Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of prime stock on Thursday 25th January 2023. Forward were 199 Cattle, 2412 Sheep and 9 Pigs.
77 Prime Bulls sold to 317ppk or £2645
18 Prime Steers sold to 308ppk or £2004
102 Prime Heifers sold to 330ppk or £2157
2 Cast Cows sold to 126ppk or £980
2080 Prime Hoggs sold to 302ppk or £150
332 Cast Ewes & Rams sold to £150
9 Prime Pigs sold to 110ppk or £75
Prime Bulls (77) – Another fine bull trade, a mixed show with a fabulous top end this week averaged 253ppk and £1741. Some great bulls from regular sale toppers Messrs Simpson, Watson, Weightman and Suddes found themselves pipped at the post today by a couple of Scotland’s finest; an absolute peach from Perthshire belonging to J Robertson & Company, Newton of Logierait was the top of ten bulls with membership in the 300 pence club when their 690kg British Blue sold for 317ppk. With 23 of the 77 bulls selling over £2000 and four over £2500 it was anybody’s guess who’d come out on top, the winner at a massive £2645 proved to be a fabulous 879kg Limousin from R M Adam & Son, Newhouse of Glamis, Forfar. Some excellent Aberdeen Angus headed up the native breed charge with a superstar from J Layfield, Willington reaching 275ppk and £1949 holding of a commendable challenge from Darlington debutant W D Allen, Humbleheugh, Alnwick. Finally, to the dairy bulls and a good day for the Friesian fanatics; J M & S Walton, Barton led the black and white army topping at 225ppk and £1505. Below are some terrific averages for the leading players of the week.
J Robertson & Co, Pitlochry sold 2 to average 216ppk and £2115
A C Simpson & Son, Witton-le-Wear sold 4 to average 305ppk and £2491
R M Adam & Son, Forfar sold 2 to average 295ppk and £2582
W I Suddes & Son, Cornsay sold 4 to average 284ppk and £1854
A G Watson & Sons, Rushford sold 3 to average 280ppk and £2090
D Richardson & Co, Melsonby sold 10 to average 276ppk and £2148
Continental Bulls – Top prices ppk 317 315 J Robertson & Company. 315 305 302 300 AC Simpson & Son. 311 266 265 AG Watson & Sons. 308 280 279 269 WI Suddes & Son. 301 290 RM Adam & Son. 300 269 265 260 JA&M Boyes Ltd. 296 294 291 278 277 275 270 268 D Richardson & Co Ltd. 294 TW Clark & Son. 272 260 JK&CE Farming. 271 270×2 266 J Layfield. 269 WE Swales & Sons Ltd. 265 R Hall & Son.
Lead Grossing Continental Bulls £2645 £2520 RM Adam & Son. £2568 £2497 £2485 £2415 AC Simpson & Son. £2554 P Weightman & Sons. £2295 £2270 £2199 £2191 £2179 £2168 £2152 £2057 D Richardson & Co Ltd. £2260 £2024 AG Watson & Sons. £2230 WE Swales & Sons Ltd. £2187 £2044 J Robertson & Company. £2094 £1957 WI Suddes & Sons. £2046 J Layfield. £2004 JK&CE Farming. £1995 JA&M Boyes Ltd. £1984 TW Clark & Son.
Friesian Bulls – Top prices ppk 225 216 215 203×2 200 JM&S Walton. 217 JK&CE Farming. 190 180 178×2 D Walker. 178 JK Gregory. 170 J&K Woodward.
Lead Grossing Friesian Bulls £1505 £1410 £1395 £1380 £1372 £1364 JM&S Walton. £1395 JK&CE Farming. £1098 JK Gregory. £1075 D Walker. £1048 J&K Woodward.
Native Breed Bulls – Top prices ppk 275 260 J Layfield. 238 237 233 226 WD Allen. 229 R Hall & Son. 207 F Fabi.
Lead Grossing Native Breed Bulls £1949 £1523 J Layfield. £1680 £1673 £1637 £1407 WD Allen. £1646 R Hall & Son. £1308 F Fabi.
Clean Cattle (120) – Not a high-quality show by recent standards but another superb trade for the best end left impressive averages of 275ppk for the steers and 286ppk the heifers which resulted just a whisker shy of £1700 per head all in. With a marvellous 47 cattle selling over 300 pence per kilo it was a hard-fought competition at the top, despite the best efforts of the experienced campaigners Brian Walker and Gerard Quinn it was 14-year-old Aaron Armstrong who blazed the trail with a brilliant British Blue crossed heifer weighing 615kg which sold for 330ppk. Top steer per kilo at 308 pence belonged to L R Welsh & Co of Green Lane Farm, Spennymoor with their 583kg Limousin; both J V & J A Hodgson, Summerhouse and Gateshead’s A J Marr & Son placed just a penny behind the leader. Top gross valued steer on the day at £2004 was another from the good feeding of L R Welsh & Co however it was the heifers which dominated, a strong British Blonde from I R Appleton, Elwick certainly impressed reaching £2146 but on a roll the Robertson’s of Pitlochry rounded off an outstanding day when they topped the sale at £2157 with a brilliant 719kg Limousin heifer. Some super sale averages below.
Heifers
Aaron Armstrong, Coxhoe sold 3 to average 325ppk and £1949
B Walker, Dalton-on-Tees sold 3 to average 319ppk and £1838
J E Suddes & Son, Cornsay Colliery sold 5 to average 313ppk and £1756
K & J Heslop, Fishburn sold 2 to average 312ppk and £1766
J Robertson & Co, Pitlochry sold 2 to average 308ppk and £1938
P J & M P Gilhespy, Ponteland sold 5 to average 308ppk and £1810
R Hirst, Neasham sold 10 to average 304ppk and £1830
Askwiths, Crook sold 2 to average 301ppk and £1598
Steers
K & J Heslop, Fishburn sold 2 to average 299ppk and £1813
A J Marr & Son, Gateshead sold 3 to average 297ppk and £1724
P J & M P Gilhespy, Ponteland sold 2 to average 287ppk and £1692
L R Welsh & Co, Spennymoor sold 2 to average 286ppk and £1899
Steers – Top prices ppk 308 301 269 LR Welsh & Co. 307 JV&JA Hodgson. 307 300 284 AJ Marr & Son. 305 295 K&J Heslop. 292 283 PJ&MP Gilhespy. 291 JR&L Harding. 282 SW Thompson. 260 JR Spink. 250×2 Askwiths.
Lead Grossing Steers £2004 £1929 £1795 LR Welsh & Co. £1943 JV&JA Hodgson. £1894 JR&L Harding. £1887 £1682 £1604 AJ Marr & Son. £1852 31775 K&J Heslop. £1813 SW Thompson. £1772 £1613 PJ&MP Gilhespy. £1625 £1500 Askwiths. £1409 JR Spink.
Heifers – Top prices ppk 330 327 318 Aaron Armstrong. 329 320 310 B Walker. 328 327 313 310 JE Suddes & Son. 327 316 314 310 303 JV&JA Hodgson. 326 314 308 307 PJ&MP Gilhespy. 321 300 J Robertson & Company. 319 318 317 310 306 303 R Hirst. 318 307 K&J Heslop. 313 PJ&ES Rogerson. 312 303 WJ Smith & Partners. 315 Askwiths. 311 JH&M&NW Brown. 310 DW Humphrey. 308 WF Hustwit. 308 305 304 WA Armstrong. 308 305 304 WA Armstrong. 304 P&JH Davison.
Lead Grossing Heifers £2157 J Robertson & Company. £2146 IR Appleton. £2036 £1927 £1886 Aaron Armstrong. £2001 £1965 £1836 £1835 £1829 R Hirst. £1971 £1946 £1924 £1905 £1880 £1863 £1833 £1825 JV&JA Hodgson. £1884 £1825 £1804 B Walker. £1878 JE Suddes & Son. £1867 £1845 £1798 £1796 £1745 PJ&MP Gilhespy. £1836 WA Armstrong. £1825 K&J Heslop. £1820 WF Hustwit. £1817 £1811 P&JH Davison. £1788 £1749 DW Humphrey. £1787 £1743 PJ&ES Rogerson. £1776 £1723 JJ Kemp & Son.
Prime Hoggs (2080) – The edge is off the hoggs again with an average today of 228ppk; the resilient live ring continues doing its very best under the recent bombardment of imported lamb and we trust that one day in the future when numbers tighten that our farming fraternity will stand with us and signal towards the guilty parties that they can stick their current policies right up their Southern Hemisphere. To the top prices, leading the way at 302 pence per kilo was a wonderful 45kg Beltex hogg from W A Wardman Ltd, Yearby, top gross value went to R E & L Frank of Carlton-in-Cleveland with a brilliant heavyweight hogg, both hoggs sold to Roots Farm Shop, East Rounton. A poor showing of quality within the horned hoggs today won’t make the papers however fit Mules topped at £114 and superb heavy Cheviots sold as high as £128.
*This week’s report, due to a personal request from a man who is clearly a true weight loss expert, in no way mentions our weighed straight policy here in DfAM.
Hoggs – Top prices ppk 302 284 275 272 270 263 259 WA Wardman Ltd. 300 278 277 TN Callender. 297 J Thompson. 294 273 259 257 255 CK&D Muir Ltd. 293 D&PH Brown. 293 271 267 255 250 AS Whitfield. 291 281 256 J&A KLayfield. 284 254 DA Burn. 280 A Tindale. 277 269 W.K M.M Lamb. 276 RE&L Frank. 270 260 JH&D Wise. 269 JL Gill & Son. 267 261 256 TH Richardson & Son. 265 253 IM Maughan. 262 KA&V Armstrong. 261 A&PA Jopling. 259 256 G Gall. 256 HE Jewitt. 256 K&PM Lough.
Lead Grossing Hoggs £150 £138 RE&L Frank. £146 JC&A Hutchinson. £144 £132 £129 D&PH Brown. £142 TN Callender. £141 AS Whitfield. £140 £132 £131 £130 £128 £127 £125 G Gall. £140 £135 £125 J&A Layfield. £140 £135 £134.50 £133×2 £130.50 £130 £129×2 £128.50 £128 £126X2 AC Simpson & Son. £140 J Thompson. £136 WA Wardman Ltd. £134 G Hodgson. £134×2 £128 £126 TH Richardson & Son. £133 £131.50 £130 £126.50 M&CLR Dale. £131 DA Burn. £130 £129 RH Thompson & Son. £129 A Crowder.
Cast Ewes & Rams (332) – A plainer show met much more resistance from the buyers, it took a good ewe to sell over £100 today. Best of all a fantastic Texel ewe from K J & S S Bell, Mitford, Morpeth sold for £170. All classes harder work, perhaps the scanning numbers nationwide are taking effect?
Lead Grossing Cast Sheep £170 £124 £100×2 KJ&SS Bell. £128 £120 £97 WA Dinsdale & Son. £128 K&PM Lough. £128 WA Wardman Ltd. £125 £105 C Wise. £125 £110 £108 W Tindale. £120×2 CK&D Muir Ltd. £114 HN&R Tweddle. £110 F Ward. £110 FW Hodgson & Son. £110 W Denham. £110 C Dresser. £105 IM Maughan. £100 £98×2 S&D Ferrie. £100 G Hodgson. £100×2 S Pyebourne. £100×3 TN Callender. £100 R Valks.
Prime Pigs (9) – Not much to go in the piggy bank today.
Pigs – Top prices ppk 115 110 C Weightman.
Lead Grossing Pigs £75 £72 C Weightman.
