Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of prime stock on Thursday 21st September 2023. Forward were 181 cattle, 2975 sheep and 23 pigs.
94 Prime Bulls sold to 320ppk or £2696
14 Prime Steers sold to 328ppk or £1984
72 Prime Heifers sold to 385ppk or £2259
2398 Prime Lambs sold to 390ppk or £203
577 Cast Ewes & Rams sold to £250
23 Prime Pigs sold to 205ppk or £192
Cattle Show – Sincere thanks go to Darlington stalwart Willis Piper of Pipers Quality Butchers, Houghton-le-Spring for undertaking the judging duties this morning. One superstar stood out amongst those offered and she duly went on to win the Championship; an absolute humdinger of a red Limousin heifer from Heather Marks of Gilly Flatts Farm, Bishopton rightly took the honours. Reserve champion went to the winning steer from York based Neil Tattersall but nobody would argue that the special heifer looked every inch the right winner on the day. Top of the bull class was an excellent Limousin from the Hird’s of Meadow View, Whashton with the regular selling Watson brothers a very close second place. Thanks as always go to our wonderful ringside of butchers and wholesalers who support us week in week out, as you will see from the results below our third-year anniversary prime stock Champion will be available in the coming weeks at David and Joanne Gawthorpe’s butchers’ shop on Wakefield Road, Denby Dale, Huddersfield.
Champion
HD Marks, Gilly Flatts Farm – Limousin 587kg 385ppk & £2259 sold to Gawthorpe Butchers.
Reserve Champion
P&N Tattersall, Town Farm – Limousin 570kg 320ppk & £1824 sold to Worsley Wholesale Butchers.
Class 1 Bulls:
1st GK KN & GJ Hird, Meadow View – Limousin 637kg 314ppk & £2000 Sold to JA Jewitt Ltd Spennymoor.
2nd AG Watson & Sons, Nunstainton Grange – Limousin 795kg 302ppk & £2400 sold to Worsley Wholesale Butchers.
3rd S&J Dent & Son, Great Burdon Farm – Limousin 712kg 320ppk & £2278 sold to Worsley Wholesale Butchers.
Class 2 Heifers:
1st HD Marks, Gilly Flatts Farm – Limousin 587kg 385ppk & £2259 sold to Gawthorpe Butchers.
2nd JV&JA Hodgson, The Grange – Limousin 621KG 354ppk & £2198 sold to Worsley Wholesale Butchers.
3rd P&N Tattersall, Town Farm – Limousin 502kg 348ppk & £1746 sold to John Penny & Sons.
Class 3 Steers:
1st P&N Tattersall, Town Farm – Limousin 570kg 320ppk & £1824 sold to Worsley Wholesale Butchers.
2nd P&N Tattersall, Town Farm – Limousin 605kg 328ppk & £1984 sold to Worsley Wholesale Butchers.
3rd B Walker, Birch Springs – Limousin 639kg 298ppk & £1904 sold to Worsley Wholesale Butchers.
Prime Bulls (94) – More numbers and despite a fantastic top end probably not the depth of quality offered last week however the bull trade stays firm; best bulls still frequently North of 300ppk and a mesmerising thirty-eight selling over £2000 helped todays average to 265ppk and £1871. Chair of the DFAM board Mark Dent of S & J Dent & Son, Great Burdon Farm topped proceedings when twice selling homebred Limousin bulls at 320 pence per kilo, a stunning run, also homebred Limousin’s, from the Renton family of High Highlaws knocked at the door when they thrice got within tuppence of the top. Some grand old gross values were accumulated as ten bulls sold in the £2200’s, six in the £2300’s and two in the £2400’s however two thumping Limousin’s led the way; J E Jordon & Son, Longhirst at 958kg sold for £2567 but the topper at 943kg and £2696 came from Foxton Livestock, Abbey Farm. Friesian feeders C & M Atkinson & Sons of Saltburn mopped up the top spots in their section with tops of 228ppk and £1507.
Continental Bulls – Top prices ppk 320×2 289 S&J Dent & Son. 319 318×2 312 302×2 290 Renton Highlaws Ltd. 314 317 290 GK KN & GJ Hird. 312 268 JE Jordon & Son. 307 306 302 299 290 280 AG Watson & Sons. 306 300 283 LR Welsh & Co. 294 278 WJ&AS Bowes & Sons. 289 280 270×2 PJ&ES Rogerson. 287 282 LW Martin. 286 Foxton Livestock. 286 274 D Richardson & Co Ltd. 280 J&P Armstrong. 279 273 Messrs Trotter. 272 DH Lawson. 271 TW Clark & Son.
Lead Grossing Continental Bulls £2696 Foxton Livestock. £2567 £2212 JE Jordon & Son. £2499 £2332 WA&AS Bowes & Sons. £2400 £2373 £2325 £2275 £2224 AG Watson & Sons. £2345 £2278 S&J Dent & Son. £2317 £2275 £2233 £2229£2224 £2177 £2169 £2132 Renton Highlaws Ltd. £2301 £2286 £2186 £2136 LR Welsh & Co. £2292 £2190 £2134 £2111 £2090 D Richardson & Co. £2173 Rigel Pedigree. £2095 £2022 Messrs Trotter. £2087 £2000 GK KN & GJ Hird. £2050 DH Lawson.
Friesian Bulls – Top prices ppk 228 224×2 217 213 197 C&M Atkinson & Sons.
Lead Grossing Friesian Bulls £1507 £1388×2 £1333 £1305 £1256 C&M Atkinson & Sons.
Native Bulls – Top prices ppk 252 Tallentire. 243 229 210 R Hall & Son. 236 RS Hall & Sons. 215 TF Bothroyd & Son.
Lead Grossing Native Bulls £1761 Tallentire. £1603 £1435 £1129 R Hall & Son. £1486 RS Hall & Son. £1290 TF Bothroyd & Son.
Clean Cattle (86) – Dearer on the week, the premium was apparent on the butcher’s spec cattle for sure but also a noticeable lift was seen in the trade for the R grade carcasses which were plentiful in todays offering. Heifers averaged an excellent 298ppk this week with no mistaking the sale leader, our super Champion from Heather Marks sold at 385 pence and £2259. In the shadow of the magnificent Marks heifer some credible efforts were recorded, none more so than by regular sellers J V & J A Hodgson who sold heifers thrice over 350ppk and twice over £2000 as their 12 averaged over £1900. Not the finest show of steers by any standards however a nice run from P & N Tattersall, York bucked the trend and proved that with the right goods the bullocks can find a trade equal to the heifers. Below are some of the day’s top averages.
P & N Tattersall, York sold 2 heifers to average 334ppk and £1746
F W Hodgson & Son, Staindrop sold 3 heifers to average 332ppk and £1882
H D Marks, Bishopton sold 4 heifers to average 329ppk and £1997
B Walker, Dalton-on-Tees sold 2 heifers to average 327ppk and £1954
P & N Tattersall, York sold 3 steers to average 325ppk and £1856
J R & B Anderson & Son, Manfield sold 2 heifers to average 323ppk and £1658
Steers – Top Prices PPK 328 x2 320 P&N Tattersall. 298 B Walker. 290 TN Callender. 277 JR&B Anderson & Son. 248 228 M Ord & Sons. 229 DL&D Lovegreen.
Lead Grossing Steers- £1984 £1824 £1761 P&N Tattersall. £1904 B Walker. £1602 £1552 M Ord & Sons. £1509 JR&B Anderson & Son. £1394 DL&D Lovegreen. £1336 TN Callender.
Heifers- Top Prices PPK 385 343 308 290 HD Marks. 355 354 x2 338 325 314 303 299 296 294 288 JV&JA Hodgson. 348 322 P&N Tattersall. 347 338 330 317 294 x2 293 288 x2 R Hirst. 345 339 315 FW Hodgson & Son. 340 315 B Walker. 339 308 JR&B Anderson & Son. 333 320 308 302 299 297 282 WF Hustwit. 330 PI Harker. 325 315 314 299 P&F Wake. 325 305 K&A Harker. 303 299 C Binks & Son. 290 TN Callender. 290 W Lewis & Son. 289 JJ Kemp & Son.
Lead Grossing Heifers- £2259 £1971 £1908 £1852 HD Marks. £2198 £2067 £1959 £1946 £1922 £1915 £1893 £1880 £1820 £1817 £1768 £1627 JV&JA Hodgson. £1978 £1930 B Walker. £1942 £1922 £1782 FW Hodgson & Son. £1917 PI Harker. £1878 £1775 K&A Harker. £1828 £1752 £1679 £1651 R Hirst. £1817 £1795 £1759 £1674 £1672 £1668 £1645 WF Hustwit. £1812 £1694 W Lewis & Sons. £1746 £1745 £1688 JR&B Anderson. £1686 £1669 P&F Wake.
Prime Lambs (2398) – The lamb show was kindly judged by Wayne Armstrong, Coxhoe and a marvellous seventeen pens of five were put before him at our anniversary show. The early bird caught the worm as the first lambs in the mart this morning from W Ramsay & Sons, Blakely Hill took the spoils and went on to sell for an excellent £203 apiece (390ppk). Second place rounded up a fine day across all sections for J V & J A Hodgson whilst last years winner J Irvine, Mill Farm placed a credible third.
Best Pen of 5 Prime Lambs –
1st W Ramsay & Sons, Blakeley Hill – Beltex 52kg 390ppk & £203 purchased by Bowland Foods, Preston.
2nd JV&JA Hodgson, The Grange – Beltex 43kg 307ppk & £132 purchased by Bowland Foods, Preston.
3rd J Irvine, Mill Farm – Beltex 42kg 314ppk & £132 purchased by Bowland Foods, Preston.
Outside of the show lambs a large number sold to very similar levels on the week, once again the best fed and the best bred demanded a premium with leaner grass-fed lambs still hard to place and probably worth more at our Monday sales. The biggest and best once again found themselves in the £150’s and frequently beyond 300ppk. The best of the Mule lambs sold over £100 with horned lambs topping at £90.
Cast Ewes & Rams (577) – A better show of ewes this week met with a similar trade although the average climbed due to the better quality. A couple of extreme cases grabbed the headlines as a stupendous Texel ewe from J C Thwaite & Son at £250 and a blindingly good Beltex from Ivan Walker at £222 led the way. Behind these superstars the heavy Suffolk and continental ewes sold largely between £120 and £160, best Mule ewes £80 to £90 as a rule with fit Swaledale’s £45 to £55. Blackface tups sold to £90 from P Turnbull with Cheviots to £135 and British Rouge to £134 and £128.
Lead Grossing Cast Sheep – £250 £115 JC Thwaite & Son. £222 Ivan Walker. £180 £152 £146 £142 £130 x2 JV&JA Hodgson. £162 £125 x2 £112 TN Callender. £160 A&R Breeze. £150 £130 JP Floyd. £150 £132 AS&G Donaldson. £142 £118 x2 RG Richardson. £140 x2 JC Simpson. £140 £126 £110 M Smith. £140 £130 £115 JJ Horn. £138 £134 £128 £126 £120 £84 IE&CA Teasdale. £136 £124 £122 T Duckitt. £134 £132 £115 £111 AC Simpson & Son. £134 £130 P Cockburn. £128 x2 £120 Wytherstone Farm. £124 £114 GP Addison. £120 AJ&KM Foster & Son. £120 W Lewis & Sons. £111 W Denham. £111 £110 GP&A Carter. £120 BR&RI Routledge. £100 K Tallentire. £90 CK&D Muir LTD. £90 P Turnball. £90 PR&V Barlow & Son.
Prime Pigs (23) – Plenteous piggies performed perfectly, with three sales, 468 cattle and 7220 sheep sold this week I truly admire the dedication of those of you still reading at this late stage. Thank you and goodnight, back Monday.
Pigs – Top prices ppk 205 200 180 J Mitchell & Son. 200 175 155 C Weightman.
Lead Grossing Pigs £192 £185 £176 £167 C Weightman. £159 £154 £138 J Mitchell & Son.
