Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of Primestock on Thursday 21st April 2022. Forward were Cattle Sheep. Forward were 246 Cattle, 1848 Sheep and 5 Pigs.
66 Prime Bulls sold to 310ppk or £2413
44 Prime Steers sold to 296ppk or £2107
136 Prime Heifers sold to 329ppk or £1885
26 New Season Lambs sold to 321ppk or £144
1257 Prime Hoggs sold to 340ppk or £160
565 Cast Ewes & Rams sold to £220
5 Prime Pigs sold to 105ppk or £97.65
Prime Bulls (66) – A very mixed offering met a flying trade, even with what could be described as a plain show by our standards the sale averaged a magnificent 251 pence per kilo. No doubting the best run in the place came across country from Cumbrian consignors T N & J Hall of Ainstable Hall, Carlisle as they landed the top five prices per kilo with a superb 646kg Limousin leading the way at an impressive 310 pence. Fourteen bulls this week sold over £2000 as that particular club fast becomes less exclusive during the current beef boom; the biggest and best bull this week was a cracking pure Limousin from J E Jordon & Son, Longhirst weighing 881kg and returning a gross value of £2413. The ferociously fast Friesian trade is certainly flourishing and they topped at 224ppk from J M & S Walton, Barton and £1505 from R Hall & Son, Brotton. Below is the pick of the day’s averages.
T N & J Hall, Carlisle sold 5 Bulls to average 301ppk and £2011
W & M Knaggs & Son, Sadberge sold 2 Bulls to average 285ppk and £2058
R W & R Henry, Worsall sold 3 Bulls to average 283ppk and £2095
C Binks & Son, Walworth sold 2 Bulls to average 281ppk and £1984
Continental Bulls – Top prices ppk 310 309 300 298 290 TN&J Hall. 288 284 W&M Knaggs & Son. 286 283 280 RW&R Henry. 286 260 Foxton Livestock. 282 280 C Binks & Son. 276 260 WJ&AS Bowes & Sons. 274 273 JE Jordon & Son. 270 268 257 243 D Richardson & Co Ltd. 265 255 PM Bradley & Bros. 264 262 259 AG Watson & Sons. 262 252 250 GH Farms Ltd. 254 JE&B Morgan & Sons. 250 JK&CE Farming. 247 JJ Sanders. 247×2 WE & CA Anderson. 245 243 J Richmond.
Lead Grossing Continental Bulls £2413JE Jordon & Son. £2219 £2067 WJ&AS Bowes & Sons. £2162 £2089 £1852 £1829 D Richardson & Co Ltd. £2132 £2002 £1999 £1977 £1944 TN&J Hall. £2124 Foxton Livestock. £2084 £2033 W&M Knaggs & Son. £2072 £1895 C Binks & Son. £2064 £1996 RW&R Henry. £2048 £1958 £1857 £1799 AG Watson & Sons. £1912 £1904 £1811 JJ Sanders. £1909 GH Farms Ltd. £1870 JK&CE Farming. £1808 JE&B Morgan & Son. £1770 WE&CA Anderson.
Friesian Bulls – Top prices ppk 224 221 220 219 214 212 209 207 JM&S Walton. 216 191 178 R Hall & Son. 211 JE&B Morgan & Sons.
Lead Grossing Friesian Bulls £1505 £1146 £1140 R Hall & Son. £1502 £1475 £1444 £1417 £1407 £1381 £1343 £1254 JM&S Walton. £1225 JE&B Morgan & Sons.
Native Breed Bulls – Top prices ppk 226 222 JF Gibson & Son. 223 JK&CE Farming.
Lead Grossing Native Breed Bulls £1575 JK&CE Farming. £1205 £1111 JF Gibson & Son.
Clean Cattle (180) – A heavy show of beast by and large and a fairly eclectic mix, certainly some super quality at the high end was mixed with a host of more commercial R grade types; a fine trade for all classes nonetheless as the heifers levelled at 266ppk and steers 248ppk, the 180 clean cattle this week averaged £1600 exactly. 300ppk was achieved or bettered on 15 occasions as the best end butcher’s heifers continue to sell well, a fabulous five in the three quid gang came from the regular high-flying Hirst’s of Neasham plus two for W & M Knaggs & Son and one apiece for a quartet of our leading local producers. Some achievement then on a busy day with a fabulous four at 300 plus and a top of 329ppk with an immaculate 503kg British Blue that it was once again the Cumbrian raiders from Ainstable Hall who led the way. The steer trade remains strong with the better end reaching 280ppk and beyond with increasing regularity, this week the top steer per kilo at 296ppk came from G C & J C Pullan of Tunstall with a perfectly finished 697kg Limousin. Four steers sold over £2000 as strong challenges from A G Watson & Sons, Rushyford and the excellent W J Scott Ltd, West Woodburn came close but couldn’t quite catch the aforementioned Pullan peach. A super sixteen heifers sold beyond £1800, mention must go to J V & J A Hodgson, Summerhouse who remarkably showed six of these however the top slot at £1885 went to Gerard Quinn of J E Suddes & Son, Cornsay Colliery with a 664kg Limousin. As is customary some of the high flyers are tabled below.
T N & J Hall, Carlisle sold 5 Heifers to average 304ppk and £1717
R Hirst, Neasham sold 9 Heifers to average 301ppk and £1703
W & M Knaggs & Son, Sadberge sold 3 Heifers to average 297ppk and £1620
B Walker, Dalton-on-Tees sold 3 Heifers to average 296ppk and £1727
J E Jordon & Son, Longhirst sold 2 Heifers to average 291ppk and £1455
J E Suddes & Son, Cornsay sold 5 Heifers to average 287ppk and £1731
J L Marks, Bishopton sold 2 Steers to average 288ppk and £1781
A G Watson & Sons, Rushyford sold 2 Steers to average 277ppk and £1956
W J Scott Ltd, West Woodburn sold 6 Steers to average 277ppk and £1921
Steers – Top prices ppk 296 274 GC&JC Pullan. 290 286 JL Marks. 288 Askwiths. 285 270 AG Watson & Sons. 284 282 281×2 271 264 WJ Scott Ltd. 278 LR Welsh & Co. 272 259 KJ&SS Bell. 265 255 PJ&MP Gilhespy. 262 J Pallister & Sons. 256 J Henderson. 252 243 LW Martin. 244 AJ Marr & Son. 243 234 TW Dinning. 235 BW&AO Manners. 234 RD Musgrave. 233 K&J Heslop.
Lead Grossing Steers £2107 £2063 GC&JC Pullan. £2106 £1806 AG Watson & Sons. £2053 £1943 £1911 £1910 £1875 £1834 WJ Scott Ltd. £1992 £1796 £1736 BW&AO Manners. £1987 LR Welsh & Co. £1879 £1684 JL Marks. £1837 Askwiths. £1800 £1710 £1604 KJ&SS Bell. £1630 £1613 TW Dinning. £1602 J Henderson. £1598 K&J Heslop. £1598 J Pallister & Sons. £1576 PJ&MP Gilhespy.
Heifers – Top prices ppk 329 315 306 305 TN&J Hall. 318 314 309 307 300 299 290×2 287 R Hirst. 316 300 W&M Knaggs & Son. 306 K&J Heslop. 304 B Walker. 304 298 297 294 JV&JA Hodgson. 300 289 WF Hustwit. 294 292 WF Hustwit. 293 289 JE Jordon & Son. 293 288 F&JS Gargettt. 292 GC&JC Pullan. 292 285 WJ Scott Ltd. 290×2 288 JE Suddes & Son. 288 286 Askwiths. 286 282 PJ&MP Gilhespy. 281 M&J Cheesbrough & Sons.
Lead Grossing Heifers £1885 £1823 £1803 JE Suddes & Son. £1867 £1830 £1822 £1820 £1817 £1805 £1787 £1779 JV&JA Hodgson. £1844 £1826 TN&J Hall. £1843 £1828 £1824 R Hirst. £1825 £1743 £1741 WJ Scott Ltd. £1808 K&J Heslop. £1790 RD Musgrave. £1781 £1711 B Walker. £1777 £1747 ££1728 £1714 W Swinbank & Sons. £1769 J Layfield. £1756 Askwiths. £1753 F&JS Gargett. £1730 £1716 M&J Cheesbrough & Son. £1713 WF Hustwit.
Prime Lambs (26) – As the lamb tap merely trickles as of yet it’s hard to asses the trade, the better end of those offered sell well beyond 300 pence however some less popular breeds and inside fed lambs merely sell at hogg price thus far, a week however is a long time in the life of a new season lamb. The run of the day came from W & M Knaggs of Sadberge with their pen topping at 321 pence per kilo or £144, on both occasions the buyer was Roots Farm Shop, East Rounton.
New Season Lambs – Top prices ppk 321 316 311 282 W&M Knaggs & Son. 308 R Tookey & Son. 291 J Clark. 288 286 227 PK&HC Dowson. 286 MH Hodgson.
Lead Grossing New Season Lambs £144 £136 £135 £134 W&M Knaggs & Son. £129 £127 £116 PK&HC Dowson. £123.50 R Tookey & Son. £123 MH Hodgson. £108 J Clark.
Prime Hoggs (1257) – Handy weight hoggs took a very noticeable lift whilst the big lads remain harder work, a high percentage of hill and horned lambs today left a weighed straight sale average of 248ppk with an SQQ average of 276ppk. Two vendors led the pence per kilo race this week as T N Callender of Whinney Hill shared the lead with M & C L R Dale of Skipenbeck at 340ppk. A similar battle broke out for the top price per head however the Skirpenbeck Sorcerer had to lay down his wand on this occasion as it was the Callender pen which produced our winner at £160. North of England Mule hoggs this week sold to a top of £130 whilst Cheviot’s reached £129 and the best of the horned hoggs sold as high as £114.50.
Hoggs – Top prices ppk 340 288 276 M&CLR Dale. 340 329 300 291 290 276 TN Callender. 330 321 300 294 286 Northfield Farms. 328 317 305 IE&A Teasdale. 325 290 Tallentire. 317 309 292 K&PM Lough. 301 291 285 R Errington & Son. 300 B Lowson. 300 281×2 273 JH&D Wise. 292 F Ward. 287 GP&A Carter. 287 F Hare & Son. 286 TW Clark & Son. 286 Charlotte Newton. 285 GC&JC Pullan. 285 275 R&D Harland. 284 282 JR Knox & Son. 282 L Fowler. 280 JG Hall. 279 L&S Barker. 279 JD Seymour. 276 LW Martin.
Lead Grossing Hoggs £160 £143 £135 £134 TN Callender. £150 £132 £130×2 M&CLR Dale. £145 £132 130 C Binks & Son. £145 £134 £130 IE&A Teasdale. £141 £135 £130 R&D Harland. £140 MH Hodgson. £140 £138 £137 £136 £135×4 £132 £130×4 AC Simpson & Son. £140 G Hodgson. £136 C Binks & Son. £136 D&PH Brown. £135 £132 £130 Northfield Farms. £135 £131 WA Armstrong. £133 K&PM Lough. £131 £130 P Suddes. £130 Tallentire. £130 R Wood & Son.
Cast Ewes & Rams (565) – The lambing disasters continue to beggar belief leaving some shepherds possibly wishing the last month hadn’t been so kind, a fairly decrepit show of ewes averaged £110 with the 20 tups an insane £155. An action-packed day for W & M Knaggs & Son, Sadberge ended in style after receiving credits in the bulls, clean cattle and spring lambs they rounded off proceedings by selling our top priced ewe, a belting Beltex reaching £220. Top priced Mule ewes this week were £135 with fit horned ewes between £80 and £100 regularly.
Lead Grossing Cast Sheep £220 £160 £150 £149 £146 £140×2 W&M Knaggs & Son. £200 £140 PJ Tindale. £190 £150 WA Armstrong. £190 IE&A Teasdale. £176 PRE Marwood. £171 B Lowson. £160 S Pyebourne. £160 W Love Ltd. £158 PRE Marwood. £150 JA&A Herbert. £150 J Curry. £150 M Gallon. £148 D&PH Brown. £140 M&A Gaskin. £140 F Ward. £140 Charlotte Newton. £140 S Thompson & Son. £140 C Waters. £140 MH Hodgson.
Prime Pigs (5) – Finally, at last, after months of the same old doom and gloom the pig trade is rallying nationwide, imagine then the report writer’s disappointment when in all honesty it really wasn’t much different. Slightly dearer is all I can say.
Pigs – Top prices ppk 100 105 J Mitchell & Son.
Lead Grossing Pigs £97 £90 J Mitchell & Son.
