Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of prime stock on Thursday 15th September 2022. Forward were 171 Cattle, 2231 Sheep and 16 Pigs.
51 Prime Bulls sold to 295ppk or £2230
20 Prime Steers sold to 298ppk or £2229
100 Prime Heifers sold to 323ppk or £2312
1827 Prime Lambs sold to 341ppk or £161
404 Cast Ewes & Rams sold to £200
16 Prime Pigs sold to 120ppk or £97
Prime Bulls (51) – A poor show with both quantity and quality less on the week, the bull trade remained buoyant and the producers of quality were again remarkably well rewarded. Out in front at 295 pence per kilo was J Layfield of Nackshivan Farm, Willington with an excellent 660kg Limousin; good runs from both J A & M Boyes Ltd and A G Watson & Sons joined the Layfield bulls as the three vendors filled all the top ten places per kilo. Top gross value at an impressive £2230 came from W J Scott Ltd, Low Leam Farm, West Woodburn with a meaty 848kg British Blue bull, behind the machine from Low Leam the three vendors already mentioned dominated the top spots. Feeding Friesian’s remains fruitful and the best this week came from the consistent R Hall and Son, Kilton Hall Farm, Brotton when they sold to tops of 208ppk and £1399.
J A & M Boyes Ltd, Cleatlam sold 5 Bulls to average 277ppk and £1823
J Layfield, Willington sold 5 Bulls to average 272ppk and £1944
A G Watson & Sons, Rushyford sold 5 Bulls to average 261ppk and £1867
Continental Bulls – Top prices ppk 295 289 264 259 258 J Layfield. 290 283×2 268 267 JA&M Boyes Ltd. 283 271 259 251 243 AG Watson & Sons. 263 WJ Scott Ltd. 248 241 240×2 237 East Newbiggin Farms. 237 235 232 JE&B Morgan & Sons. 236 J Greenheld. 236 M&J Hayhurst. 233 230 227 JC&P Tallentire.
Lead Grossing Continental Bulls £2230 WJ Scott Ltd. £2105 £1911 £1885 £1720 AG Watson & Sons. £2060 £1947 £1945 £1904 £1864 J Layfield. £1906 £1847 £1831 £1815 £1715 JA&M Boyes Ltd. £1817 M&J Hayhurst. £1812×2 £1744 East Newbiggin Farms. £1677 J Greenheld. £1672 £1617 £1613 JC&P Tallentire. £1616 JE&B Morgan & Sons.
Friesian Bulls – Top prices ppk 203 J&K Woodward. 208 206 R Hall & Son. 188 184 163 144 HM&JS Hutchinson.
Lead Grossing Friesian Bulls £1399 £1316 R Hall & Sons. £1304 £1158 HM&JS Hutchinson. £1090 J&K Woodward.
Native Breed Bulls – Top prices ppk 235 231 224 213 W&R Kemp & Son. 235 230 229 SN Bird & Sons. 229 R Hall & Son. 224 223 220 219 JA&A Herbert. 220 J&K Woodward. 218×2 G&S Dowson.
Lead Grossing Native Breed Bulls £1605 £1459 £1366 SN Bird & Sons. £1417 R Hall & Sons. £1406 £1288 GS Dowson. £1388 £1369 £1325 £1226 W&R Kemp & Son. £1359 £1293 £1265 £1240 JA&A Herbert. £1344 J&K Woodward.
Clean Cattle (120) – The clean beef shows no signs of letting up with another very sharp trade on offer, heifers this week averaged 283ppk with the steers 267ppk. Bidding reached 300 pence and beyond today on a wonderful 32 occasions, of these the highest climber proved to be a superstar 608kg Limousin heifer from regular sellers J V & J A Hodgson, The Grange, Summerhouse at 323ppk. The remainder of the top prices this week belong to the remarkable feeding of Barker Farming Partnership, Scorton who twice sold steers to 298ppk, one of which reached £2229. The day’s top gross priced heifer was another scorcher from Scorton, a 30-month-old 792kg Limousin selling for £2312; excellent form indeed from Barker Farming as their team of eight all sold over £2000 today. The list below of vendors and their impressive top prices is, quite rightly, a long one this week. Some quality cattle were again enjoying the fast trade, the live ring remains way ahead of the weight capping, age discriminating, price slashing deadweight options available.
Heifers
J V & J A Hodgson, Summerhouse sold 10 to average 304ppk and £1874
S H Watson & Son, Winston sold 3 to average 302ppk and £1776
P J & M P Gilhespy, Ponteland sold 7 to average 301ppk and £1723
P J & E S Rogerson, Great Asby sold 5 to average 296ppk and £1639
R Hirst, Neasham sold 7 to average 296ppk and £1578
D W Humphrey, Upleatham sold 5 to average 295ppk and £1682
K & J Heslop, Fishburn sold 5 to average 294ppk and £1635
W A Armstrong, Coxhoe sold 8 to average 292ppk and £1721
Barker Farming Partnership, Scorton sold 5 to average 291ppk and £2210
Steers
Barker Farming Partnership, Scorton sold 3 to average 297ppk and £2208
A G Watson & Sons, Rushyford sold 2 to average 283ppk and £2073
A Crowder, Butsfield sold 2 to average 268ppk and £1679
W J Scott Ltd, West Woodburn sold 4 to average 264ppk and £1684
Steers – Top prices ppk 298×2 296 Barker Farming Partnership. 295 285 252 225 WJ Scott Ltd. 292 275 AG Watson & Sons. 289 269 WJ Smith & Partners. 280 259 A Crowder. 276 JR&B Anderson & Son. 272 247 RD Musgrave. 232 W&R Kemp & Son. 232 225 GW&L Marsay. 216 GS Dowson.
Lead Grossing Steers £2229 £2202 £2193 Barker Farming Partnership. £2128 £2018 AG Watson & Sons. £1890 £1835 £1630 WJ Scott Ltd. £1781 £1474 RD Musgrave. £1745 £1612 A Crowder. £1689 JR&B Anderson. £1641 £1441 WJ Smith & Partners.
Heifers – Top prices ppk 323 319 313 310 309×2 308 JV&JA Hodgson. 320 315 SH Watson & Son. 317×2 DW Humphrey. 315 K&J Heslop. 314 309×2 304 WA Armstrong. 312×3 PJ&ES Rogerson. 312 308 307 R Hirst. 308×2 305 PJ&MP Gilhespy. 308 F&JS Gargett. 306 WJ Smith & Partners. 304 WJ Scott Ltd. 304 JH&M&NW Brown. 304 FW Hodgson & Son. 303 Barker Farming Partnership. 300 P&JH Davison.
Lead Grossing Heifers £2312 £2285 £2235 £2184 £2035 Barker Farming Partnership. £1963 £1956 £1946 £1940 £1933 £1887 £1851 JV&JA Hodgson. £1942 WJ Scott Ltd. £1936 £1896 SH Watson & Son. £1934 £1893 £1845 WA Armstrong. £1921 £1825 JH&M&NW Brown. £1890 PJ&ES Rogerson. £1886 £1860 DW Humphrey. £1879 JR&B Anderson. £1854 £1799 FW Hodgson & Son. £1848 £1795 PJ&MP Gilhespy. £1827 K&J Heslop. £1789 F&JS Gargett.
Prime Lambs (1827) – Dearer by some margin, perhaps the short week pending leaves order books short? Nevertheless, a mixed show met strong demand and weighed straight as always averaged 256ppk and £113.19 per head which is 35 pence per kilo and almost £17 up on the same week last year. As always, the best fleshed sheep were easiest sold, still a good number of lean lambs are appearing each week. Top price per kilo were 10 superb 41kg Beltex lambs selling for 341ppk (£140) from OS Laws, Red House Farm, Northallerton who backed up a mention in last week’s report with more success today. Top gross value went to the familiar sheep of M & A Gaskin, Holdsworth Farm, Eggleston who produced a hefty quartet of 61kg Texel lambs which sold for £161 apiece.
Lambs – Top prices ppk 341 321×2 OS Laws. 329 317 292 HT Davies & Partners. 323 LD Laws. 322 C&E Gaskin. 317 305 303 296 280 Ian Kirk. 317 309 305 298 293 287 J&A Moralee. 314 290 288 285 280 JJ Horn. 312 296 G Thompson & Sons. 312 307 295 285 S Crossland. 312 304 302 290 SM Donaldson. 309 JA&UM Fawcett. 297 GP&A Carter. 292 J Pallister & Sons. 291 K&PM Lough. 291 H Emerson. 291 JR&J Crowe. 290 M Barley. 289 K Mowbray.
Lead Grossing Lambs £161 £147 £130.50 M&A Gaskin. £157 £148.50 £140.50 £136 £130 S Crossland. £155 £144 JE Suddes & Son. £152.50×2 £148.50 £139.50 £137.50 £131.50 £130.50 Ian Kirk. £151 £143 £139.50 £136.50 £134.50 £131.50 JJ Horn. £148 £143.50 £140 £130.50 SM Donaldson. £145 C&E Gaskin. £144.50 K Mowbray. £143 H Emerson. £142.50 M Barley. £141.50 £140 £135 OS Laws. £139.50 £134.50 JC Thwaite. £137.50 £136.50 G Thompson & Sons. £137.50 £132 J&A Moralee.
Cast Ewes & Rams (404) – After weeks of enduring the company of her ugly sisters Cinderella finally came to the ballroom today, a great show of quality lifted the trade considerably and left a mouth-watering average of very nearly £100. Top of the table were a terrific trio of Beltex ewes from G W Dent, Cockfield at £200 each, in their slipstream a host of very tidy ewes sold between £150 and £190 and the top 100 all sold at or beyond £120.
Lead Grossing Cast Ewes £200 £170 £160 £148×2 £140 £120×3 GW Dent. £190 JP Floyd. £170 MW Cook & Son. £170×2 S Gill. £160 JC Thwaite & Son. £160 G Horner. £150 £120×2 DG&PD Ayre. £150 £130 £120×2 JR&M Richardson. £140 JV Hodgson & Son. £138×2 £120 AWSM Farms. £131 £117 P Cockburn. £131 RW&C Spry. £130 P Dawson. £120 I Spedding. £120 JJ Horn. £120 JM Hogg. £120 C Dawson. £117×2 HT Davies & Partners.
Prime Pigs (16) – Pigs aplenty, prices poor, perhaps my perception is that a pilgrimage to a professional pig producing personality would possibly proselytize our pork pricing personnel to pull up their pantyhose?
Pigs – Top prices ppk 120 110 95 J Mitchell & Son. 120 95 C Weightman.
Lead Grossing Pigs £97 £83 £76 J Mitchell & Son. £91 £70 C Weightman.
