Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of Prime Stock on Thursday 10th February 2022. Forward were 235 Cattle, 2104 Sheep and 22 Pigs.
76 Prime Bulls sold to 292ppk or £2598
23 Prime Steers sold to 271ppk or £1978
133 Prime Heifers sold to 309ppk or £1935
3 Cast Cows sold to 150ppk or £1080
1683 Prime Hoggs sold to 345ppk or £150.50
421 Cast Ewes & Rams sold to £200
22 Prime Pigs sold to 100ppk or £78
Prime Bulls (76) – Incredible scenes, plenty of reasons for the feeders to feel ‘bullish’ as the trade blew the roof off, a sensational sale average of 238ppk which included 20 bulls north of 270ppk and a record breaking 18 over £2000; before you read on, please spare a thought for those who sold bulls deadweight this week as they must surely feel like the footballer’s cat right now. Top price per kilo a gigantic 292 pence from W M Dick & Sons, Mains of Thorsk with their 716kg Limousin, close behind at 291ppk came A C Simpson & Son, McNeil Farm (893kg Limousin) and Carlisle based T N & J Hall, Ainstable Hall at 290ppk (656kg Limousin). To the gross values, top two both came from A C Simpson & Son at a scintillating £2598 and £2459; behind these D M Lyle, Dunblane produced a heavyweight Charolais at £2388, the Renton’s of Morpeth’s excellent Limousin sold for £2341 ahead of a pair of beauties from the Mains of Thorsk at £2339 and £2282. Top of the native breeds this week came a perfectly finished Aberdeen Angus from local producers A G Watson & Sons at 261ppk and £1873. Over a quarter of the bulls offered were Holstein Friesian’s this week and the black and white brigade also enjoyed a lift in price, no surprises that the leader in this section came from the superb feeding of R Hall & Son, Kilton Hall Farm who topped at 214ppk and £1354. Look below for some simply splendiferous returns.
A C Simpson & Son, Witton-le-Wear sold 3 Bulls to average 288ppk and £2443
T N & J Hall, Carlisle sold 3 Bulls to average 286ppk and £1900
W M Dick & Sons, Thorsk sold 5 Bulls to average 275ppk and £2202
A G Watson & Sons, Rushyford sold 5 Bulls to average 265ppk and £1943
J B Luck, Bowes sold 4 Bulls to average 264ppk and £1979
T W Clark & Son, Durham sold 4 Bulls to average 261ppk and £1817
L R Welsh & Co, Spennymoor sold 3 Bulls to average 256ppk and £2016
Bulls Leading PPK – 292 277 274 272 266 W M Dick & Sons. 291 288 285 A C Simpson & Son. 290 286 284 T N & J Hall. 289 262 L R Welsh & Co. 287 275 261 260 A G Watson & Sons. 284 270(x2) J B Luck. 280 277 258 T W Clark & Son. 278 276 254 J A & M Boyes Ltd. 268 J M & S Walton. 267 Renton Highlaws Ltd. 260 R McNeill. 259 256 249 Dalchirla Farms Ltd. 259 J K & C E Farming. 250 J K Gregory.
Bulls Leading Gross – £2598 £2459 £2271 A C Simpson & Son. £2388 D M Lyle. £2341 Renton Highlaws Ltd. £2339 £2282 £2250 £2090 £2049 W M Dick & Sons. £2221 A MacGregor. £2197 £2122 £2050 J B Luck. £2118 £2114 £1818 L R Welsh & Co. £2038 £2026 £1934 £1873 £1842 A G Watson & Sons. £1961 J M & S Walton. £1936 £1902 £1863 T N & J Hall. £1916 J K & C E Farming. £1895 £1819 T W Clark & Son. £1884 J A & M Boyes Ltd. £1844 M Hutchinson.
Friesian Bulls Leading PPK – 214 170 R Hall & Son. 208 207 204(x2) 200 198 189 181 J M & S Walton. 208 C & M Atkinson & Sons. 203 J A & A Herbert. 196 172 171 D Walker.
Friesian Bulls Leading Gross – £1354 £1145 R Hall & Son. £1346 £1252 £1237 £1226 £1208 £1180 £1158 £1128 J M & S Walton. £1213 £1107 G W Dobson & Son. £1177 C & M Atkinson & Sons. £1175 J A & A Herbert. £1142 £1118 D Walker.
Prime Cattle (156) – Some fabulous cattle again assembled from far and wide, another healthy show of numbers attracted a new account to ringside, the old adage that numbers bring buyers and buyers bring numbers again proving itself to be so very true. All vendors were well rewarded as the demand for quality butchers spec beast is clear for all to see with very healthy averages of 262ppk for the heifers and 237ppk the steers. Of the nine heifers this week at 300ppk or more a remarkable quartet came from Cumbrian raiders T N & J Hall, Ainstable Hall, two came from regular sellers R Hirst, Neasham and one from J V & J A Hodgson, Summerhouse; the remaining pair which included our sale topper came from the incredibly consistent Messrs Renton of High Highlaws, Morpeth who’s best a 557kg home bred Limousin sold for 309ppk to H Taylor & Sons Butchers, Darlington. The race to top the steers per kilo was also hard fought, despite a strong challenge from not only the Renton’s again but also Walter Dandie & Son, Broxburn and J R & B Anderson & Son, Manfield it was J E Suddes & Son, Rowley Farm, Cornsay who led the way at 271 pence. Three clean cattle today sold beyond £1900, topping the steers at £1978 was a perfectly finished 764kg Limousin from W Swinbank & Sons, Greystones with the Anderson’s of Manfield again in the running along with a run full of meat from Airdrie based J A Brown. An impressive 34 heifers sold over £1700, of these a trio sold between £1800 and £1900 and the top pair exceeded £1900, both the leading duo came from S & J E Andrew, Letter Farm, Loch of Lowes. Below are a sample of our successors today.
T N & J Hall, Carlisle sold 9 Heifers to average 297ppk and £1695
Renton Highlaws Ltd, Morpeth sold 1 Steer & 4 Heifers to average 287ppk and £1695
J E Suddes & Son, Cornsay sold 1 Steer & 5 Heifers to average 286ppk and £1661
A C Simpson & Son, Witton-le-Wear sold 2 Heifers to average 281ppk and £1773
K & A Harker, Worsall sold 3 Heifers to average 281ppk and £1539
Askwiths, Crook sold 4 Heifers to average 281ppk and £1488
W A Armstrong, Coxhoe sold 8 Heifers to average 280ppk and £1612
Steers Leading PPK – 271 J E Suddes & Son. 269 267 J R & B Anderson & Son. 266 Renton Highlaws Ltd. 260 255 Walter Dandie & Son. 259 W Swinbank & Sons. 252 243 J M & M & C Wise. 249 241 D L & D Lovegreen. 245 241 233 J A Brown. 243 229 S Weightman & Son.
Steers Leading Gross – £1978 W Swinbank & Sons. £1793 £1788 £1767 £1677 J A Brown. £1788 £1670 J R & B Anderson & Son. £1733 £1718 J M & M & C Wise. £1710 £1688 Walter Dandie & Son. £1689 Renton Highlaws Ltd. £1609 D L & D Lovegreen. £1572 £1543 S Weightman & Son. £1541 J J Kemp & Son.
Heifers Leading PPK – 309 300 299 Renton Highlaws Ltd. 306 305 303 301 298 294 293 292 284 T N & J Hall. 305 295 294 J V & J A Hodgson. 305 300 290 288 R Hirst. 296(x2) 292 291 J E Suddes & Son. 293 286 284(x2) W A Armstrong. 291 K & A Harker. 290 F & J S Gargett. 288 Askwiths. 288 285 284 Walter Dandie & Son. 287 A C Simpson & Son.
Heifers Leading Gross – £1935 £1903 £1825 £1804 £1764 £1726 S & J E Andrew. £1828 £1787 £1781 £1773£1746 £1743£1732 £1709 J V & J A Hodgson. £1822 £1764 £1719 J E Suddes & Son. £1790 £1756 A C Simpson & Son. £1790 £1784 £1763 £1755 T N & J Hall. £1785 Walter Dandie & Son. £1785 £1721 £1703 Renton Highlaws Ltd. £1779 W Swinbank & Sons. £1776 £1769 W A Armstrong. £1754 K & A Harker. £1733 F & J S Gargett. £1731 R Hirst. £1706 K & J Heslop.
Cast Cows Leading PPK – 150 146 R McNeill. 130 J Rettie.
Cast Cows Leading Gross – £1080 J Rettie. £1055 £1012 R McNeill.
Prime Hoggs (1683) – Trade very similar on the week, fed hoggs in particular are very good to sell, weight is becoming more apparent and will get more so over the coming weeks as the kind autumn we had is now producing heavyweights all across the nation. Once again, some quality sheep from further afield were welcomed, these seasonal patrons’ benefit everyone as they vitally keep our numbers coming in to the spring and ensure our buyers can fill their order books consistently. This week’s weighed straight sale average returned at 262ppk with an SQQ of 274ppk. Top of the sale per kilo was a superb 40kg Beltex from T Watson, East Thorn Farm, Ponteland which sold for 345 pence. Leading gross value this week went to T H Richardson & Sons, Low Moor Hill Farm, Hamsterley with a cracking pair of 49kg Texels selling for £153.50.
Prime Hoggs Leading PPK – 345 333 T Watson. 325 313 302 290 T H Richardson. 325 319 316 308 304 301 299 294 Northfield Farms. 316 P Bisby. 315 311 309(x2) 307 306 C S & V Whitfield. 311 292 R G & G Rutter. 309 K & M M Henderson. 301 W E Frank & Son. 300 290 S Thompson & Son. 298 294 M W Barker & Son. 298 293 291 R W & R Henry. 298 W K M M Lamb. 295 290(x2) C S Robinson. 292 G Thompson & Sons. 292 W Robson. 290 A & E J Dobinson. 290 C H & M C Phalp. 289 C & M Atkinson. 288 D & M Lowes.
Prime Hoggs Leading Gross – £153.50 £140 T H Richardson & Son. £150.50 £150(x2) £149.50 £147.50(x2) £147 £140(x2) A C Simpson & Son. £150 W Denham. £150 R G & G Rutter. £150 Emma Watson. £147.50(x2) J R Knox & Son. £146.50 £143 £140 Northfield Farms. £146.50 T Watson. £145 P Bisby. £144 R Wood & Son. £141.50 £138.50 M W Barker & Son. £141 C S & V Whitfield. £141 £139 D Barron. £140 C Dawson. £140 £139.50 T Duckitt. £140 W E Frank & Son. £139.50 W A Wardman Ltd.
Cast Ewes & Rams (421) – The old girls remain a terrific trade, really not a good show averaged £89. A good day for T H Richardson & Son, Low Moor Hill, Hamsterley was rounded off when their superb Texel ewe led the sale at £200. Strong Mule’s again sold beyond £100 with the best of our horned ewes this week a pen of fleshy Scottish Blackface reaching £80.
Leading Prices – £200 £175 £130 T H Richardson & Sons. £170 W Tindale. £140 £120 AWSM Farms. £140 £135 J R & J Crowe. £135 £130 D Barron. £132 D M McClurg. £130 £120 J & A Ridley. £130(x2) P M Thompson. £126 A J Gibson. £126 Ivanhoe Livestock. £125 W H Brown. £120 K M Boanas. £120 Northfield Farms. £120 J Bolton. £120 D & P H Brown.
Prime Pigs (22) – Pigmageddon the sequel, by our (admittedly low) standards a truly huge show. Sadly, more belly pork flavoured misery ensued for the vendors as the trade remains totally diabolical. Joking aside, the British pig producer is surely heading for extinction if things stay this way.
Prime Pigs Leading PPK – 100 90(x2) 70 J Mitchell & Son. 90 70 60(x2) C Weightman.
Prime Pigs Leading Gross – £78 £70(x2) £66 C Weightman. £75(x3) £60 J Mitchell & Son.
