Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of cast cattle, store and breeding stock on Monday 6th January 2025. Forward were 163 cattle and 503 sheep.
85 Cast Cows/OTM sold to 340ppk or £2640
1 Cast Bull sold to 300ppk or £2241
3 Young Bulls sold to £1490
24 Store Steers sold to £1880
50 Store Heifers sold to £2050
475 Store Hoggs sold to £155
28 Feeding Ewes/Rams sold to £172
Cast Cattle – The first cow sale of the year resulted in an excellent trade to leave marvellous all-inclusive averages of 208ppk and £1386 as the beef price somehow lifts again at the start of 2025. Bidding reached 300 pence per kilo on five occasions; an OTM Limousin bull from A & A G Moralee, Lowfield Farm was joined by OTM heifers from T W Clark & Son, Frankland Farm and twice from W A Wardman Ltd, Thrushwood Farm however none could catch a stunning 30-month-old British Blonde heifer from F & J S Gargett, Westwick Farm when she led the way at a fantastic 340ppk. Top of the older cows per kilo was another from T W Clark & Son when their Limousin sold for 294ppk, she was followed by an absolute tank from J Layfield, Nackshivan Farm at 288ppk which given her impressive 917kg comfortably made her the day’s top gross valued beast at a whopping £2640. Top of the native cows at £2107 was a thumping Hereford from W & R Kemp & So, Wigdon Walls Farm followed by a cracking Aberdeen Angus from the aforementioned J Layfield at a solid 244ppk and £2008. Dairy cows were also in demand reaching tops of £1599 for an 8-year-old from F S Sturrock & Sons, Home Farm and 218ppk for a 5-year-old from C Hird & Son, Crackpot Farm.
Cast Cows/OTM Leading PPK – 340 270 220 F & J S Gargett. 328 322 274 250 218 212 W A Wardman Ltd. 300 294 288 T W Clark & Son. 288 260 244 232 220(x2) J Layfield. 278 240 220 208 J & O Harrison. 238(x2) 206 204 202 A & A G Moralee. 234 J J Horn. 218 C Hird & Son. 214 212(x2) 210 W & R Kemp & Son. 212 C W Jackson. 212 C G Barraclough.
Cast Bulls Leading PPK – 300 A & A G Moralee.
Cast Cows/OTM Leading Gross – £2640 £2008 £1929 £1851 £1815 £1742 J Layfield. £2107 £1868 £1768 £1625 W & R Kemp & Son. £2046 £1968 £1577 F & J S Gargett. £2040 £1948 £1867 £1790 £1491 £1479 £1477 W A Wardman Ltd. £1966 £1895 £1644 T W Clark & Son. £1811 £1789 £1687 A & A G Moralee. £1634 J & O Harrison. £1599 £1463 F S Sturrock & Sons. £1582 R Valks. £1535 J J Horn. £1476 G P Addison.
Cast Bulls Leading Gross – £2241 A & A G Moralee.
Store Cattle – The meteoric rise in the store cattle trade just goes on and on, all classes were in serious demand. Just the three young bulls on offer, all 10-month-old Limousin’s from W A Wardman Ltd, Thrushwood Farm they sold to a stunning top of £1490 and averaged £1436. Twice store cattle sold over £2000, both were 21-month-old heifers from A & A G Moralee, Lowfield Farm, Willington as they produced an excellent Limousin at £2050 and an Aberdeen Angus at £2040. The same prolific home also sold Aberdeen Angus heifers at £1940 and £1930 followed by J Dent, East Farm with a British Blue heifer at £1890 and then our top steer a smart 19-month-old Charolais from T T Hall & Son, Church Farm at £1880. The younger cattle would be led by a lovely run of 10-month-old Simmental steers from P T Stephenson & Son, Moorhen Farm when they sold between £1480 and £1570. Next week reverts back to our usual catalogued format, numbers are needed as our full complement of ringside buyers remain keen to fill orders. Entries close at 12 noon every Wednesday for the following Monday.
Store Bulls £1490 £1450 £1370 WA Wardman Ltd. £880 CG Barraclough.
Store Steers £1880 £1280 TT Hall & Son. £1870 £1830 £1750 IW Cairns. £1670 £1570 W&JM Clifford. £1610×2 £1380×4 R&W Todd. £1570 £1520 £1510 £1480 PT Stephenson & Son. £1490 £1430 Springhill Partnership. £1280 WA Wardman Ltd. £1180 Northfield Farms. £1180 M Gallon.
Store Heifers £2050 £2040 £1940 £1930 £1840 £1780 A&AG Moralee. £1890 J Dent. £1760 Rachel Valks. £1750 £1640 £1590 £1400 R Valks. £1650 £1590 £1500 AC Walton. £1630 £1580 £1350 HM Dent. £1610 IW Cairns. £1550 £1480×2 RA Patterson & Son. £1490 IW Cairns. £1440 WA Wardman Ltd. £1430 W&JM Clifford. £1380 £1260 £1230 £1190 I Newton & Son. £1290 £1230 £1200 Springhill Partnership. £1180 M Gallon. £1150×2 £1080 Northfield Farms. £1020 A Hughes.
Store Sheep – An incredible start to the store hoggs for the year as trade kicked off in super style to see a relatively small and weathered offering average a very sharp £115 per head. Three hefty Texel tup hoggs from M R Cass, Beacon Farm set the pace when they sold for £155 apiece; following closely at £154 were a trio of Beltex hoggs from D R Smith, East Roughlea and then eleven Texel’s from P Foster, Guisborough at £149 and a strong pair from J H Johnson, White Lea Farm at £148. The Suffolk trade was led by D R Smith at £141 whilst a smart run of sixty-four hill Cheviots from J H Johnson also impressed to average £124.50. Not big numbers of ewes forward however trade also looking sharp to see a top of £172 for a shapely Texel from Jake Farrington, Thirsk.
Store Hoggs
Texel – £155 £143 £134 £133 £118 M R Cass. £149 £131 P Foster. £148 £119 £118 J H Johnson. £141 £128 £118 D R Smith. £130 J Farrington. £126 £119 I W Cairns. £122(x2) I R Appleton. £120 R Appleton. £118 S Pybourne. £114 E Peacock. £112 B & J Bainbridge.
Beltex – £154 D R Smith.
Suffolk – £141 D R Smith. £134 J H Johnson. £128 I R Appleton.
Cheviot – £125 £124 J H Johnson.
AOB – £131 T T Hall & Son. £112 K Thompson. £112 £107 C Harle & Sons. £109 H Thompson.
Feeding Ewes/Rams
£172 £150 £118 £107 £100 J Farrington. £134 £94 P Foster. £126 £110 T T Hall & Son. £110 S Pybourne. £109 £90 R Appleton. £106 I R Appleton.
