Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held a special sale of in lamb ewes in conjunction with their weekly sale of cast cattle, store and breeding stock on Monday 13th February 2023. Forward were 372 Cattle and 773 Sheep.
203 In Lamb Sheep sold to £820
44 Empty Ewe Hoggs sold to £160
105 Cast Cows & OTM sold to 282ppk or £1895
2 Stock Bulls sold to 222ppk or £2046
3 Cows & Calves sold to £2300
99 Young Bulls sold to £1540
51 Store Steers sold to £1580
109 Store Heifers sold to £1605
435 Store Hoggs sold to £120
91 Feeding Ewes sold to £105
In Lamb Ewes – The best end proved to be a blistering trade as the DfAM live auction ring enjoyed the presence of a quality quintet of Texel’s from the Stones Family, Marrick. Trade for the commercial ewes looked canny enough, particularly if youth was on their side, the only thing harder to move were the older sheep. With the usual younger generation of the Stones family noticeably absent it was an excellent day for senior shepherdess Elaine and her assistant Keith with their pure bred shearlings leading the way and selling between £500 and £820, the five of them averaged a superb £650. Behind the Marrick magic an eclectic mix of breeds from Winsbury Farm Partners also impressed selling twice over £300. Strong Suffolk shearlings from C A & J G Skidmore, Toronto sold to a top of £280 whilst the best Mule trade belonged to Northfield Farms, South Thornberry; this good homes 45 shearlings which carried twins all selling between £170 and £180.
Leading Prices
In Lamb Shearlings & Ewes – £820 £680 £650 £600 £500 K O Stones. £320 £300 £280(x2) £260 £200 Winsbury Farm Partners. £280 £260 £250 £240 £210 £205 C A & J G Skidmore. £180(x2) £175 £170 £152 £145 £140 Northfield Farms. £145 J D Teasdale. £140 T & C Smith. £138 £135 A B P Wilsons.
In Lamb Hoggs – £150(x2) A B P Wilsons.
Empty Ewe Hoggs – £160 £130(x2) Winsbury Farm Partners. £103 £101(x2) £92 Northfield Farms.
Cast Cattle – As Valentine’s Day approaches beef farmers will be nicely positioned to treat their spouses and partners this year as the cow trade plays cupid and takes them to places they have never been before; prices look unbelievable once again, by no means a good show of quality averaged 187 pence per kilo. Of the 38 which sold in the 200’s today just 22 were continentals, they were ably accompanied by 6 dairy breeds and 10 natives. A brilliant British Blue OTM heifer from D & M Lowes, Barningham led the way at 282 pence with no less than three of her stablemates tied behind at 260ppk, one of which clocked in at a huge £1895. Top native at 228ppk and £1534 was a fully fleshed Hereford from W & R Kemp & Son, Wigdon Walls whilst our best milk maid was a 4-year-old Friesian straight out of the parlour at Deerness Valley Dairy, Tow Law which sold for 216 pence. Top dairy cow per head at a breath taking £1710 hailed for the second week running from S H Watson & Son, Winston whilst we head back to the brilliance from Barningham and D & M Lowes for the pick of our stock bulls a 9-year-old British Blue which sold for 222ppk and £2046.
Cast Cows & OTM Leading PPK- 282 260 (x3) 236 228 224 216 212 208 200 D&M Lowes. 230 218 210 176 G Bolton. 228 208 W&R Kemp & Son. 224 204 204 202 194 JD&G Hugill. 224 216 A&D Heyes. 222 204 200 198 J Corner. 218 206 B Watson. 216 202 198 (x2) 194 Deerness Valley Dairy. 214 WH Brown. 214 C&JC Stephenson. 214 194 GK KN&GJ Hird. 210 G Simpson. 208 JD Bentley & Son. 206 W&C Iceton. 200 MW Reed. 192 P&J Martin.
Stock Bulls Leading PPK- 222 D&M Lowes. £212 SJ Bainbridge.
Cast Cows & OTM Leading Gross- £1895 £1682 £1575 x2 £1560 £1525 £1503 £1473 £1378 £1322 £1317 D&M Lowes. £1710 £1506 SH Watson & Son. £1618 JD Bentley & Son. £1524 £1487 £1335 W&R Kemp & Son. £1516 £1419 £1374 £1363 £1310 JD&G Hugill. £1496 £1371 A&D Heyes. £1449 £1399 £1361 £1273 Deerness Valley Dairy. £1419 G Simpson. £1414 GK KN&GJ Hird. £1386 J Corner. £1358 £1295 £1272 G Thompson & Sons. £1342 £1310 B Watson. £1330 MW Reed. £1322 C&JC Stephenson. £1320 W&C Iceton. £1317 A&JE Smith. £1278 £1166 £1003 £853 G Bolton.
Stock Bulls Leading Gross- £2046 D&M Lowes. £1971 SJ Bainbridge.
Store & Breeding Cattle – Once upon a time it was expected that the store cattle trade lifted in April, in all honesty if it gets much higher than these past few weeks the American’s will shoot it down as a suspected UFO. Kicking things off were three excellent cows and calves from the ongoing dispersal of P R E Marwood, Huller Bush which saw the top price turn out to be a 10-year-old Aberdeen Angus cow with a strong Limousin crossed stirk at foot sold for £2300. On to the young bulls and absolutely no doubting that it was they who enjoyed the trade of the week; a stunning run of no less than 51 (10–12-month-old) Salers and Charolais crossed Salers bulls from Allison Devereux Farms, Low Harperley set the bar high when they peaked at £1540 and averaged a wonderful £1191 including 34 pure Salers which averaged £1056 and the 17 sired by the Charolais levelled at an almost unthinkable £1459. Not done yet with the booming bull trade as the several other vendors enjoying proceedings included D & J Gawthorpe, Meadow Nook Farm, Huddersfield with 15 terrific 9–11-month-old Limousin crosses which peaked at £1530 and averaged £1384. On to the clean store cattle, top price of the day brought more success for PRE Marwood, Huller Bush Farm with an excellent Limousin heifer reaching £1605, in close proximity were Toft Hill based G E Raw with a strong 20-month-old Aberdeen Angus steer reaching £1580.
Cows & Calves – £2300 £1880 £1720 P R E Marwood.
Young Bulls – £1540(x2) £1485(x3) £1440(x12) £1370(x2) £1300(x3) Allison Devereux Farms. £1530 £1520 £1500 £1490 £1450(x2) £1430 £1420 £1415(x2) £1315 £1245 £1200 £1195 D & J Gawthorpe. £1265 £1195 D E Stones. £1245 W M Bainbridge. £1230 I & R A Watson.
Store Steers – £1580 £1445 G E Raw. £1500 T Ducker. £1480 £1450 £1435 I W Cairns. £1425 £1310 L W Martin. £1410 £1240 A P & E Procter. £1380 £1320 J & E M Lawson. £1350(x2) G W & M Singleton & Sons. £1300(x3) £1255(x3) R & W Todd. £1280 I Newton & Son.
Store Heifers – £1605 £1350 P R E Marwood. £1490 £1440 N Wilson. £1450 £1430 £1320 £1310 £1290 Hill Top Farms. £1420 £1395 J & E M Lawson. £1370 F Bainbridge. £1365 T T Hall & Son. £1335 R A & S Darling Farms. £1330 G W & M Singleton & Sons. £1300 £1210 L W Martin. £1290 A & A G Moralee. £1275(x2) D & C A Henry. £1270 F Bainbridge. £1260 W B Rutter & Sons. £1240 A J Lawson. £1235(x2) A P & E Procter.
Store Sheep – The store hogg trade took another significant lift today, it is the time of year that the number of buyers increases and the sheep begin to dry up. Bidding passed £100 on 21 occasions, non-bettered a brilliant Beltex from W Ramsay & Sons, Blakeley Hill Farm which sold for £120 however four fair sorts from Ivanhoe Livestock went close at £119 whilst hefty Suffolk’s from A & B Herworth, Crake Scar also found themselves in close attendance to the top. Feeding ewes look nicely sold with a best of £105 from T & C Smith, Thorsgill with a Texel; Mule ewes sold to £79 from M Whorlton, Brotton and horned ewes up to £63 from James Burns, Ingleby Barwick.
Store Hoggs – £120 £111 £107 W M Ramsay & Sons. £119 £105(x2) £103 £101 Ivanhoe Livestock Partnership. £117 £116 £113 A & B Herworth. £109 £101 J A Scott. £107 D Smith. £105 £97 J E Holliday & Son. £105 M Lindley. £104 £100 £91 £89 J J M Lonsdale. £101.50 B & J Bainbridge. £101 P Kirk. £100 T & H A Barrass. £97 £88 G H & R G Stobbs. £95 £91 J H Johnson. £90 J Bousfield. £88 W M Bainbridge.
Feeding Ewes – £105 £84 T & C Smith. £104 £87(x2) £45 £44 J A Scott. £87 £86 £79 £45 C Harle & Sons. £82 I Peadon. £79 M Whorlton. £78 T & H A Barrass. £70 £49 C Longstaff. £70 M & G Hodgson. £64 J H Johnson. £63 James Burns. £61 Northfield Farms. £52 J Milbank & Sons.
