Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of prime stock on Thursday 13th November 2025. Forward were 220 cattle and 1935 sheep.
64 Prime Bulls sold to 458ppk or £3648
34 Prime Steers sold to 448ppk or £3256
121 Prime Heifers sold to 481ppk or £3260
1 Cast Cow sold for 300ppk and £2160
1804 Prime Lambs sold to 523ppk or £220
131 Cast Ewes/Rams sold to £283
Prime Bulls (64) – The bull beef heads towards the festive period in cracking form, top prices up again and averages impressive to see them level at 389ppk and £2732. Top of the sale per kilo at a mesmeric 458 pence was a brilliant 718kg Limousin from SH Watson & Son, Low Fields Farm, Caldwell. Next in line at 444ppk was a cracker from TW Clark & Son, Frankland Farm which was duly followed by three bulls at 440ppk and a further eighteen at 400 pence and beyond. A close race materialised to top the gross values with the leading seven all north of £3400. Four of the magnificent seven hailed from Messrs Trotter, Hoselaw Farm, Kelso which included the best on the day, a perfectly finished 877kg Limousin which reached £3648. First crossed dairy bulls look a flyer as do the pure Friesian’s, the best of the black and whites came from R Hall & Son, Kilton Hall at 334ppk and GW Dobson & Son, Wood Close at £2260. Some super averages are listed below.
SH Watson & Son sold 2 averaged 443ppk & £3351
LS Staley sold 2 averaged 423ppk and £3247
TW Clark & Son sold 6 averaged 423ppk and £3173
D Richardson & Co sold 4 averaged 411ppk and £3219
Messrs Trotter sold 4 averaged 410ppk and £3549
Bulls Leading PPK – 458 430 SH Watson & Son. 444 440 434 411 409 407 TW Clark & Son. 440 405 LS Staley. 440 AC Simpson & Son. 432 S & J Dent & Son. 422 415 406 402 D Richardson & Co. 416 410(x2) 406 Messrs Trotter. 416 LR Welsh & Co. 401(x2) 400 M & G Chantrell Ltd.
Bulls Leading Gross – £3648 £3567 £3491 £3489 Messrs Trotter. £3564 AC Simpson & Son. £3559 £2936 LS Staley. £3414 £3288 SH Watson & Son. £3361 £3241 £3215 £3107 £3094 £3022 TW Clark & Son. £3349 £3231 £3155 £3139 D Richardson & Co. £2914 LR Welsh & Co. £2903 S & J Dent & Son.
Friesian Bulls Leading PPK – 334 331 R Hall & Son. 318 310 GW Dobson & Son.
Friesian Bulls Leading Gross – £2260 £2259 GW Dobson & Son. £2217 £2158 R Hall & Son.
Clean Cattle (155) – Clean beef cruises along nicely, the fruitful fridges of our faithful butchering fraternity are now filling for the festivities. No doubt we have seen better shows of quality however returns remain good for all shapes and sizes to see heifers (including a plain bottom end) averaged 430ppk and £2491 whilst more meat amongst the steers saw them level up at 422ppk and £2688. Top per kilo at 481 pence was a sweet 571kg Limousin heifer from R Hirst, Neasham Grange. Following at 480ppk were two heifers as Messrs Trotter, Hoselaw Farm matched the Renton’s of High Highlaws. Behind the leading trio followed nine heifers in the 470’s and nine in the 460’s ahead of a dozen more in the 450’s per kilo as the butcher’s shop beasts still look a very solid trade. King of the steers this week was undoubtedly a cracking 727kg Limousin from NE Dyson, Gebdykes Farm when he led the pence per kilo at 448 and also the pounds per head at £3256. Other steers impressing per kilo came from MJ & EA Sedgewick, Long Myers at 446 pence and Taylor Bros, Belle Isle Farm at 445. Back to the gross values and more delight for NE Dyson who topped the day with a 723kg British Blue heifer at £3260, behind the Dyson duo four other vendors surpassing £3000 were TN Callender, Ox Eye Farm; Askwiths, Low Mown Meadows; Five Houses, Hutton Rudby and the aforementioned MJ & EA Sedgewick, Long Myers Farm. A few of the top averages are listed below.
Messrs Trotter sold 4 averaged 471ppk
R Hirst sold 12 averaged 455ppk
JB Luck & Son sold 3 averaged 454ppk
JE Suddes & Son sold 4 averaged 449ppk
NE Dyson sold 3 averaged £3112
MJ & EA Sedgewick sold 3 averaged £2998
AC Simpson & Son sold 3 averaged £2938
TN Callender sold 3 averaged £2856
Steers – Top prices ppk 448 NE Dyson. 446 439 422 MJ&EA Sedgewick. 445 428 418 391 Taylor Bros. 437 434 432 428×2 423 417 M&G Chantrell Ltd. 436 428 424 Askwiths. 435 431 430 428 425 410 408 403 Five Houses. 424 GR Hindmarsh & Sons. 420 WF Hustwit. 417 TN Callender.
Lead Grossing Steers £3256 NE Dyson. £3165 TN Callender. £3128 £2734 £2733 £2498 Askwiths. £3108 £3046 £2841 MJ&EA Sedgwick. £3100 £3022 £3000 £2829 £2805 £2790 £2788 £2603 £2579 £2574 £2570 Five Houses. £2984 GR Hindmarsh & Sons. £2621 £2508 £2424 £2342 Taylor Bros. £2541 WF Hustwit. £2530 £2449 £2443 £2431 M&G Chantrell.
Heifers – Top prices ppk 481 477×2 475 474 457 R Hirst. 480 479 474 455 K Trotter. 480 466 Renton Highlaws Ltd. 472 449 446 JB Luck & Son. 468 467 450 448×2 JV&JA Hodgson. 468 455 J Layfield. 464 462 448 PJ&MP Gilhespy. 460 AC Simpson & Son. 460 458 450 WF Hustwit. 458 450 JE Suddes & Son. 452 Five Houses. 451 444 NE Dyson. 450 W Swinbank & Sons. 449 WO Grix & Partners. 447 K&A Harker.
Lead Grossing Heifers £3260 £2819 NE Dyson. £2972 JM Smith. £2947 £2939 £2930 AC Simpson & Son. £2931 £2917 JE Suddes & Son. £2903 JB Luck & Son. £2900 £2816 £2746 £2735 R Hirst. £2892 £2734 £2732 W Swinbank & Sons. £2841 £2838 Five Houses. £2819 Renton Highlaws Ltd. £2775 J Layfield. £2759 P Langstaff. £2759 WO Grix & Partners. £2736 TN Callender. £2735 K&A Harker. £2726 K Trotter.
Prime Lambs (1804) – Ten buyers ringside again, not the spark of seven days ago saw trade probably back a fiver and certainly not helped by some saturated sheep on display after the relentless rain. Thus said, returns are still competitive on the day with some centres in the middle of the week a way off this pace, all included, weighed straight, the sale averaged 319ppk and £145.86 with an SQQ of 327ppk. A special quartet of Beltex from CR Fawcett, Well House grabbed the headlines when the 42kg superstars sold for £220 (523ppk). Chasing the top pen per kilo were seven sweet 45kg Beltex from W Ramsay & Sons, Blakeley Hill at 480ppk (£216) followed by seven 43kg Texel’s from R Atkinson, High Greenbury at 462ppk (£199). Plenty of the best and heaviest lambs traded over £180, the only other to make the £200 plus club was a tremendous 49kg Beltex from WA Wardman Ltd, Thrushwood Farm at £210.
Lambs- Lead Grossing Top Averages
CR Fawcett sold 4 (42kg) Average £220
W Ramsay & Sons sold 25 (45kg) Average £182
AC Simpson & Son sold 32 (59kg) Average £180
JC Simpson & Son sold 26 (49kg) Average £179
R Atkinson sold 126 (45kg) Average £174
Lambs- PPK Top Averages
CR Fawcett sold 4 (42kg) Average 523ppk
W Ramsay & Sons sold 25 (45kg) Average 397ppk
R Atkinson sold 126 (45kg) Average 382ppk
JC Simpson sold 26 (49kg) Average 360ppk
JC Hope & Son sold 33 (40kg) Average 350ppk
Lambs – Top prices ppk 523 CR Fawcett. 480 434 408 381 346 W Ramsay & Sons. 462 434 431 405 393 377 369 361 R Atkinson. 428 354 348 WA Wardman Ltd. 402 393 360 RW Dalton. 400 385 353 JC Simpson. 384 372 365 360 A&PA Jopling. 376 Reay & Walton. 375 365 357 JC Hope & Son. 370 JK Metcalf. 366 A Crowder. 365 347 AWSM Farms. 357 R Lawson & Son. 357 DR Smith. 356×2 WR Thompson. 352 AW Dixon. 346×2 J Hird.
Lead Grossing Lambs £220 CR Fawcett. £216 £187 £184 £183 £170 £165 W Ramsay & Sons. £210 £180 £176 £170 WA Wardman Ltd. £199 £191 £181×2 £174 £170×3 R Atkinson. £195×2 £181×2 W Denham. £195 £193 £190 £181 £180 £170×2 AC Simpson & Son. £192.50 £192 £180 £173 JC Simpson. £189 FT Gibbon & Son. £183 JE Suddes & Son. £181 JA&A Herbert. £175 R Lawson & Son. £172×2 £166 A Crowder. £171×2 WR Thompson.
Cast Ewes & Rams (131) – The ewe numbers have rightly found themselves drawn to our Monday feeding sales of late, this week is no exception but the trade today may turn a few heads and bring them forward on a Thursday as a bidding frenzy saw the ewes and rams average an excellent £157.02. Top of the tree at £283 was an excellent Texel from A & PA Jopling, High Dalton Hall. W Ramsay & Sons, Blakeley Hill followed with a pair at £275 and sold two more at £269 which was then matched by JE Suddes & Son, Rowley Farm. Heavy lowland ewes consistently £190 plus whilst Mule ewes topped at £155 from JK & CE Farming, Blue House and averaged £138. Tups topped at £199 for a Dutch Spotted, also from Blue House.
Lead Grossing Cast Sheep £283 £239 £185 £157 £139 £125 A&PA Jopling. £275 £269 £119 W Ramsay & Sons. £269 JE Suddes & Son. £251 £218 £171 £159 £111 W.K M.M Lamb. £243 JA&A Herbert. £231 £175 M&A Gaskin. £201 £180 £151 WR Thompson. £199 £159 £155 £125 JK&CE Farming. £195 £151 B Boyle. £189 J&A Layfield. £183 WE Frank & Son. £181 S Dodsworth. £173 D Chapman. £169 JW Richardson. £159 £149 WA Wardman Ltd.
