Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of prime stock on Thursday 6th April 2023. Forward were 67 Cattle and 1766 Sheep.
46 Prime Bulls sold to 333ppk or £2683
8 Prime Steers sold to 290ppk or £1977
13 Prime Heifers sold to 323ppk or £1915
1437 Prime Hoggs sold to 365ppk or £160
329 Cast Ewes & Rams sold to £166
Prime Bulls (46) – Reduced numbers due to the Bank Holiday, those in attendance today enjoyed a trade to certainly match, perhaps even beat anything seen of late, just the one Friesian amongst them this week left us with a mind-blowing average of 289 pence per kilo and a gigantic £2056. Top per kilo and all in the 330’s were a super trio of pure Limousin’s from W I Suddes & Son, South Farm, Cornsay with their best a 14-month-old weighing 622kg and selling for 333 pence. Some powerful boys from D Richardson & Co, Melsonby led the gross values, the pick of them a brilliant British Blue at 852kg reached £2683 as the Melsonby magicians crafted themselves a terrific average, see them and others below on today’s impressive leader board.
W I Suddes & Son, Cornsay sold 4 to average 324ppk or £2183
T W Clark & Son, Durham sold 4 to average 304ppk and £2196
A G Watson & Sons, Rushyford sold 7 to average 297ppk and £2137
F & J S Gargett, Barnard Castle sold 3 to average 295ppk and £2332
R Hall & Son, Brotton sold 3 to average 291ppk and £2203
D Richardson & Co, Melsonby sold 10 to average 289ppk and £2309
Bulls – Top prices ppk 333 330×2 309 WI Suddes & Son. 327 302 300 299 295 284 274 AG Watson & Sons. 316 315 300 285 TW Clark & Son. 315 313 312 297 281 278×2 277 275 269 D Richardson & Co Ltd. 300 299 287 F&JS Gargett. 299×2 277 R Hall & Son. 293 279 250 JK&CE Farming. 288 258 250 DW Humphrey. 280 266 255 EA Martin & Son. 277 257 JE&B Morgan & Sons. 269 268 253 JC&P Tallentire. 268 C Parker.
Lead Grossing Bulls £2683 £2472 £2413 £2364 £2330 £2301 £2276 £2212 £2027 £2009 D Richardson & Co Ltd. £2432 £2280 £2202 £2161 £2081 £1929 £1874 AG Watson & Sons. £2428 £2338 £2043 £1975 TW Clark & Son. £2386 £2182 £2041 R Hall & Son. £2385 £2181 £2095 £2071 WI Suddes & Son. £2356 £2332 £2310 F&JS Gargett. £2138 £1508 JE&B Morgan & Sons. £2001 £1961 £1555 JK&CE Farming. £1878 £1683 £1422 EA Martin & Son. £1731 £1640 £1586 JC&P Tallentire. £1690 £1591 £1385 DW Humphrey. £1624 C Parker.
Clean Cattle (21) – As with the bull’s numbers were greatly reduced ahead of Easter, the few vendors forward had a more than satisfactory Maundy Thursday with trade equal to the past few weeks. Top of the tree were regular sellers J V & J A Hodgson, The Grange, Summerhouse with a tidy run containing Limousin heifers to 323ppk and £1915. The pick of the steers rose like the sun, in the East as J M Smith, Mickleby topped at £1977 and Stanghow based N L Dalton reached 287 pence per kilo. Thanks to all who attended to fulfil our buyers order books, normal service resumes next Thursday when the shop heifers will be back on the menu.
Steers – Top prices ppk 287 233 NL Dalton. 282 231 M Ord & Sons. 272 270 269 JM Smith.
Leda Grossing Steers £1977 £1917 £1735 JM Smith. £1621 £1307 NL Dalton. £1613 £1330 M Ord & Sons.
Heifers – Top prices ppk 323 295×2 289 285×2 JV&JA Hodgson. 290 269 JM Smith. 286 280 274 260 241 TL Holmes & Son. 258 M Ord & Sons.
Lead Grossing Heifers £1915 £1882 £1863 £1861 £1707 31693 JV&JA Hodgson. £1767 £1760 JM Smith. £1693 31670 £1604 £1475 £1332 TL Holmes & Son. £1302 M Ord & Sons.
Prime Hoggs (1437) – The shackles are off the sheep trade well and truly now, the light weights in particular seem in short supply and very high demand as proven by todays weighed straight sale average of 270ppk with a big jump to the SQQ average of 299ppk. The heavy weight sheep in all honesty look no dearer which can often happen at this stage but the 37-45kg sheep are excellent to sell. Top price per kilo of 365 pence went to a tidy trio of light weight Texel hoggs from T H Richardson & Son, Hamsterley with a fabulous 44kg Beltex from Ponteland based P J & M P Gilhespy in close attendance at 363ppk (£160). It was then the same two vendors found sharing the top gross value, the Ponteland pioneers with the same good hogg and a heavy sort on this occasion from the Hamsterley feeders both reaching £160. An eclectic mix to say the least with buyers keen for all types, another fine day for the hill breeds as the good form of W H Brown continued selling a well fed pen of fifteen 42kg Cheviots to £126 and the same home had Swaledale’s to £108 whilst L W Martin topped the Blackface section with a great pen containing forty one selling for £122.
Hoggs – Top prices ppk 365 309 302 TH Richardson & Son. 363 356 350 334 327 311 PJ&MP Gilhespy. 360 JH&D Wise. 354 330 307 304 297 Beckwith. 339 315 MF Hall. 333 316×2 310 297 J Gilson. 320 316 IE&A Teasdale. 320 J Bradley. 320 315 CM Cameron. 319 316 DR Wise Ltd. 315 PJ Tindale. 313 310 300 Ritchie Bland Estates. 311 K&MM Henderson. 310 300 WH Brown. 308 A&PA Jopling. 307 J Smurthwaite. 306 297 J Hird. 304×2 JR Spink. 304 JGM Brown. 304 W Kirk & Sons. 304 302 TN Callender. 302 SC Brown.
Lead Grossing Hoggs £160 £147 £146 £144 £141 PJ&MP Gilhespy. £160 £144 £139 £136 TH Richardson & Son. £155 £138×2 JH&D Wise. £155 £137 WA Wardman Ltd. £152 £142 £138 TN Callender. £150 £141 J Bradley. £150 Anthony Tindale. £149 Beckwith. £149 £141 Ritchie Bland Estates. £145 A&PA Jopling. £145 P Hutchinson. £145 WR Thompson. £145 £144 £140×2 £138×2 £137 AC Simpson & Son. £143 £139 £138 Wytherstone Farm. £142.50 MF Hall. £142 JR Knox & Son. £140 RE&L Frank. £140 PJ Tindale. £140 J&A Layfield. £138 £137 £136×2 K&MM Henderson.
Cast Ewes & Rams (329) – Heavy ewes continue to get away nicely however lean meat far easier on the week. Top price went to a quality quartet of Texel’s from J & A Herbert, Barnard Castle when selling for £166, the same good home also led the Mule prices with 11 heavy old girls reaching £116. Cheviot ewes topped at £120, Swaledale’s £65 and Herdwick’s £59.
Lead Grossing Cast Sheep £166 £158 £142 £110 JA&A Herbert. £160 £140 3122×2 W.K M.M Lamb. £141 D Coupland. £140 WA Wardman Ltd. £139 £125 WR Thompson. £138 A&PA Jopling. £135 A Tindale. £134 S&J Dent. £131 PJ&MP Gilhespy. £130 J Waters. £127 £105 M&RJ Hall. £124 A Spalding. £124 L&S Barker. £123 AWSM Farms. £120 SC Brown. £120 £109 I Spedding. £120 MF Hall. £118 DK Barker. £117 GP&A Carter. £116 B Kennedy. £116 J&HM Jenkins.
