Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of Cast Cattle, Store & Breeding Stock on Monday 7th February 2022. Forward were 299 Cattle and 697 Sheep.
59 Cast Cattle & OTM sold to 188ppk and £1473
42 Young Bulls sold to £1375
115 Store Steers sold to £1490
83 Store Heifers sold to £1480
665 Store Hoggs sold to £123
32 Feeding Ewes sold to £100
Cast Cattle – The cows remain an excellent trade, a super sale average of 145ppk with something for everyone as a high-quality top end were levelled out somewhat by our older, more delicate ladies. To put things in perspective the top 50% of the cows this week averaged a massive 164.8ppk and £1216; of these 8 sold at £1300 or more whilst 10 sold for at least 170ppk. Shining brightest were the exceptional cows of W J Scott Ltd, Low Leam, West Woodburn as they produced three over £1400 which included a 6-year-old British Blonde and a stunning 12-year-old Belgian Blue, their winner however proved to be a wonderful 7-year-old Limousin which reached £1473. The top price per kilo race ended in a dead heat, quite the achievement today as the chasing pack were a formidable sight indeed. Leading the way at 188 pence per kilo came the aforementioned British Blonde from Low Leam and our other at 188ppk was a superb 5-year-old Limousin from local producers S & J Dent, Great Burdon Farm. The best of the native breeds this week was a meaty 5-year-old Shorthorn cow from S E Harrison & Son, Twizzel Hall at £1237 (148ppk) whilst B A & C Pearson, Stainsby Hill reached 158ppk with their Hereford OTM heifer. As always, the dairy cows deserve mention, top of the milk chart this week is a brilliant Friesian OTM heifer from G Thompson & Sons, Softley Farm at 178ppk and £1197.
Cast Cattle Leading PPK – 188 174 170 158(x2) W J Scott Ltd. 188 168 156 152 S & J Dent & Son. 186 146 S E Chapman. 182 180 160 154 A C Simpson & Son. 180 W & M Knaggs & Son. 178 G Thompson & Sons. 172 A P Greenshields. 166 M Barker Farms. 164 162 150 F & J S Gargett. 164 P J Glass. 160 D Barron. 160(x2) 148(x2) S E Harrison & Son. 158 B A & C Pearson. 158 146 W J & A S Bowes & Sons. 152 D W Humphrey. 152 Forster Hall & Sons. 150 A Newton. 148 P Tindale. 146 Messrs Pattinson.
Cast Cattle Leading Gross – £1473 £1451 £1409 £1336 £1256 W J Scott Ltd. £1355 £1259 £1163 S & J Dent & Son. £1343 A P Greenshields. £1341 W & M Knaggs & Son. £1339 £1268 £1153 £1138 A C Simpson & Son. £1237 £1185 £1081 S E Harrison & Son. £1279 £1064 W J & A S Bowes & Sons. £1232 £1103 £1002 F & J S Gargett. £1218 M Barker Farms. £1197 G Thompson & Sons. £1192 P Tindale. £1155 Forster Hall & Sons. £1121 S E Chapman. £1076 D Barron. £1067 D W Humphrey.
Store Cattle – Blimey, no place for the faint-hearted buyers as the store cattle trade is absolutely red hot at the moment, 20 cattle over £1300 with a further 23 in the £1200’s as the heifers averaged £1005 and the steers an incredible £1090. Top price of the week went to a fantastic 22-month-old Limousin steer from K & M M Henderson, West Witton Row Farm at a massive £1490, ten top sorts from this home averaged £1332. Close behind came the usual power from J H Johnson, White Lea Farm with the run peaking at £1480 and also containing our best native breed an Aberdeen Angus at £1340; the 17 superstars from White Lea also averaged beyond £1300. Top priced heifer of the week was a brut of a 30-month-old British Blonde from T W & G Corner, Rye Close Farm which sold for £1480 whilst the leading young bulls were a stunning pair of 11-month-old Limousin’s from C G Robinson, South View Farm at a whopping £1375 apiece. Best of the dairy breeds this week was a magical Montbelliarde from Chopwell’s A Willey when the 22 month old steer sold for £1300.
Leading Prices
Young Bulls – £1375(x2) £1185 £1180(x2) £1065 C G Robinson. £1235 T & D I Allen & Son. £1095(x2) £985(x2) G A Swinbank. £915(x2) £800(x2) T & R Quinn & Son. £800(x2) £770 R W Raper & Sons. £730 £715(x3) £705(x2) B A & C Pearson Ltd.
Store Steers – £1490 £1480(x2) £1360 £1350 £1280(x2) £1210(x2) K & M M Henderson. £1480(x2) £1475(x2) £1390(x2) £1340(x2) £1290(x2) £1260(x2) J H Johnson. £1370(x2) £1280 £1240 M & E Walton. £1300 £1210 A Willey. £1270 £1240 I W Cairns. £1250 R Errington & Son. £1240 £1190(x2) T Coulthard & Son. £1230 G L & M Steel. £1190 G Beadle.
Store Heifers – £1480 £1260 T W & G Corner. £1300 £1265 J R & J Crowe. £1270 £1220 £1140 M & E Walton. £1265 £1150 J T Parkin. £1180 K & M M Henderson. £1145(x3) £1115(x3) R L Walker. £1140(x2) £1085(x2) C G Robinson. £1125 G L & M Steel. £1110 A R Marshall. £1100(x3) R Errington & Son. £1090(x2) £1080 W B Rutter & Sons. £1080(x2) G W & M Singleton & Sons. £1080 G A Swinbank.
Store Sheep – Another tidy show for the time of year and an outstanding trade for the umpteenth week in a row, the store sheep market stays in absolutely superb form. Remarkably over 250 hoggs sold for at least £100, of these just three pens made it to £120, a trio of top Texel’s from I M Maughan, Hamsterley were matched by four fabulous Suffolk’s from D R Smith, Ferryhill at £120, top of the pile however was half a dozen superb Beltex hoggs from the aforementioned Ferryhill firm at a fabulous £123. Feeding ewes continue to sell well as twice bidding reached £100 for C Longstaff, Witton-le-Wear and I W Cairns, Haswell.
Leading Prices
Store Hoggs – £123 £120 £107 £104 D R Smith. £120 £119 £117 £115.50(x2) I M Maughan. £118 £107 M J Hutchinson. £117 £104 T & R Dent. £116 £104 M F Hall. £116 S Beeforth. £113 £106 R W & C Spry. £113 £107.50 W R Wilson & Partners. £112 £105 C Longstaff. £109 £108 S J Love. £106 H & P Hutchinson. £106 £103 P Kirk. £104 Joanna Smurthwaite. £104 J H Johnson. £103 R Bell.
Feeding Ewes – £100 £97 £90 £78 £64 I W Cairns. £100 £90 £85 C Longstaff. £91 £78 D & G Spry. £79 F J Forrest. £63 Godschalk Partners.
