More than 3000 cattle and 7630 lambs and sheep went under the hammer as farmers battling a scarcity of feed and water cashed in their chips. The better-quality cows and lambs sold well but the plainer livestock struggled under the sheer weight of numbers.

Ben Goodman from Ian Morgan Livestock said many farmers were left with little option but to sell valuable breeding stock.

“They’re just not able to finish them off,” Mr Goodman said. “They’re starting to run out of water and feed and there is no other option.”