Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of cast cattle, store and breeding stock alongside their fortnightly sale of fodder on Monday 2nd March 2026. Forward were 198 cattle and 406 sheep.
65 Cast Cows/OTM’s sold to 384ppk or £2755
2 Stock Bulls sold to 324ppk or £3175
2 Cows & Calves sold to £3000
19 Young Bulls sold to £1780
56 Store Steers sold to £2380
52 Store Heifers sold to £2400
290 Store Hoggs sold to £179
116 Feeding Ewes/Rams sold to £228
686 Lots of Fodder sold to £350
Cast Cattle – The cow trade continues in excellent form, almost half of those offered carried Friesian or Jersey on their passport yet all included this week saw the sale average 265ppk and £1710 per head, less on paper but trade equally as good in real terms. A great run of fed cattle from JA Gilson, The Heugh set the pace today with a lovely Limousin OTM heifer top per kilo at 384 pence and a terrific 5-year-old Limousin cow top female in the lump at £2755. An excellent Charolais cow from AJ Marr & Son, Old Ravensworth also impressed at £2732 whilst in the pence per kilo race there was another OTM from JA Gilson at 372ppk and a smart Aberdeen Angus heifer from WH Smith & Sons, West Shields at 350ppk. Native breed cows in the lump topped at £2246 for a Beef Shorthorn from Upsall Castle Farms whilst Friesian’s were headed by a fine forty-month-old from Little Newsham Farms at 292ppk and £2017. Just a couple of stock bulls this week, a thumping Simmental from WP Livestock, Chipley Abbey Farm at £3175 and a tidy Limousin from JA & UM Fawcett, Manor House at 324ppk.
Cast Cows/OTM Leading PPK – 384 372 340 328 JA Gilson Agricultural Contractors. 350 WH Smith & Sons. 332 328 326 AJ Marr & Son. 326 JC Johnson. 326 290 JA & UM Fawcett. 312(x2) 298 CS Ford. 302 286 R & W Todd. 294 I Lancaster. 294 MW Cook & Son. 292 Little Newsham Farms. 280 WM Allison & Son Ltd. 288 GW & L Marsay. 288 CN Whitaker.
Stock Bulls Leading PPK – 324 JA & UM Fawcett. 284 WP Livestock LLP.
Cast Cows/OTM Leading Gross – £2755 £2380 £2046 £1942 JA Gilson Agricultural Contractors. £2732 £2239 £2151 AJ Marr & Son. £2487 JC Johnson. £2335 D & PH Brown. £2246 Upsall Castle Farms. £2184 £1969 JA & UM Fawcett. £2146 £1840 CS Ford. £2029 CH & MC Phalp. £2017 Little Newsham Farms. £1938 £1887 R & W Todd. £1920 £1862 AR & C Booth. £1877 CN Whitaker.
Stock Bulls Leading Gross – £3175 WP Livestock LLP. £2692 JA & UM Fawcett.
Store Cattle – Little doubt that the signs of longer days and sunny spells are somehow making what already looked an excellent store cattle trade go perhaps even dearer. Beginning with a couple of cows and calves from F & JS Gargett, Westwick Farm which topped at £3000 for a 6-year-old Parthenais cow with a 2-month-old British Blonde crossed heifer calf at foot. Young bulls followed, the top dozen were all under 12-months, a super pair of Simmental’s from E Parsons, Newstead Farm shared the plaudits with an excellent Beef Shorthorn from Upsall Castle Farms, Thirsk. Top of the store cattle prices at £2400 was a strong 20-month-old Aberdeen Angus heifer from K Sayer, Scotland Farm; two cattle followed at £2380, a pair of Aberdeen Angus steers from J Pallister & Sons, Stobb House Farm, following them at £2340 was yet another Aberdeen Angus, an OTM heifer from GT & M Tweddle, Springwell Farm. Yearlings and under are now highly sought after as the grazing buyers come forward in force, CH & MC Phalp, Aireyholme sold 12-month-old Limousin steers to a top of £1900 and heifers to £1920 and even younger still at just 7-months were a sweet pair of British Blue heifers from DL Brown, South View which sold at £1720 and £1700.
Cows & Calves £3000 £2600 F&JS Gargett.
Store Bulls £1780 Upsall Castle Farms. £1780×2 £1400×2 E Parsons. £1690 £1680 £1600×2 RA Patterson & Son. £1590 GT&M Tweddle. £1570 WM Allison & Son Ltd. £1250 FJ Forrest. £1190 £1180 P Leese. £980 £850×2 AW Sanderson.
Store Steers £2380×2 J Pallister & Sons. £1920 GL&M Steel. £1910×2 £1820×2 F Fabi. £1900×2 £1860 CH&MC Phalp. £1880 £1860 £1800 KM Sayer. £1840 £1760×2 £1700 JW Chamley & Son. £1840 JA Armstrong. £1800 C&M Burnett. £1790×2 £1730×2 PT Stephenson & Son. £1710 S Johnson. £1700×2 £1690×3 G Beadle. £1680×3 £1660 CS Ford. £1590 £1560×3 G Bolton.
Store Heifers £2400 KM&S Sayer. £2340 £2300 £2240 £1920 GT&M Tweddle. £2240 £2160×2 L Booton. £2010 £1940 £1910 £1870 A Gregg. £1920 £1660 £1600 R Potts. £1920 £1640 £1600 CH&MC Phalp. £1890 D&PH Brown. £1890 GL&M Steel. £1760 A&D Heyes. £1720 £1700 DL Brown. £1690 CS Ford. £1680 £1640 S Johnson. £1640×2 M&RK McKenzie.
Store Sheep – The store hogg trade is very much on song, the good, the bad and the ugly included averaged £118.29 this week. Top at £179 were a superb trio of Texel hoggs from KO Stones, Nun Cote Nook. Following at £170 was a smart sort from N & LL Brown, Quarry House and also a fine pair from WH Smith & Sons, West Shields. Bonnie Beltex from SA Braithwaite peaked at £159 whilst twenty-nine excellent North Country Cheviot tup hoggs from KO Stones also impressed at £150. The feeding ewes and rams remain in frighteningly good order, top at £228 were three Texel tups from the Smith’s of West Shields, two more from the same feeding followed at £205 ahead of the leading pen of ewes, half a dozen continentals from M & A Gaskin, Holdsworth Farm at £198. Nule ewes made it to £170 when a fit trio from GW Dobson & Son, Wood Close went under the hammer whilst Jacob’s sold to £132 from CJM Hedley, Burn Farm and Swaledale’s to £100 from J & E Spry, Revelin Farm.
Store Hoggs – £179 £158 £150 K O Stones. £170 £149 £136 N & LL Brown. £170 £160 £150 £130 WH Smith & Sons. £159 £155 £134 SA Braithwaite. £157 £142 £126 R Stapleton. £146 £142 RL Dent. £136 J Jones. £136 £130 D Rutter. £135 M Faulkner. £132 S Richardson. £132 P Armstrong.
Feeding Ewes/Rams – £228 £205 £190 £168 £164 £150 £164 WH Smith & Sons. £198 £184 £182 £138 M & A Gaskin. £186 £170 £138 GW Dobson & Son. £185 W Marley. £175 £168 C Parker. £172 T Dowd-Simpson. £170 £148 N & LL Brown. £158 £140 CJM Hedley. £148 Northfield Farms. £145 S Richardson.
Fodder- Yet again another flying trade for fodder, with hay and straw in the highest demand.
6 String Hay sold to £84
4 String hay sold to £68
Round hay sold to £60
6 String wheat straw sold to £66
Round wheat straw sold to £50
7.5 Tons of fodder beet sold to £350
