271 to finish on £1220 with a 100% clearance. The market certainly could have sold more shearlings, so buyers moved onto lambs pushing their average up by £309 to £926, again resulting in a total clearance.
Anthony Elsworthy from Tiverton, Devon topped the sale with his pen of six shearlings selling for a high of 1800gns for a February-born son of Cavick Challenger. Mr R Irwin put in the final bid to secure the ram for his Lower Kingstree flock. Next best in the pen at 1650gns was a Cavick Captain Morgan triplet-born tup, which also went to Mr Irwin. Other rams by this sire sold for 1600gns and 1400gns with the Elsridge flock achieving a pen average of £1548.75 for the six.
The Loosebeare flock of Paul Quick, Crediton, achieved a top price of 1750gns for a Logie Durno Archer son, which was the pick of SJ and RM Lang for their Langley flock in Devon. Meanwhile, a Llangan Atomic son from Loosebeare then made 1600gns, resulting in a pen average of £1365 for six.
The pre-sale champion came from Ben and Amelia Watts’ Willow flock in Ashburton, Devon. Their five shearling tups all sold for four-figure sums, with a top of 1500gns for Willow Dynamite, by Springhill Crackerjack. An Edstaston Ulysses son was second best in the pen at 1400gns and their pen average was £1312.50.
The strong trade continued into the ram lamb section with a top of 1100gns paid three times. One of these came from Laura Monk’s Saveock flock in Cornwall. Her five ram lambs were all sired by Bicton Commodore and finished on an average of £945.
Ben and Amelia Watts also sold the champion at 1100gns for a son of Oakchurch Apache to Matthew and Jamie Collard of the Fairoaks flock, Somerset. They were also purchasers of one from George Dart from Cullompton, Devon, who was first in the ring and made 1100gns for a high index son of Edstaston Best Bar One. Another by the same sire achieved 950gns.
It was an excellent day’s trading for the Charollais breed, with strong demand throughout and a complete clearance in both the shearling and ram lamb sections. The only disappointment was the number of unavoidable absentees due to the ongoing BTV situation in the Southwest.
