Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of cast cattle, store and breeding stock on Monday 22nd January 2024. Forward were 294 cattle, 547 sheep and 10 pigs.
115 Cast Cows/OTM sold to 266ppk or £2187
3 Stock Bulls sold to 208ppk or £1532
17 Young Bulls sold to £1380
79 Store Steers sold to £1900
80 Store Heifers sold to £1640
498 Store Hoggs sold to £186
49 Feeding Ewes sold to £112
10 Store Pigs sold to £80
Cast Cattle – Storm Isha did nothing to disrupt numbers as another fair show assembled, the excellent trade continued as this week’s mixed bag of quality averaged a tidy 169ppk and £1127 per head. Top per kilo at 266 pence was a smart Aberdeen Angus OTM heifer from J D Sanderson, White Hurworth Farm; close behind followed our leading dairy bred beast, an excellent Montbeliarde OTM heifer from A Willey, Broomfield Farm at 242ppk and £1447. Four fabulous pedigree cows grabbed all the gross value headlines as a pair of Limousin’s from J E Jordon & Son, Longhirst and two British Blonde’s from P Weightman & Sons, Hallfield went head-to-head. The Longhirst Limousin’s led the way at £2187 with the Hallfield Blonde’s not far adrift selling to a best of £2087; both good homes sold cows to 234ppk. A fair mixture of breeds throughout saw Beef Shorthorn cows to 182ppk and £1567, Hereford’s to 172ppk and £1520, Longhorn’s to 196ppk and £1326 and Flekveih’s to 174ppk and £1461. A trio of bulls offered topped at 208ppk and £1532 for a 33-month-old Limousin from E A Martin & Son, Manor Farm.
Cast Cows & OTM Leading PPK- 266 182 JD Sanderson. 242 200 192 178 174 A Willey. 236 AJ Thompson. 234 216 P Weightman & Sons. 234 216 JE Jordon & Son. 206 JJ Horn. 204 198 184 J Corner. 204 188 186 178 C&JM Kearton. 200 N Gill. 200 198 190 178 x2 WA Wardman LTD. 196 182 JL&JA Sunter. 196 x2 WJ&AS Bowes & Sons. 196 GA Willey. 190 184 G Scott. 190 TN Callender. 186 182 W Denham. 180 JW&B Firby. 178 F Ward. 176 WO Alderson. 176 G Anderson.
Cast Bulls Leading PPK- 208 200 EA Martin & Son. 138 R&W Todd.
Cast Cows & OTM’s Leading Gross- £2187 £2064 JE Jordon & Son. £2087 £1933 P Weightman & Sons. £1673 £1558 WJ&AS Bowes & Sons. £1591 £1394 £1308 WA Wardman LTD. £1587 £1358 £1279 J Corner. £1567 £1450 W Denham. £1520 S&H Hodgson. £1477 £1288 JJ Horn. £1472 £1447 £1377 £1223 A Willey. £1461 N&AD Brass & Son. £1459 TN Callender. £1444 £1288 G Scott. £1440 N Gill. £1413 £1354 £1222 C&JM Kearton. £1396 M Dowson. £1348 F Grieves. £1341 A Newton. £1326 GA Willey. £1319 JW&B Firby. £1277 £1268 JL&JA Sunter. £1265 £1254 AR&C Booth. £1256 M Shepherd. £1223 WO Alderson.
Cast Bulls Leading Gross- £1532 £1288 EA Martin & Son. £1152 R&W Todd.
Store Cattle – Terrific scenes again as the feeding cattle remain absolutely superb to sell, a remarkable £1284 average through the steers this week with the heifers a very credible £1170 apiece. Top of the class were a superb pair of Limousin steers from D W Dresser, Hall Farm when they sold for an outstanding £1900 and £1880; behind them came a fabulous Montbeliarde steer from A Willey, Chopwell at £1630. Messrs J D & M S Mortimer impressed with their Limousin steer at £1580 with more Montbeliarde’s from the Willey family between £1570 and £1580 plus the Chopwell firm topped the native breeds with Longhorn steers to top at £1500. Both the aforementioned Messrs Mortimer and Dresser ran our leader all the way in the heifer race by selling over £1500 however the top spot went to an excellent 22-month-old Limousin from I W Cairns, Pesspool Hall Farm when she sold for £1640. Young bull trade remains very firm and despite a lighter show of numbers today the returns remain healthy; top of the day was a shapely yearling Limousin bull from N Gill, Moory Lea Farm when he sold to £1380 with a strong Aberdeen Angus from J D Sanderson, White Hurworth Farm just £10 behind.
Young Bulls – £1380 £970 N Gill. £1370 £1290 J D Sanderson. £1300(x3) £1270 £1090 E Parsons. £1140 £990 £920 W Walker & Sons. £980 J W Chamley & Son. £740(x2) W S I Anderson.
Store Steers £1900 £1880 DW Dresser. £1630 £1580 £1570×2 £1380×2 A Willey. £1580 JD&MS Mortimer. £1540 £1480 £1310 GW&L Marsay. £1500 £1455×2 GA Willey. £1450×2 PD Shepherd. £1445 £1425 £1375 £1335 GW&M Singleton & Sons. £1435×4 £1405 £1365×2 £1300×4 A Wilson. £1435 £1390 D&HM Hodgson. £1420 IW Cairns. £1390×2 £1350 £1310 £1290 WA Wardman Ltd. £1380 DR Smith. £1360×2 £1250 £1200×2 TW Brown & Sons. £1330 GE Raw. £1320 GH Lister. £1180×2 W&JM Clifford. £1170×2 £1100 I Newton & Son.
Store Heifers £1640 £1430 £1360 IW Cairns. £1605 £1580 DW Dresser. £1520 £1500 JD&MS Mortimer. £1495 £1490 £1415 JR&J Crowe. £1460 £1430 £1310 DG&PD Ayre. £1415 £1400 £1280 DR Smith. £1375×2 £1185 DM McClurg. £1350 D&HM Hodgson. £1310 £1220 D&JA Teasdale. £1290 £1245×7 L Brown. £1290 I Newton & Son. £1270 Rigel Pedigree. £1200×2 J Walton. £1200×2 PD Shepherd. £1200 RW&NV Chamley. £1190 K Thompson. £1180 GE Raw.
Store Sheep – A good show of store hoggs on the whole averaged a stunning £104.32, amongst these a terrific run of 25 gimmer hoggs from the late George Dent, Cockfield quite rightly grabbed the headlines however even with these superstar’s emitted the sale still averaged £102.21. A stunning pair of Beltex gimmer hoggs from Messrs Dent topped the sale at £186, others from the same run sold to £178 and £170 with the high quality so often seen from George over the years doing him proud to average an impressive £144. Of the store hoggs the top spot went to regular selling D R Smith, East Roughlea at £130 with the same excellent run selling Suffolk’s to £129. The East Roughlea run checked in again at £125 with D & H M Hodgson, Dyke Nook in close attendance at £122; Mule hoggs topped at £104 from A Newton, Tutta Beck as all the strong sorts sold in to three figures with long keep lambs also remaining a truly fabulous trade throughout.
Leading Store Hogg Prices
Beltex – £186 £178 £170 £162 £146 £140(x2) S G Dent.
Continental – £136 £118 £116 £114 S G Dent. £109 £101 B J S Farms. £106 T & A E Miller. £106 £100 G W Dobson & Son.
Texel – £130 £125 £121 D R Smith. £122 £116 D & H M Hodgson. £121 W M Allison & Son. £120 A Newton. £120 B J S Farms. £120 £113 P & J Martin. £117.50 £107 T Walton. £116(x2) W Love Ltd. £106 F Watson.
Suffolk – £129 D R Smith. £114 J Walshaw & Son. £110 £103 G W Dobson & Son. £107 B J S Farms.
Mule – £104 £90 A Newton.
Blue Faced Leicester – £100 J Walshaw & Son.
Derbyshire Gritstone – £87.50 £78 N A Thompson.
Feeding Ewes – £112 £93 £76 A Newton. £86 D R Smith. £76 £75 £70 C Dawson. £66 S Dodsworth. £65 J Walshaw & Son.
Store Pigs – Pigs on a Monday, whatever next! Some super Saddlebacks gain an umpteenth mention in today’s report for our charging Chopwell family the Willey’s of Broomfield Farm.
Prices – £80 £64 £54 G A Willey.
