Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of cast cattle, store and breeding stock and their fortnightly sale of rearing calves on Monday 10th March 2025. Forward were 238 cattle, 444 sheep, 52 calves and 9 pigs.
55 Cast Cows/OTM’s sold to 392ppk or £2973
5 Stock Bulls sold to 390ppk or £3287
31 Young Bulls sold to £2360
49 Store Steers sold to £2480
98 Store Heifers sold to £2220
340 Store Hoggs sold to £166
104 Feeding Ewes/Rams sold to £225
52 Rearing Calves sold to £720
9 Store Pigs sold to £140
Cast Cattle – Fantastic again, the green market status is key and not for the first time left the red sale sellers sulking on Sodor as the DfAM cow locomotive cartwheels its way through March to average 277ppk and £1816 per head. Top of the pops at 392 pence per kilo was a superb 42-month-old Limousin from S J & L H Brown, Presbytery Farm, Ugthorpe. Twice OTM’s followed in the 360’s from O J Kendall, Woodyard and P M Hill, Old Hall Farm with the older cows topping at 344ppk from I Marshall & Sons, Hope House then 342ppk from J E Jordon & Son, The Brocks and 340ppk from A J Marr & Son, Old Hall Farm. Top gross valued female was a wonderful 901kg Limousin from W I Suddes & Son, South Farm when she reached £2973; following next were tremendous cows from the aforementioned Jordon’s at £2807 and £2725 with the smart sort from Presbytery Farm not far adrift at £2716. Native breed cows this week saw the Aberdeen Angus show the way and peaked at 286ppk and £2033 from A Hobson, Mount Pleasant and a quite brilliant best bull at an impressive 390ppk and £3287 was a cracking 37-month-old British Blue from B & J D Beadle, Scaife House. Dairy cow prices resulted in a good day for the Thompson family of Softley Farm who sold Friesian’s to 228ppk and £1724 and Jersey’s to 178ppk however top per kilo was a fleshy Friesian from J D & I W Sayer & Tallentire, Town Farm at 234ppk.
Cast Cows/OTM Leading PPK – 392 S J & L H Brown. 364 O J Kendall. 362 310 274 P M Hill. 344 I Marshall & Sons. 342 318 J E Jordon & Son. 340 264 262 260 A J Marr & Son. 330 W I Suddes & Son. 326 312 N Gill. 318 M W Reed. 318 R J Shaw. 298 Sanderson & Bell. 296 266 T W Clark & Son. 294 M W Cook & Son. 292 Raby Home Farm. 286 A Hobson. 284 F Ward. 280 J Richmond. 270 264 T C Walton. 268 F W Hodgson & Son. 260 R E & B J Potter.
Stock Bulls Leading PPK – 390 B & J D Beadle. 366 E A & N Thompson. 328 R W & H Atkinson. 316 J J Kemp & Son. 304 E N Farms.
Cast Cows/OTM Leading Gross – £2973 W I Suddes & Son. £2807 £2725 J E Jordon & Son. £2716 S J & L H Brown. £2658 £1750 A J Marr & Son. £2341 £1784 T W Clark & Son. £2270 M W Reed. £2160 I Marshall & Sons. £2145 £1925 N Gill. £2080 £1950 P M Hill. £2076 R J Shaw. £2033 A Hobson. £2019 F Ward. £2011 £1886 Raby Home Farm. £2007 J Richmond. £1989 £1932 £1834 T C Walton. £1931 M W Cook & Son. £1900 F W Hodgson & Son. £1896 O J Kendall. £1868 Sanderson & Bell.
Stock Bulls leading Gross – £3287 B & J D beadle. £3076 E N Farms. £2613 E A & N Thompson. £2279 R W & H Atkinson. £2072 J J Kemp & Son.
Store Cattle – We get the feeling that there is no ceiling, arguably dearer again! Top price of the day went to first time Darlington vendor Amy Hobson of Mount Pleasant, Egglestone with a superb 26-month-old Limousin steer when he sold for £2480; just adrift at £2460 followed an excellent Limousin steer from S J Love, Low Doctor Pasture. Top of the heifers at £2220 was a strong Limousin from J S Wiper, Houghton House Farm whilst earlier the young bull trade was dominated by J C Thwaite & Son, Crag Hill with 12-month-old Limousin’s to £2360 and Aberdeen Angus to £2160. A host of native breeds attended this week and were once again highly sought after; E Taylor & Son, Wallish Walls sold Aberdeen Angus steers to £2080 and J W Richardson, Railway Terrace sold 13-month-old Hereford heifers to a top of £1900.
Leading Prices
Young bulls – £2360 £2200 £2160 £2060 J C Thwaite & Son. £1780 £1240 £1200 T Ducker. £1540 £1480(x2) £1280 J K Gregory. £1520 £1360 £1300 C N Whitaker. £1500 £1240 I Spedding. £1440 R A Patterson & Son. £1380(x2) J J Kemp & Son. £1120 J Brown. £1120 K Sumpton.
Store Steers – £2480 A Hobson. £2460 S J Love. £2200 G H & R G Stobbs. £2100 £1920 W & J M Clifford. £2080 £2000 E Taylor & Son. £2080 £2040 £2000 D Walker. £2040(x2) £1900(x2) R N Foord & Son. £2040(x2) F Fabi. £1860 I Newton & Son. £1800 B Lowson.
Store Heifers – £2220 £2110 £1880 J S Wiper. £2120 S J Love. £2100 £1840 R N Foord & Son. £2080(x3) £2000 L W Martin. £2020 £1900 J W Richardson. £1960 W & J M Clifford. £1920(x3) £1880 £1800 E Parsons. £1860(x2) F Fabi. £1840(x3) Robinson Partnership. £1820 G H & R G Stobbs. £1800 M H Hodgson. £1800 C & M Burnett. £1800 M & R K McKenzie.
Store Sheep – Dearer again as the sheep feeders thirst seemingly cannot be quenched to see a mixy show average a wonderful £125.95. Pick of the pack was an excellent continental tup hogg from J Wigham, Stone Row when he sold for £166. A nice run of hoggs from C H & M C Phalp, Aireyhome following at £152 and £147 were split by a dozen Texel’s from J & F Hartley & Sons, Low Shipley at £148. Mule hoggs sold to £128 for a pen of twenty from A G Williamson, Benty Close as the breed averaged £118 whilst Blackface sold to £112, Cheviot’s to £130, Rough Fell’s to £107, Herdwick’s to £88 and Swaledale’s to £80. Feeding ewes were absolutely flying; Texel’s from the Wilson’s of Throstlenest topped at £225 followed by Suffolk’s from R A Patterson & Son, Whitehouse to £208. Mule ewes were also topped by the Wilson’s at £171 and averaged £127 whereas a fast Swaledale trade saw the thirty-three of them average £76.39 to a top at £116 from D Alderson, Cockleberry.
Store Hoggs
Continental – £166 J Wigham. £152 £147 £139 £135 £128 C H & M C Phalp. £148 £144 £126 J & F Hartley & Sons. £146 £140 R M Guy. £138 £128 J & R Speed. £138 £130 £128 S Richardson. £134 S R Braithwaite. £131 £127 Beckwith. £130 £125 J D & M S Mortimer. £130 £128 R A Patterson & Son. £130(x2) £126 E G Bulman. £128 D E Stones. £128 G A & C Jopling. £128 W Marley. £125 B Henderson.
Suffolk – £148 W Marley. £132 Hudgill Rigg Farm Ltd.
Cheviot – £130 C L Ianson. £125 G S Dixon.
Mule – £128 A G Williamson. £120 £119 £109 D Alderson. £106 R B Watson.
B F Leicester – £127 £124 S Crossland & E Boby.
Blackface – £112 R M Guy.
Rough Fell – £107 N Hegarty.
Herdwick – £88 J & R A Speed. £86 Hudgill Rigg Farm Ltd.
Swaledale – £80 £78 Hudgill Rigg Farm Ltd.
Feeding Ewes/Rams
£225 £202 £199 £196 £180 £171 £158 Wilsons. £208 £188 £180 R A Patterson & Son. £195 £165 S R Crossland & E J Boby. £191 D Rutter. £182 H Ward. £178 £160 £158 £152 D Alderson. £166 £162 S C Brown.
Rearing Calves – On the whole a plainer and younger show, trade absolutely magnificent to see them average all in £422.40 with the top end quality calves quite possibly £100 to £150 per head up on a fortnight ago. Top of the day at £720 was an excellent January born Simmental bull calf from J L Miles & Sons, Little Bridge Farm; the same good home also topped the heifers with their super Simmental’s topping at £700. The Inra 95 continues to gain momentum and an impressive run from Kitchings of Summerfield did nothing to halt that progress when they topped today at £610 for a cracking bull calf just under two weeks of age.
2 Simmental bulls average £695
7 Inra 95 bulls average £565
4 British Blue bulls average £542
8 Aberdeen Angus bulls average £454
1 Friesian bull average £190
1 Simmental heifer average £700
10 Aberdeen Angus heifers average £347
19 Hereford heifers average £339
Leading Prices
Simmental bulls – £720 £670 J L Miles & Sons.
Inra 95 bulls – £610 £590 £580 £570 £560 £540 £510 Kitchings of Summerfield.
British Blue bulls – £600 £560 £550 £460 H Gibb & Son.
Aberdeen Angus bulls – £490 H Gibb & Son. £490 £465(x3) J T Forster & Son. £420 £380 Kitchings of Summerfield.
Friesian bull – £190 Kitchings of Summerfield.
Simmental heifer – £700 J L Miles & Sons.
Aberdeen Angus heifers – £400 £350(x5) J T Forster & Son. £390 H Gibb & Son. £330 £320 £280 Kitchings of Summerfield.
Hereford heifers – £390 £370(x4) £350 £340(x5) £330 £320(x3) John Archer.
Store Pigs – With the sky rocketing beef and lamb prices our old friend pork remains the cheapest option to fill your belly. Research shows that a family sized pork pie costs just £2.50 in Jamaica, £3.75 in Bermuda, and £3.00 in the Bahamas.
And those readers… are the pie-rates of the Caribbean.
£140 £130 £105 C Weightman.
