AMID all the doom and gloom on the economic front a farming success story took place in West Devon last Thursday.
The Dartmoor and district Mule Ewe Group show and sale, held at Tavistock Livestock Centre, attracted buyers from as far afield as Newquay and Taunton and of the 1,005 animals which came to market only 30 remained unsold.
The top price for an animal was £78.
The group held its first show and sale at Tavistock Livestock Centre in September 2003, when 280 mule ewe lambs were sold.
Since then the annual sale has gone from strength, with numbers increasing and more interest coming from buyers eager to buy locally bred mules, saving time and money by not travelling further afield.
So popular has it become that a second sale will be held this year.
The event attracts buyers from all over the South West and the Dartmoor and District Mule Ewe Group believes it is the largest dedicated mule ewe lamb sale in Devon and Cornwall.
David Landick, the market manager for auctioneers Ward and Chowen, told the Times: 'We were very pleased with the sale, with almost 100 per cent clearance.
'The mule ewe market is taking off — we had just one sale a year now there are two, all because of demand.
'With Foot and Mouth disease and prices not being good in recent years, it is very encouraging to see such a success story for farming.'
The mule ewe is a cross between Blue Face Leicester and the Scotch Blackface or Swaledale and the demand for the hardy breed is expected to expand.
In 2005 the Dartmoor Hill Farm Project secured funding for the group to travel to Northumberland and see how breeders from that region, similar to Dartmoor, bred and marketed their mules.
These trips continue and there is considerable interest from young farmers and breeders in the area looking to improve their flock.
The group has grown with new members and with backing from businesses and Duchy of Cornwall, hopes to expand further.
The increase in mule production on and around Dartmoor has also helped the Scotch Blackface and Swaledale breeds become more popular.
Following the reduction of grazing on the moor due to the introduction of environmental schemes, and the decoupling of subsidies, Scotch and Swaledale ewe numbers on the moor dropped considerably, but with more mules being bred and sold in the area, the future is looking more secure.
The extra sale this year has been arranged due to demand and a second event, of Blue Face Leicester Ram, is planned for September 30 and will run as the same day as the Blackface and Swaledale females sale.