Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of Prime Stock on Thursday 10th March 2022. Forward were 227 Cattle, 1473 Sheep and 11 Pigs.
70 Prime Bulls sold to 285ppk or £2528
37 Prime Steers sold to 271ppk or £2015
120 Prime Heifers sold to 310ppk or £1893
1112 Prime Hoggs sold to 295ppk or £150
361 Cast Ewes & Rams sold to £250
11 Prime Pigs sold to 102ppk or £79
Prime Bulls (70) – The bull bubble shows no sign of bursting as another super trade was apparent today with twelve selling at 270ppk or beyond, five of these surpassed 280ppk whilst a fabulous fourteen joined the £2000 plus club and the whole sale average was a superb 238ppk and £1716. Two remarkable runs of bulls miraculously shared the top ten spots as a hard-fought battle broke out between Cumbrian challengers T N & J Hall, Ainstable and local supporters A G Watson & Sons, Rushyford; the local lads prevailed by the narrowest of margins with a superb 639kg Limousin selling for 285 pence. Some might most certainly appeared at the top of the gross value list with the leading five all from different sources, an immense 1032kg Limousin from W I Suddes & Son prevailed as the winner at a huge £2528 with another pedigree Limousin breeder J & F Hartley & Sons, Hamsterley close behind at £2332. Selling for the same price were first time vendors W Robertson & Son with their classy Limousin making a successful visit down from Ballindalloch; our other bull today over £2300 was more Scottish success as a super Simmental from G & A Christie, Mid Town of Glass, Aberdeenshire did his best to prevent Limousin domination. Best of the black and whites this week came from regular sellers J K & C E Farming, Piercebridge as they produced a topper at 214ppk and £1384, even the usual Friesian pace setters R Hall & Son were forced to yield their preferred top spot this week. To the native breeds and more success for those brandishing the flag of St Andrew as two separate first timers from Forfar showing Aberdeen Angus impressed, firstly from E Scott, Linross at 228 pence per kilo and then some absolute powerhouses from F J Fraser & Son, Newton of Idvies sold twice over £2000 with their trio of Angus averaging a mammoth £2026. Below are some of the pace setters this week.
T N & J Hall, Carlisle sold 6 Bulls to average 279ppk and £1905
A G Watson & Sons, Rushyford sold 7 Bulls to average 269ppk and £1897
A C Simpson & Son, Witton-le-Wear sold 2 Bulls to average 268ppk and £2155
W & M Knaggs & Son, Sadberge sold 2 Bulls to average 262ppk and £1785
W I Suddes & Son, Cornsay sold 3 Bulls to average 249ppk and £2275
Continental Bulls – Top prices ppk 285 284 279 276 274 249 243 AG Watson & Sons. 284 283 280 278 276 274 TN&J Hall. 270 267 AC Simpson & Son. 266 260 W&M Knaggs & Son. 262 256×2 JH&M&NW Brown. 262 255 249 C Harle & Sons. 258 252 241 LR Welsh & Co. W Robertson & Son. 255 240 S Luck. 255 249 245 WI Suddes & Son. 250 E Scott. 248×2 C Binks & Son. 247 242 TW Clark & Son. 240 J&F Hartley & Sons.
Lead Grossing Continental Bulls £2528 £2228 £2068 WI Suddes & Son. £2332 £1971 J&F Hartley & Sons. £2332 W Robertson & Son. £2301 G&A Christie. £2261 £2049 AC Simpson & Son. £2097 £2006 £1904 £1852 £1806 TN&J Hall. £2048 £1802 £1779 JH&M&NW Brown. £2013 £1979 £1948 £1886 £1867 £1821 AG Watson & Sons. £1976 LR Welsh & Co. £1975 £1969 £1907 C Harle & Sons. £1921 W&M Knaggs & Son. £1838 S Luck & Son. £1696 C Binks & Son.
Friesian Bulls – Top prices ppk 214 JK&CE Farming. 207 192 R Hall & Son. 195×2 190×2 187 185 183 176 JM&S Walton. 160 JE&B Morgan & Sons.
Lead Grossing Friesian Bulls £1384 JK&CE Farming. £1339 £1190 R Hall & Son. £1327 £1316 £1308 £1202 £1194 £1124 £1105 £1032 JM&S Walton. £819 JE&B Morgan & Sons.
Native Breed Bulls – Top prices ppk 228 E Scott. 226 216 215 FJ Fraser & Son. 208 RE Dickson. 180 Gerard Te-Lintelo.
Lead Grossing Native Breed Bulls £2054 £2053 £1970 FJ Fraser & Son. £1817 RE Dickson. £1726 Gerard Te-Lintelo. £1591 E Scott.
Clean Cattle (157) – An impressive turn out from our loyal vendors with an excellent show of quality on the whole, certainly the steer trade proved to be equally as firm as last week with ten over 260ppk and nine beyond £1800, the best quality heifers were perhaps marginally easier yet a blistering average for the females of 268 pence per kilo is certainly no slouch and still one of the best around. Just a quartet of heifers in the 300’s this week with a huge collection knocking on the door as 19 sold between 290 and 299ppk and a further 24 in the 280’s. Perched on top of the podium at 310 pence were consistent sellers R Hirst of Neasham with a very classy 516kg Limousin, more success for the Hall’s of Ainstable Hall as they too were in the 300 club along with K & J Heslop, Fishburn and M I Wainwright who arrived down from Cupar, Fife early this morning. Some 27 heifers sold over £1700 with the top quartet managing to climb the top side of £1800, twice well fleshed Limousin’s from A M Connon & Sons, Skilmafilly, Aberdeenshire impressed along with the aforementioned phenomenal Fife heifer however it was the familiar feeding of A C Simpson & Son, McNeil Farm who prevailed with a 731kg Limousin selling for £1893. Back to the steers and a second mention this week for Fishburn based K & J Heslop, Bridge House Farm who led the race at 271 pence per kilo, several others in the chasing pack ran close, non more so than a magical run of home bred quality from the ultra-consistent W J Scott Ltd, Low Leam Farm, West Woodburn. Finally, to the leading gross steers and despite the best efforts of many it was a landslide win for Team Low Leam, a 778kg British Blue was an absolute world beater from West Woodburn and he deservedly sold for our top price of £2015. The 157 clean beasts today averaged a whopping £1566, below are some of the cream of this week’s rather excellent crop.
Askwiths, Crook sold 2 Heifers to average 294ppk and £1727
T N & J Hall, Carlisle sold 6 Heifers to average 290ppk and £1590
J B Luck, Bowes sold 3 Heifers to average 287ppk and £1664
M F Hall, Ponteland sold 6 Heifers to average 287ppk and £1428
R Hirst, Neasham sold 10 Heifers to average 284ppk and £1598
K & J Heslop, Fishburn sold 2 Heifers to average 281ppk and £1670
Askwiths, Crook sold 3 Steers to average 260ppk and £1784
D Robson & Sons, Capheaton sold 3 Steers to average 260ppk and £1731
W J Scott Ltd, West Woodburn sold 8 Steers to average 257ppk and £1793
Steers – Top prices ppk 271 226 K&J Heslop. 269 268 263 260 259×2 256 228 WJ Scott Ltd. 264 260 256 Askwiths. 263 222 220 210 205 AT Wilson & Co. 262×2 258 D Robson. 240 236 AJ Dickie. 236 MF Hall. 226×2 211 210 208 JR Raine & Sons. 214 FJ Young & Partners. 210 TF Bothroyd & Son.
Lead Grossing Steers £2015 £1901 £1830 £1813 £1804 £1789 £1681 WJ Scott Ltd. £1853 £1820 £1679 Askwiths. £1841 £1721 £1630 D Robson & Sons. £1800 £1588 AJ Dickie. £1793 31780 £1727 £1658 £1605 AT Wilson & Co. £1652 £1508 £1487 JR Raine & Sons. £1642 K&J Heslop. £1567 E Scott.
Heifers – Top prices ppk 310 293 291 290 286 285 283 R Hirst. 301 293 287×2 286×2 TN&J Hall. 301 288 282 MI Wainwright. 300 K&J Heslop. 299 298 293 287 MF Hall. 298 290 WJ Scott Ltd. 298 297 JB Luck. 297 296 292 291 288 286 JV&JA Hodgson. 296 294 Askwiths. 292 287 J Layfield. 292 284 282 WA Armstrong. 286 284 JE Suddes & Son. 286 284 PJ&MP Gilhespy. 285 AM Connon & Sons. 283 280 JJ Crichton. 281 AC Simpson & Son.
Lead Grossing Heifers – £1893 £1742 AC Simpson & Son. £1881 £1790 £1781 £1756 £1706 MI Wainwright. £1833 £1824 £1771 AM Connon & Sons. £1791 £1767 £1715 £1690 WJ Scott Ltd. £1781 £1773 £1722 £1710 JV&JA Hodgson. £1778 Askwiths. £1769 £1698 £1687 R Hirst. £1762 £1714 TN&J Hall. £1728 JB Luck. £1723 K&J Heslop. £1716×2 J Layfield. £1700 JE Suddes & Son. £1699 WA Armstrong. £1666 JB Luck. £1664 JJ Crichton. £1647 PJ&MP Gilhespy.
Prime Hoggs (1112) – A funny old show with more horned hill lambs and the lowland breeds on offer either proving too heavy or very light, for the desirable 40 to 45kg hoggs the demand remains strong. Evidence of this is clear to see when our as always weighed straight SQQ average of 254ppk was some 16 pence above the all in sale average. Top price per kilo went to a quintet of excellent 43kg Beltex hoggs from regular consigner W A Wardman Ltd, Thrushwood Farm, Yearby when they sold for 295 pence (£127). Close behind came a sweet pair of 42kg hoggs which were arguably the pick of a well fleshed run from the annual consignment of P Raines & Son, Stonegrave. Despite the resistance to weight of late our leading gross value went to the power of A C Simpson & Son, McNeil Farm, Witton-le-Wear with a strong pair of 67kg hoggs at £150. Swaledale hoggs topped at £100 whilst the best of the Mule’s this week reached £111.
Hoggs – Top prices ppk 295 287 266 257 WA Wardman Ltd. 292 270 267 P Raines & Son. 282 262 RE&L Frank. 281 275 268×2 D&M Lowes. 278 K Tallentire. 276 264 MW Barker& Son. 276 JK&CE Farming. 274 G Thompson & Sons. 274 271 269 268 267 266 IM Maughan. 274 264 W Wearmouth & Son. 273 271 269 268 IE&A Teasdale. 272 262 T Watson. 272 S Carman.271 AE Newton. 268 RH Wilson & Son. 268 J Bolton.268 DK Rawe.266×2 JM&S Walton.
Lead Grossing Hoggs £150 £140×2 £136.50 £136 £133×2 £132 £130 AC Simpson & Son. £140 G Thompson & Sons. £140 Anthony Tindale. £132 £130 £128 £127 £125.50 £123×2 WA Wardman Ltd. £132 £125 £122 DK Rawe. £130×2 £123.50 RE&L Frank. £130 M Navazi. £129.50 K Tallentire. £128×3 £127 £126 £125×3 £123 P Raines & Son. £128 £126 TN Callender. £125 R Nattrass & Sons. £124 R Wood & Son. £123 £121×2 D&M Lowes. £123×2 P Suddes. £122 JR Knox & Son.
Cast Ewes & Rams (361) – The ewes remain very easy to sell, a freak top price this week of £250 went back to Stamford Bridge and M & C L R Dale, Skirpenbeck with a single special Beltex ewe. Behind the Skirpenbeck sorcerer mention must go to a superb run of weight from Ryedale based Wytherstone Farms as they produced Mules at £128 and several pens of excellent Suffolk and Texel ewes, 81 in total from this good home sold to average a massive £149. Horned ewes this week peaked at £85 with the fleshier selling typically £50 to £70.
Lead Grossing Cast Sheep £250 £150 £142×2 £133 £126 £120 £100 M&CLR Dale. £170 £100 WA Wardman Ltd. £170 £168 £151 £150×2 £128 Wytherstone Farm. £151 £140 £134 T Watson. £142 C Longstaff. £142 Petch Farms. £134 £130 £112 D&M Lowes. £132 £109 £107 JG Atkinson. £130 £110×2 GC&JC Pullan. £124 JC Smith. £120 £100 SM Donaldson. £114 GA&J Allison. £110 RL Carter. £110 GW Maw.
Prime Pigs (11) – If you are a rich oligarch looking to avoid financial sanctions by the leaders of the Western world then might I suggest you buy a pig farm, you will not be an oligarch for long. The pig trade remains dire.
Pigs – Top prices ppk 102 98 J Mitchell & Son. 80 65 C Weightman.
Lead Grossing Pigs £79 £76 J Mitchell & Son. £65 £64 C Weightman.
