Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their Great Annual Show and Sale of Suckled Calves in conjunction with their weekly sale of Cast Cattle, Store and Breeding Stock. Forward were 571 Cattle and 1531 Sheep.
187 Store Steers sold to £1300
186 Store Heifers sold to £1510
75 Young Bulls sold to £1395
9 In Calf Heifers sold to £1280
110 Cast Cows & OTM sold to 208ppk or £1528
4 Stock Bulls sold to158ppk or £1570
1425 Store Lambs sold to £111.50
34 Ewe Lambs sold to £192
72 Feeding Ewes sold to £84
Show Cattle – Sincere thanks go to Mr Walter Dandie of Learielaw Farm for making the trip south from Broxburn, Edinburgh to expertly carry out the judging duties, as luck would have it the 168 mile journey South from Broxburn proved emphatically more straight forward on Sunday afternoon than the chaotic 4 miles from Redworth to DFAM did early this morning; thanks also go to John Warren ABP for their continued and most generous sponsorship. Congratulations should certainly go to all vendors who took part in the show, between them they had certainly produced some exceptional calves from their 2021 crop. A day for the boys as our championship was a close run race between the winning British Blue steer and the winning Limousin steer, chosen as the winner was the British Blue, homebred on both sides of the family he came from regular supporters the Stones Family of Nun Cote Nook Farm, Marrick (later sold for £1260 to S Hunt, Leighton Buzzard) with the Limousin also from great Darlington supporters the Swinbank Family, Cold Comfort Farm, Neasham (£1220 to S Beachell, Driffield) placed Reserve Champion. The future of calf shows in DFAM looks bright, prosperous and in very safe hands as both Keith Stones and Nigel Swinbank are rightly placing their trust and faith in the next generation; impeccable showmanship and presentation was clearly apparent in equal measures from both Grace Bryant of Nun Cote Nook and Kate Swinbank, Cold Comfort, we applaud both girls for their hard work. The Swinbank’s also produced the show’s best heifer (£1250 to D R Jackson & Son, Carnaby) under strong pressure from two of Darlington’s own as the Tindale Brothers of Shadforth and Stuart Beeforth, Chop Gate challenged all the way (both later sold for £1200 to W Armstrong, Coxhoe and D Lynn, Throckley). A clean sweep in the British Blue steer class from ‘Team Stones’ (£1260, £1300 to D M Leedham, Lutterworth, £1280 to C Moralee & Sons, Langley Park) rounded off a good day, the Marrick firm were also placed 2nd to the Swinbank Limousin steer (£1170 to C Moralee & Sons) with Woodland’s Lindsay Carter claiming 3rd (£1260 to E Burbidge, Lubenham) in that strong class. The top two in the young bull class both came from the pedigree Limousin herd of Cliff Moffett, Backandsides Farm (£1320, £1295 both to A S & S M Kemp, Sherburn) in 3rd place was again a Limousin, a showstopping March born calf from regular consignor Andrew Wilson, Calf Close (£1150to E R Hyde & Sons, West Ardsley).
Store Cattle – The buyers chased quality from start to finish, the better end of the cattle realised some tremendous values throughout the sale however some of the smaller more commercial sorts would appear decent value for money. Following last years blistering trade and record averages we are delighted to report an increase once again, certainly a more two tier trade than witnessed in 2020 as the bidders on the best it seems know no bounds. To the statistics, the young bulls levelled up at £915 today which is a staggering £97 up on the year, steers were in general of very high quality and averaged £920 (+£17 on 2020) whilst the heifers finished the day almost identical on the year averaging £865 (+£2). The top prices came largely, although not exclusively from the show calves; leading the steers at £1300 were two vendors as an absolute tank of an 8 month old Limousin out of the great run produced by M J Marley, Holywell Farm saw his price matched by a very sweet and shapely British Blue from the Stones Family, Nun Cote Nook. The top 14 of our 186 heifers remarkably came from just two vendors; C Harle & Sons of Brandon Hall produced a Herculean effort as they presented 11 of the fabulous 14 however the remarkable section leader came from C Moffett, Backandsides Farm with a perfect 21 month old black Limousin Heifer selling for a massive £1510. Quite a day for the Moffett family of Backandsides Farm was confirmed when the top 4 young bulls also came from the prolific Hummerbeck home, the top of them a sensational 14 month old sold for £1395. Testament to the quality shown and indeed the willingness of the buyers to pay a premium for the best, below are a sample of today’s top calf producers.
C Harle & Sons, Brandon sold 11 to average £1306 (+£151 on 2020)
F Ward, Frosterley sold 15 to average £1113 (n/a)
K O Stones, Marrick sold 19 to average £1098 (+£128)
N Swinbank, Neasham sold 38 to average £1069 (+£60)
M Marley, Northallerton sold 20 to average £1065 (+£108)
G W Dent, Cockfield sold 11 to average £1031 (+£183)
T Smith & C Mason, Barnard Castle sold 4 to average £1017 (n/a)
Leading Prices
In Calf Heifers – £1280(x2) £1240 £1180(x3) £1140 £950 W A Armstrong.
Young Bulls – £1395 £1320 £1300 £1295 C Moffett. £1265 £1070 £1020 C Binks. £1180 M F Hall. £1170 £1165 £1135(x3) £1105(x2) £1010(x2) R J & R Greenbank. £1150 £1120 £1010(x2) £985(x5) £910(x2) A Wilson. £1095 H G Lynas & Son. £1090(x2) £1070 £1060(x4) C & E Gaskin. £1020 J Henry. £950 S Beeforth. £940 W S I Anderson. £935 Dowson Bros.
Store Steers – £1300 £1210 £1200(x2) £1140 £1100(x3) M J Marley. £1300 £1280 £1260 £1170(x2) £1120(x2) £1100(x2) K O Stones. £1260 R L Carter. £1240 £1220 £1200 £1190(x3) £1170 £1130 £1100 N Swinbank. £1165(x4) R A & S Darling Farms. £1150(x2) £1135 £1100(x2) F Ward. £1110(x2) £1100 M Hare.
Store Heifers – £1510 £1330 £1325 £1165 C Moffett. £1350(x2) £1330(x2) £1320(x2) £1290(x2) £1270 £1260(x2) C Harle & Sons. £1250 £1110 N Swinbank. £1200 A Tindale. £1200(x2) £1190 £1160 £1040 F Ward. £1200 £1140 S Beeforth. £1150 D G & P D Ayre. £1150 £1090 R Morrell. £1110(x2) £1090 £1070 £1035 K O Stones. £1085(x2) M Hare. £1080 R J & R Greenbank. £1070 L Claughan. £1040 M J Marley.
Cast Cattle – A very average show of cows were presented, quality lacked in many of the suckler bred ladies and a very noticeable increased percentage of ex-milkers this week were included, the fleshy and the younger feeding beast appear a terrific trade, the weathered and downtrodden although still selling very well pulled the average down to 121 pence per kilo. Giving up her sea view this week to top the Darlington sale was a fabulous 5 year old Limousin cow from T F Bothroyd & Son, Upton Farm, Loftus when she sold for 208ppk and £1528, close behind her a superb British Blue from W M Reed & Sons, Westgate sold for 200ppk and £1484. Top of the Native breed cows both hailed from Knitsley as a heavyweight Aberdeen Angus from G & J H Tomlinson & Son at £1448 and a 42 month old Beef Shorthorn from N & A Hunter 164 pence per kilo set the pace. Friesian cows sold beyond £1000 from W E & C A Anderson, Caldwell and to 154ppk from A & J E Smith, Riding Hill. This weeks stock bulls looked a fast trade, the stand out performers a 6 year old British Blue from I R Appleton, Elwick at £1570 and a fleshy Charolais from J Sisterton, Edchester at £1543.
Cast Cows & OTM Leading PPK – 208 166 132 T F Bothroyd & Son. 200 172 W M Reed & Sons. 188 M Barker Farms. 186 R Lawson & J Farley. 174 152 146(x3) 136 J Layfield. 170 W Robson. 164 N & A Hunter. 162 P A Thompson. 156 R L Walker. 154 A & J E Smith. 152 142 D & P H Brown. 150 148 G & J H Tomlinson & Son. 148 D T & E Whitfield. 146 I R Appleton. 138 P T Stephenson. 136 W J & A S Bowes & Sons. 136 R Hall. 134 W Ramsay & Sons.
Stock Bulls Leading PPK – 158 I R Appleton. 148 118 J Sisterton. 144 P Foster.
Cast Cows & OTM Leading Gross – £1528 £1361 T F Bothroyd & Son. £1484 £1131 £1013 W M Reed & Sons. £1448 £1051 G & J H Tomlinson & Son. £1331 M Barker Farms. £1328 £1066 D & P H Brown. £1307 W Robson. £1299 £1237 £1182 £1111 £1076 J Layfield. £1223 R L Walker. £1207 N & A Hunter. £1131 R T & P M Kirkbride. £1106 R Lawson & J Farley. £1090 M H & J Walker & Son. £1088 W Ramsay & Sons. £1026 W J & A S Bowes & Sons. £1010 R Hall. £1008 W E & C A Anderson.
Stock Bulls Leading Gross – £1570 I R Appleton. £1543 £1220 J Sisterton. £970 P Foster.
Store Sheep – The store lamb trade appears to be moving through the gears now, dearer again with fresh buyers in attendance once more; a brilliant sale average of £84 this week. Top priced store lambs came from Michael Hogg, The Brae when a terrific quintet of Texel’s sold for £111.50, any amount of lambs £90 and beyond including now the stronger Mule’s. Making the headlines however this week were the increasingly popular Dutch Spotted, ewe lambs from J T Wilson, Burnhope Farm, Stockton peaked at a massive £192.
Leading Prices
Ewe Lambs – £192 £162 £138 £103.50 J T Wilson. £120 £110 C Harle & Sons.
Store Lambs – £111.50 £100 M Hogg. £108.50 J T Wilson. £102 K Hall. £100 £94.50 K Cator. £100 £93.50 J D & M S Mortimer. £99 P & S Wood. £96.50(x2) £93 J A & U M Fawcett. £96 K Mowbray. £96 £94 A & R Thompson. £95 J M Bainbridge. £94 £93.50 G P Addison. £94 W Wearmouth & Son. £93.50(x2) G H & R G Stobbs. £93.50 M & R J Hall.
Feeding Ewes – £84 P & S Wood. £78 £75 £55 £48 J Skidmore & Co. £69 K James. £68 £65 £61 W Brass & Sons.
