Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of cast cattle, store and breeding stock on Monday 27th February 2023. Forward were 350 Cattle and 907 Sheep.
84 Cast Cows & OTM sold to 286ppk or £2462
7 Stock Bulls sold to 248ppk or £2544
2 Cows & Calves sold to £1420
57 Young Bulls sold to £1390
84 Store Steers sold to £1545
114 Store Heifers sold to £1450
790 Store Hoggs sold to £111
31 Feeding Ewes sold to £95
86 In Lamb Ewes sold to £140
Cast Cattle – The record books were rewritten again in the unbelievable cow ring as the sale produced our best ever averages of 203.76ppk and £1353. Over half of the beast forward sold in the 200 pence per kilo’s, the top four all sold over 280ppk whilst six superstars surpassed £2000. A fabulous 7-year-old British Blue cow from A C Bentham, Fletcher Hill shone brightly when selling for 282ppk and £2278 and looked every bit a sale topper on an ordinary week, this however was no ordinary week. Two superb OTM heifers sold for 286ppk, a tidy Limousin from W Wearmouth & Son, Rose Hill Farm and a fleshy British Blonde from P Weightman & Sons, Hallfield Farm. Top grossing cow was another brilliant Blonde from the Hallfield herd when an excellent 5-year-old sold for a staggering £2462; also deserving of mention today was a cracking Limousin OTM heifer from S & J Dent & Son, Great Burdon Farm which sold for 284ppk and £2036. Nicest of the native bred cows this week hailed from A & D Heyes of New Field Farm when they sold to 228ppk and £1869 whilst the dairy cows reached the dizzy heights of 238ppk from Deerness Valley Dairy and…… stop the press! We today reached a bewildering £2007 and also £1870 from the consistently heavy Holstein’s of S H Watson & Son, Station Farm, Winston. Finally we switch our attention to the stock bulls, a tidy Limousin from A Renfrew, Burnhead Farm impressed at 248ppk whilst our biggest gross seller proved to be a whopping 1146kg Salers bull from Rigel Pedigree, Leven Fields which sold for a wonderful £2544.
Cast Cows & OTM Leading PPK – 286 268 P Weightman & Sons. 286 W Wearmouth & Son. 284 S & J Dent & Son. 282 A C Bentham. 270 230 A Renfrew. 266 230 D Barron. 248 232 C Harle & Sons. 242 212 A C Simpson & Son. 238 Deerness Valley Dairy. 236 Hughes Bros Farms. 234 232 220 R Mortimer. 228 A & D Heyes. 228 226 220 218 J Layfield. 228 R E Dickson. 224 C G Barraclough. 220 W Lodge & Sons. 218 F Bainbridge. 214 J A Wilson. 212 K O Stones. 212 T H Mace & Sons.
Stock Bulls Leading PPK – 248 230 A Renfrew. 236 224 E Taylor & Son. 222 Rigel Pedigree. 192 A Harland & Son.
Cast Cows & OTM Leading Gross – £2462 £2202 P Weightman & Sons. £2278 A C Bentham. £2036 S & J Dent & Son. £2007 £1870 S H Watson & Son. £1991 £1619 C Harle & Sons. £1909 £1520 A C Simpson & Son. £1883 £1603 D Barron. £1869 A & D Heyes. £1852 Hughes Bros Farms. £1828 R Bradley & Son. £1792 £1534 J Layfield. £1787 £1581 R E Dickson. £1740 K O Stones. £1618 £1527 £1504 Deerness Valley Dairy. £1603 C G Barraclough. £1593 £1582 £1551 R Mortimer. £1592 T H Mace & Sons. £1570 W Wearmouth & Son.
Stock Bulls Leading Gross – £2544 Rigel Pedigree. £1977 A Harland & Son. £1526 E Taylor & Son. £1381 A Renfrew. £1346 E Taylor & Son.
Store & Breeding Cattle – The booming finished beef trade continues therefore the feeding cattle remain excellent to sell. A delightful show of young bulls set us away in style, none more so than a super Limousin from R A Patterson & Son, Whitehouse Farm, Capheaton which sold for £1390, close behind came the best pair of Limousin crosses from a good run shown by W Lodge & Sons, Nags Fold Farm; the Nags Fold annual consignment of bulls aged 10-11 months averaged £1168 which is a healthy rise of £91 on the year. A native breed heavy show of stores followed and recent high rates were maintained, the pick of the day were a pair of 22-month-old Aberdeen Angus steers from M H Hodgson, East Greystones which sold for £1545 whilst the best heifer proved to be a 19-month-old Limousin from J Walton, Currick Rigg selling for £1450. Stacks of beast burst £1300 once again, the Spring trade is here now, is there any reason to hold on to them any longer?
Cows & Calves – £1420 £1050 B & J Bainbridge.
Store Bulls- £1390 £1270 x2 £1175 £1000 RA Patterson & Son. £1310 x2 £1240 £1230 x2 £1210 £1190 x2 £1175 x5 £1165 x2 £1160 x2 £1155 £1150 £1135 W Lodge & Sons. £1225 RL Dent. £1150 £1120 x2 £1075 x2 A Gregg. £1080 F&A Gilchrist.
Store Heifers- £1450 J Walton. £1400 £1380 £1330 £1290 x2 £1235 x2 £1220 £1190 F Ward. £1390 x2 £1375 £1305 x2 TL Anderson. £1370 £1325 J Richmond. £1360 W Lodge. £1360 £1230 £1220 LW Martin. £1310 JC Thwaite & Son. £1285 x4 PD Shepherd Farm. £1220 C&N Waters. £1195 x2 G&EM Nixon.
Store Steers- £1545 x2 £1395 MH Hodgson. £1450 £1315 x2 £1200 A&AG Moralee. £1420 x2 £1320 £1260 x2 GT&MA Wearmouth. £1420 C&N Waters. £1415 £1370 N Wilson. £1340 x3 £1260 x3 R&W Todd. £1315 RL Dent. £1290 JC Thwaite & Son. £1280 LW Martin. £1245 x2 F Ward. £1205 x2 DL Brown. £1200 Leslie Brown. £1200 B Watson. £1200 G&EM Nixon.
Store & Breeding Sheep – A fine show for the time of year, trade differed from last weeks as the stronger sorts appear somewhat easier however the horned hoggs were considerably dearer. In total 122 hoggs sold at £100 or more, the top of the leader board looks congested as S J Love, Low Doctor Pasture along with D R Smith, East Roughlea and G & J H Tomlinson & Son, Sunniside Farm all impressed however our toppers proved to be half a dozen excellent Beltex crosses from D & M Lowes, Wilson House when they sold for £111 apiece.
A nice run of genuine in lamb two to four crop ewes due in three weeks’ time from G P Addison, Hayberries Farm attracted plenty of interest and achieved their top price when a trio of Mules sold for £140.
Store Hoggs
Beltex – £111 £104 £100(x2) £94 D & M Lowes. £104 £95 ££92.50 J & D Gibson. £96 D A Gill.
Charollais – £109 £102 £92 £90 S J Love. £108 £99 £98 £90 G & J H Tomlinson & Son.
Texel – £109 £107 D R Smith. £103 £97 P & J Martin. £102 £97.50 A B P Wilsons. £103 A Tunstall. £93 N & A Hunter. £93 D A Gill. £90 R W Dalton.
Suffolk – £106 D R Smith. £100 G & J H Tomlinson & Son. £94 M J Hutchinson. £93 N & A Hunter. £90 J R & L J Chapman.
Mule – £76 R Bell. £69 T & D I Allen & Son.
Swaledale – £68 £55 J J M Lonsdale. £59 R L Dent. £50 R Bell.
Blackface – £66 T H & V Bullerwell.
In Lamb Ewes – £140 £134 £128 £125 £122 £120 £116 £105 £100 G P Addison.
