Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of cast cattle, store and breeding stock on Monday 14th August 2023. Forward were 137 cattle and 755 sheep.
13 Cast Cows sold to 194ppk or £1695
4 Stock Bulls sold to 250ppk or £2086
4 Young Bulls sold to £1045
35 Store Steers sold to £1460
79 Store Heifers sold to £1680
79 Breeding Sheep sold to £190
601 Store Lambs sold to £124
75 Feeding Ewes sold to £107
Cast Cattle – A very, very light show even for this time of year, trade as a result was absolutely excellent as the cows containing four natives, three dairy and six continentals averaged 169ppk and the four bulls, Limousin, Highland, Shorthorn and British Blue levelled at a massive 191ppk. Two cows sold for the top price per kilo of 194 pence, an excellent 9-year-old Limousin from Northfield Farms, Bowes was matched by a superb 5-year-old Aberdeen Angus from W Chrystal & Partners, Wingate, the Wingate cow also returned the best gross value for a female at £1695. A couple of excellent bulls were offered this week, firstly an excellent 7-year-old British Blue from K O Stones, Marrick sold for 218ppk and £2086 before a fine young Limousin from P Tindale, Shadforth sold for 250ppk and £1817. Dairy cows topped at 162ppk and £903 from R & W Todd, Toft Hill.
Cast Cows – Top prices ppk 194 180 Northfield Farms. 194 170 W Chrystal & Partners. 182 176 KO Stones. 174 J Brown. 166 C Hall. 162 128 R&W Todd. 160 JW Richardson. 158 TT Hall & Son.
Lead Grossing Cast Cows £1695 £958 W Chrystal & Partners. £1371 J Brown. £1300 £1172 KO Stones. £1226 C Hall. £1156 £1110 Northfield Farms. £957 TT Hall & Son. £903 £619 R&W Todd. £768 JW Richardson.
Cast Bulls – Top prices ppk 250 P Tindale. 218 KO Stones. 152 JW Richardson. 148 PT Stephenson & Son.
Lead Grossing Cast Bulls £2086 KO Stones. £1817 P Tindale. £1733 PT Stephenson & Son. £639 JW Richardson.
Store Cattle – The store cattle trade strong, a wet morning brought one or two more budding buyers to the fore and those with beast to sell enjoyed proceedings throughout. A pair of sensational 18-month-old British Blue crossed heifers from Northfield Farms, South Thornberry, Bowes ran away with the top spots when they sold for £1680 and £1640. Superb Limousin heifers from last week’s winner G S Bainbridge, Ketton Lodge also impressed reaching a top of £1500 as did our top steer a smart Limousin from R & G Stobbs, High Wiseley at £1460. Native breeds peaked when an Aberdeen Angus heifer from D R Smith, East Roughlea reached £1350 with the same vendor selling a Hereford steer at £1260. Younger cattle too were easy to move, none more so than an impressive yearling Aberdeen Angus steer from Forster Hall & Sons, Ashview selling at £1245, pick of the dairy breeds was a strong 16-month-old Fleckveih steer from K Metcalfe, Lands Lane which sold for £1270.
Young Bulls – £1045 Northfield Farms. £805 J Brown. £750 JW Richardson. £660 P Suddes.
Store steers- £1460 £1335 £1250 GH&RG Stobbs. £1455 £1390 £1270 £1095 K Metcalfe. £1450 x2 £1200 £1140 £1060 W Walker & Sons. £1260 DR Smith. £1245 £1220 Forster Hall & Sons. £1240 C Hall. £1150 £1080 DG&PD Ayre. £1095 £1090 £990 £960 £875 R Valks. £1070 £935 £930 J Davis. £1065 Humbleton Farm. £1000 BJS Farms. £965 N Wilson. £845 x3 Northfield Farms.
Store Heifers – £1680 £1640 Northfield Farms. £1500 £1480 £1340 £1330 £1300 £1270 £1250 GS Bainbridge. £1350 £1345 £1195 £1170 £1165 £1110 £1085 DR Smith. £1350 GH&RG Stobbs. £1345 £1335 x2 £1095 x3 Wilkinson & Son. £1215 Forster Hall & Sons. £1210 N Wilson. £1125 £1115 £1100 Humbleton Farm. £1100 x3 BJS Farms. £1090 £1085 x2 WSI Anderson. £1080 J Davis.
Store & Breeding Sheep – Store lamb trade looked excellent again this week with almost one quarter of the lambs reaching three figures. Top of the sale were a quality quartet of Texel’s from regular sellers J D & M S Mortimer, Woodland selling for £124; a host of vendors sold well beyond £100 in the chasing pack including an impressive pen of nineteen fine Texel’s from S Pyebourne, Wolsingham at £117. Feeding ewes remain easy to move and the leaner sheep probably outperform even the recent healthy Thursday prime sale prices. Not as much enthusiasm amongst the breeding sheep buyers as we might have expected on a wet morning, pick of the pack were a nice run of Texel shearlings from J R & M Richardson, Etherley House, Winston all selling for £190 whilst the top warranted ewes were a trio of Beltex from A Graham, Low Etherley selling for £140.
Store Lambs
Texel – £124 £113 £100 J D & M S Mortimer. £117 £113 £105 S Pyebourne. £114 £102 I R Appleton. £100 £98 £94 £87 J H Johnson. £98 L D Laws. £89 £83(x2) D & G Spry. £80 £78 J P Richardson. £80 O J Kendall.
Beltex – £113.50 £107 £96 £82 B Lowson. £96 £84 J H Johnson.
Suffolk – £108 I R Appleton.
Mule – £74 R B Watson.
Swaledale – £30 £21 K T Anderson & Son. £27 J P Richardson.
Feeding Ewes – £107 £105 £80 Ainsty Farms Direct. £100(x2) £82 I Smith. £96 £67 £58 £41 £32 J P Richardson.
