Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of cast cattle, store and breeding stock on Monday 6th November 2023. Forward were 386 cattle and 2049 sheep.
87 Cast Cows & OTM sold to 240ppk or £1575
7 Stock Bulls sold to 278ppk or £2397
5 Stirks sold to £930
5 Breeding Cattle sold to £1150
40 Young Bulls sold to £1580
104 Store Steers sold to £1860
138 Store Heifers sold to £1600
1895 Store Lambs sold to £120
154 Feeding Ewes sold to £119
Cast Cattle – Dearer on the week as a few less forward found a sharp trade throughout to level at 160ppk and £1083 per head. A super Simmental OTM heifer from G H Farms Ltd, Grange Hill, Bishop Auckland led the female’s per kilo when she sold for 240 pence, behind her an excellent Friesian OTM heifer from R Tookey & Son, Butterknowle impressed at 226ppk and £1457 whilst the top older cow per kilo at 212 pence was a classy British Blue from W M Reed & Sons, Lands Farm, Westgate. Top gross value cow went to a ten-year-old Limousin from J A Gilson, The Heugh at £1575 with a remarkable fourteen-year-old from G Sedgewick, Ricknall Grange also over £1500. Best of the native breed cattle was an Aberdeen Angus OTM steer from G & J H Tomlinson & Son, Sunniside Farm at 222ppk and £1416 but the top honours are yet to be noted as a cracking show of bulls claimed the bragging rights. An excellent trio of Limousin’s are all worthy of mention as B Watson, Baal Hill Farm sold a senior bull for 226ppk and £2397 whilst younger bulls from Hughes Bros, Sockburn Hall at 266ppk and £2356 and American Squeeze Crush, Burneston at 278ppk and £2249 also impressed.
Cast Cows & OTM Leading PPK – 240 218 G H Farms Ltd. 226 218 R Tookey & Son. 222 G & J H Tomlinson & Son. 212 W M Reed & Sons. 210 G Thompson & Sons. 208(x2) E Scott & Sons. 188 Seven Acres Livestock. 188 168 G Sedgewick. 188 F Ward. 186 J W Teward & Sons. 176 170 168 Skelton Farming Ltd. 176 B Cave. 174 G E Raw. 172 J A Gilson Agricultural Contractors. 170 168 164 J Mitchell & Son. 166 T Walton. 164 J Norman.
Stock Bulls Leading PPK – 278 American Squeeze Crush. 266 170 Hughes Bros Farms. 226 B Watson. 202 R & A Chapman. 194 J R & B Anderson & Son. 170 W M Reed & Sons.
Cast Cows & OTM Leading Gross – £1575 £1200 J A Gilson Agricultural Contractors. £1509 £1354 G Sedgewick. £1473 £1211 G E Raw. £1457 £1301 R Tookey & Son. £1416 G & J H Tomlinson & Son. £1350 J W Teward & Sons. £1344 G H Farms Ltd. £1329 Sever Acres Livestock. £1312 W M Reed & Sons. £1290 £1235 £1229 £1201 Skelton Farming Ltd. £1267 £1256 J Mitchell & Son. £1250 E Scott & Sons. £1226 G Thompson & Sons. £1212 F Ward.
Stock Bulls Leading Gross – £2397 B Watson. £2356 £1181 Hughes Bros Farms. £2249 American Squeeze Crush. £1920 J R & B Anderson & Son. £1256 R & A Chapman. £1217 W M Reed & Sons.
Store Cattle – The good store cattle trade continues and a strong top end today found the buyers of short keep stores in fine form, the top forty-five cattle all sold over £1300. Best of all was a fantastic two-year-old Charolais steer from regular seller J H Johnson, White Lea Farm, Roddymoor which sold for a whopping £1860, the same good home followed at £1820. Top native breeds were a quality quartet of Aberdeen Angus steers from B & B Kitching & Son, Elstob Cottage Farm which reached £1550 whilst the pick of the younger steers came from Andrew Newton, Tutta Beck Farm with an eleven-month-old Limousin steer at £1470. The Tutta Beck pen hadn’t finished there, also topping the heifers with a superb eighteen-month-old Limousin cross selling for £1600, the Aberdeen Angus from Elstob Cottage gain themselves another mention as they topped the native heifers at £1480. A good show of feeding bulls this week also sold very well, the pick of the bunch was a strong Limousin from American Squeeze Crush, Burneston at £1580 whilst the best of the under-year bulls came from R A Patterson, White House Farm, Capheaton who sold to a top of £1410.
Calves & Stirks £930 J Norman. £580 £420 £400×2 TM Davies.
Cows & Calves £1150 JD Seymour. £1120 R Peart.
Store Bulls £1580 £1300 £1200 American Squeeze Crush. £1420 JS Brougham. £1410 M Madrell. £1410 £1210 £1200 £1180 £1140 £1040 £930×2 RA Patterson & Son. £1400 £1340×3 £1200 £1190 £1070 £1060 S Jackson. £1390 £1370×2 £1260 £1070 J&F Hartley & Sons. £1220 JD Seymour. £710×2 JT Forster & Son. £700 T Ripley & T Ramesar.
Store Steers £1860 £1820 £1690 £1550×3 £1540 £1500×5 £1490×2 £1485×2 JH Johnson. £1550×4 £1280 B&B Kitching & Son. £1490 JR&L Harding. £1470 A Newton. £1395×4 MH Hodgson. £1330×2 ME&TD Tailford. £1310×2 £1290×2 GW&M Singleton & Sons. £1300 £1260 DR Smith. £1295 31290 £1285 WA Richardson Ltd. £1280×2 JS Foster & Son. £1270 J Lowrie Partnership. £1240 F Watson. £1230 OAM Richardson. £1230 J Atkinson.
Store Heifers £1600 £1180 A Newton. £1480 £1220×3 B&B Kitching & Son. £1420 £1150 J&JM Berrywell. £1390 £1140 Hughes Bros Ltd. £1360 £1290 AC Walton. £1360 WA Richardson Ltd. £1300 DW Walton. £1280 £1140 £1120 DR Smith. £1280 WSI Anderson. £1280 £1180×3 £1160 JG Wilkinson & Son. £1225 M Madrell. £1200 £1120 N Wilson. £1195×3 £1150 WB Rutter & Sons. £1190 N&AD Brass. £1140 BJS Farms.
Store Lambs & Feeding Ewes – The real firework display came a day late with a truly explosive store lamb trade, the sale average of £89.39 tells some of the story as odd vendors recorded up to as much as a £20 increase on last week, all shapes and sizes ‘off the clock’ today. A pair of Beltex from J E Stobbs & Son, Killerby Hall led the way at £120 with both Charollais and Texel’s close behind at £116. The stronger lambs were all well over £100 this week with the long keepers frequently £80 to £90, the smaller they are the dearer they are and £70 was rather rare and saved for only the very, very smallest end. Cheviot lambs averaged £88, Mule lambs averaged £82 and the Swaledale’s £38 as from top to bottom a tremendous trade was witnessed. Feeding ewe trade stays strong and saw tops of £119 for Texel’s this week with Mule’s to £85 and horned ewes to £50.
Store Lambs
Beltex – £120 £103 J E Stobbs & Son. £105 £91 B Bell. £95 L D Laws.
Texel – £116 £108 M Hogg. £112 £109 N Gill. £112 £104 J K Gill & Son. £110 £102 £98.50 C & N Waters. £108 S & D Ferrie. £104 Rebecca Appleton. £104 P Armstrong. £103.50 I R Appleton. £103 A Bloomfield. £102.50 £99 B G & T A Turnbull. £102 A & R Thompson. £99 A Hughes. £98 B & J Bainbridge. £98 T E Dobson.
Charollais – £116 £107.50 A Bloomfield. £92 R R C Andrew.
Continental – £108 £103 £86 K Cator. £107 I R Appleton. £102.50 £93.50 A W Sanderson. £97 J E Stobbs & Son. £95 Pear Tree Projects.
Kerry Hill – £108 £90.50 J & E Boocock. £78 T Iceton.
Suffolk – £107 98 D Alderson. £106 95 A & B Herworth. £102 D G Snowdon. £101.50 £96 T & C Smith. £100 I R Appleton. £99 P Armstrong. £96 £91.50 J H Johnson. £94.50 K Mowbray. £94 F & A Gilchrist.
Cheviot & Scotch Halfbred – £95 £93 Rebecca Appleton. £93.50 W & C Iceton. £90 S & D Ferrie.
Mule – £96 J Burns. £88 M Whorlton. £87 D Alderson. £85.50 G H & R G Stobbs. £82 D G Snowdon. £81.50 G Scott.
Swaledale – £45 G C Barraclough.
Feeding Ewes
£119 £106.50 Tom Bell. £103 C & N Waters. £102 D W Ewin. £100 S & D Ferrie. £98 £73 £70 G N & V Bayles. £96 I Peadon. £94 £86 £82 A & R Thompson. £88 W H Brown. £85 £70 T & C Smith. £79 I Peadon. £78 £75 L D Laws. £77 F R & A L Lyth.
