Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held a sale of prime stock on Sunday 4th January 2026. Forward were 163 cattle and 613 sheep.
43 Prime Bulls sold to 396ppk or £3264
26 Prime Steers sold to 488ppk or £3657
94 Prime Heifers sold to 502ppk or £3495
521 Prime Sheep sold to 400ppk or £194
92 Cast Ewes sold to £250
Prime Bulls (43) – Very few best end bulls, a really sharp trade to kick off the year for the dairy breeds and first crosses. Top per kilo at 396 pence were two from the same home as a lovely 690kg British Blonde and a tidy 651kg Limousin from JM & S Walton, Brettanby Farm shared the spoils. Top of the gross values at £3264 was an impressive 837kg Limousin from Foxton Livestock, Abbey Farm; two well fed Limousin’s from JR Knox & Son, Bracks Farm followed both comfortably over £3000. Native bred bulls saw Beef Shorthorn’s sell to 360ppk and £2095 from Messrs Williamson, Southview and pure dairy breeds topped at £2046 for a Friesian from DT & AM Herdman, Gloster Park and 340ppk for a Fleckvieh from A Wilson, Calf Close Farm.
Bulls – Top prices ppk 396×2 384 382 364 JM&S Walton. 392 Herdman. 390 350 Foxton Livestock. 380 370 JR Knox & Son. 380 360 350 Williamson. 374 344 340×2 JA&A Herbert. 366 358 BJ Haigh. 358 348×2 346 344×2 342×2 340 336 334 A Wilson. 352 JB&LM Knight.
Lead Grossing Bulls £3264 £2852 Foxton Livestock. £3189 £3104 JR Knox & Son. £2794 Herdman. £2732 £2716 £2577×2 £2561 JM&S Walton. £2556 £2400 £2359 £2348 £2264 £2193 £2108 £2105 £2094 £2087 £2063 £2048 £2023 £2010 A Wilson. £2532 £2208 BJ Haigh. £2270 JB&LM Knight. £2251 £1985 £1960 JA&A Herbert. £2147 £2095 Williamson.
Clean Cattle (120) – Happy New Year from the clean beef as they kicked off 2026 in style, averages up on the opening shot last year by some 70 pence to see the heifer’s level at a mouthwatering 446ppk and £2653 with the sensational steers averaging 435ppk and £2952. The wait for a member of the five hundred club wasn’t a long one this year as a stunning 559kg British Blue heifer from WJ Scott Ltd, Low Leam, West Woodburn showed the way reaching 502ppk. Four which followed in the 490’s included another dream from Low Leam plus one from the Renton’s of High Highlaws and two from R Hirst, Neasham Grange. In the four eighties were a further dozen heifers and also our top two steers per kilo, pick of the bullocks was another star from the team at Low Leam, a 611kg Limousin at 488 pence. Some gripping gross values as the top two dozen surpassed £3000; F & R Simpson, Square House led the line with a thumping 892kg Limousin steer at £3657, next on the list was a steer from Low Leam at £3556 with two more heavy lads from Square House close behind and selling over £3500. Top gross valued heifer was a perfectly finished 750kg British Blue from NE Dyson, Gebdykes Farm when she amounted to £3495, following close behind was a wonderful OTM heifer from Renton Highlaws at £3463.
A few of today’s leading averages:
F&R Simpson sold 4 (841kg) average 420ppk & £3532
WJ Scott Ltd sold 10 (668kg) average 469ppk & £3140
Renton Highlaws Ltd sold 8 (647kg) average 463ppk & £3000
AC Simpson & Son sold 2 (650kg) average 452ppk & £2943
LR Welsh & Co sold 3 (655kg) average 448ppk & £2941
J Layfield sold 7 (616kg) average 470ppk & £2901
Steers – Top prices ppk 488 482 478 458 450 430 WJ Scott Ltd. 476 448 420 LR Welsh & Co. 470 452 M Robinson & Sons. 446 441 430 423 Lawson & Son. 439 425 417 W Bainbridge. 430 TN Callender. 426×2 419 410 F&R Simpson.
Lead Grossing Steers £3657 £3514 £3507 £3450 F&R Simpson. £3556 £3453 £3364 £3154 £2981 £2916 WJ Scott Ltd. £3308 £2831 £2683 LR Welsh & Co. £3296 £2697 £2596 W Bainbridge. £2962 TN Callender. £2890 £2612 M Robinson & Sons. £2825 £2807 £2573 £2451 Lawson & Son.
Heifers – Top prices ppk 502 494 488 WJ Scott Ltd. 494 488 476 468 466 Renton Highlaws Ltd. 494 491 488 480 476×2 470 R Hirst. 488 486 484 480 460×2 JV&JA Hodgson. 486 480 476 462×2 W Bainbridge. 486 476×2 470 W Miller. 484 478 476 474 468 464 J Layfield. 474 Lawson & Son. 466 NE Dyson. 464 AC Simpson & Son. 460 TN Callender. 456 M Robinson & Sons.
Lead Grossing Heifers £3495 £2794 NE Dyson. £3463 £3208 £3033 £3022 £2952 £2794 £2782 £2748 Renton Highlaws Ltd. £3285 £3032 £2849 £2806 WJ Scott Ltd. £3242 £2922 £2900 £2887 £2839 £2781 £2734 J Layfield. £3204 £3054 £2937 £2888 £2804 JV&JA Hodgson. £3158 £3030 £2886 £2790 W Bainbridge. £3141 Lawson & Son. £3128 TN Callender. £2964 £2921 AC Simpson & Son. £2949 £2808 R Hirst.
Prime Hoggs (521) – Less forward before normality returns to the sales fixtures as of tomorrow, trade sharper to average weighed straight 325ppk and £154.42 with an SQQ of 328ppk. Little doubt that the run of the day was 152 well fed clipped Beltex, Texel and Cheviot hoggs from WA Wardman Ltd, Thrushwood Farm which as you will see below went on to deservedly top the averages. Top per kilo at 400 pence was a handy weight Texel from E Vickers whilst the Wardman run dominated the top prices per head with the top five placings between £187 and £194. Mule hoggs sold to £149 and 317ppk from JR & JA Wharton, Segbushwell whilst the aforementioned fleshy Cheviot’s from WA Wardman’s run sold typically 320-330ppk and as high as £169.
Today’s leading Hogg averages:
WA Wardman Ltd sold 152 (53kg) average 330ppk & £178.05
Anna Herbert sold 6 (53kg) average 317ppk & £168.33
MB Dawson sold 10 (53kg) average 310ppk & £165.80
R Lawson & Son sold 9 (47kg) average 321ppk & £153.39
Hoggs – Top prices ppk 400 E Vickers. 389 387 354 353 349 336 333 325 322 318×2 WA Wardman Ltd. 358 J Vickers. 356 355×2 341 336 330×2 J Layfield. 350 348 345 340 326 JC Hope & Son. 348 347 333 RO Gilson. 343 342 326 W Tindale. 341 331 R Lawson & Son. 336 325 GP&A Carter. 336 335 326 323×2 CH&MC Phalp. 335 325 MB Dawson. 324 K&M Elders.
Lead Grossing Hoggs £194 £188×3 £187 £185 £183 £180×2 £178 £177 £175 £173 £169 £155 WA Wardman Ltd. £185 £178 £160 MB Dawson. £176 £168 £161 Anna Herbert. £175 £161 Anna Herbert. £175 £167 £165 £157 £153 J Layfield. £174 £157 £155 RO Gilson. £169 £165 £164 R Lawson & Son. £163 £162 K&M Elders & Son. £162 £159 RH Wilson. £155 JC Hope & Son.
Cast Sheep (92) – A light offering all sold well; half of the offering were horned ewes and still the sale average £113.11. An excellent run of Suffolk and Texel ewes from J Layfield, Nackshivan Farm topped the sale with a pair at £250 and another at £200. Mule ewes sold to a top of £140, Blackface £126 and Swaledale’s to £90.
Lead Grossing Cast Sheep £250 £200 £180×2 £170 £130 £126 J Layfield. £145×2 £134 £133 £90×2 T&C Smith. £140 £126 £115 Tallentire. £129 R Lawson & Son. £108 M Robinson & Son. £100 AF Smith.
