Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held a special show and sale of prime Limousin cattle in conjunction with their weekly sale of prime stock on Thursday 19th May 2022. Forward were 208 Cattle, 958 Sheep and 16 Pigs.
68 Prime Bulls sold to 271ppk or £2351
33 Prime Steers sold to 292ppk or £1973
105 Prime Heifers sold to 308ppk or £1915
2 Cast Cows sold to 194ppk or £1385
396 New Season Lambs sold to 400ppk or £166
367 Prime Hoggs sold to 329ppk or £150
195 Cast Ewes & Rams sold to £220
16 Prime Pigs sold to 120ppk or £92
Show Cattle – A wonderful show of Limousin sired cattle were on display in front of our expert judge Paul Taylor-Garthwaite representing long standing DFAM customers H Taylor & Sons, Darlington as we gladly hosted another successful event in partnership with our friends at the North East Limousin Breeders Club. For the second year running at this event, it was supreme championship success for Jim & Heather Marks of Gilly Flatts Farm, Bishopton with this year’s choice proving to be a majestic dark red steer sired by the highly regarded good getter Lodge Hamlet. Reserve Championship today went to Michael Robinson of East Alwent Farm, Staindrop with a very shapely heifer which was originally purchased here in Darlington as a store from D & M Lowes, Barningham. Top of the placings in the bull class was a jet-black muscle machine from J B Luck, Milestone House, Bowes as he fought off some super strong competition, all three class winners at this show certainly carried influence of the British Blue on their maternal sides which seemingly created the perfect potion for our judges eye today when mixed with the Limousin bull.
Show Results (All cattle sired by the Limousin bull)
Best Heifer (9 Forward to Show averaged 299.6ppk and £1687)
1st M Robinson & Sons, Staindrop sold for 285ppk and £1684 to W Piper, Houghton-le-Spring
2nd J L Marks, Bishopton sold for 300ppk and £1755 to J Penny & Sons, Rawdon
3rd P J & M P Gilhespy, Ponteland sold for 306ppk and £1664 to H Taylor & Sons, Darlington
Best Steer (5 Forward to Show averaged 280.63ppk and £1584.85)
1st J L Marks, Bishopton sold for 292ppk and £1553 to H Taylor & Sons, Darlington
2nd M Robinson & Sons, Staindrop sold for 280ppk and £1741 to J Penny & Sons, Rawdon
3rd J L Marks, Bishopton sold for 282ppk and £1534 to J Penny & Sons, Rawdon
Best Bull (17 Forward to Show averaged 247.32ppk and £1743)
1st J B Luck Bowes sold for 271ppk and £2094 to J A Jewitt, Spennymoor
2nd Rochester & Murray sold for 245ppk and £2244 to Worsley Wholesale, Briestfield
3rd J B Luck, Bowes sold for 266ppk and £2135 to J A Jewitt, Spennymoor
Champion
J L Marks, Bishopton sold for 292ppk and £1553 to H Taylor & Sons, Darlington
Reserve Champion
M Robinson & Sons, Staindrop sold for 285ppk and £1684 to W Piper, Houghton-le-Spring
Prime Bulls (68) – No doubting it is harder work at the moment, the bull beef trade isn’t what it was and a desperate shortage of staff in the boning and butchery plants seems to be largely responsible. This week the sale averaged 224ppk and £1519. Top price per kilo went to our 1st placed bull from J B Luck, Bowes when he reached 271ppk; closest challenger falling short by a single penny came from W E Swales & Sons, Thirsk as remarkably the top 21 bulls per kilo were all Limousin’s today. Two absolute tanks from Rochester & Murray, West Butsfield led the gross values with the biggest weighing in at 1005kg reaching £2351 on a day which saw half a dozen sell over £2000, in a bull ring dominated by one breed it was a pair of mighty Charolias from Malton’s M & J Hayhurst which showed the greatest resistance against the otherwise domination by the Limousin’s. Black and white bulls continue to sell well and have suffered very little compared to the best end, leading this week was the expert feeding of R Hall & Son, Brotton at 215ppk and £1352. Below as always are some of the days most successful sellers.
J B Luck, Bowes sold 2 Bulls to average 268ppk and £2115
L S Staley, Marwood sold 2 Bulls to average 252ppk and £1897
W & M Knaggs & Son, Sadberge sold 3 Bulls to average 246ppk and £1893
Rochester & Murray, Butsfield sold 2 Bulls to average 239ppk and £2297
Prime Bulls Leading PPK – 271 266 J B Luck. 270 W E Swales & Sons Ltd. 257 248 L S Staley. 255 239 236 S & J Dent & Son. 250 W Barron. 250 234 G H Farms Ltd. 250 245 244 W & M Knaggs & Son. 245 234 Rochester & Murray. 244 A & D Proctor. 243(x3) 241 240 239 235 234 Oakwood Farms. 241 240 Lester Knight. 240 Foxton Livestock. 240 T F Bothroyd & Son. 236 M & J Hayhurst.
Prime Bulls Leading Gross – £2351 £2244 Rochester & Murray. £2236 Foxton Livestock. £2135 £2094 J B Luck. £2002 £1793 L S Staley. £1965 W E Swales & Sons Ltd. £1961 £1955 M & J Hayhurst. £1941 K & A Harker. £1937 £1932 £1810 W & M Knaggs & Son. £1934 P I Harker. £1693 S & J Dent & Son. £1682 Oakwood Farms. £1655 G H Farms Ltd. £1623 J K & C E Farming Ltd. £1605 W Barron. £1599 W E Frank & Son. £1586 F S Sturrock & Sons.
Cast Cows Leading PPK – 194 173 Lester Knight.
Cast Cows Leading Gross – £1385 £1218 Lester Knight.
Clean Cattle (138) – As is the case nationally the buyers are showing slight resistance, a somewhat unpredictable day with good returns for the best cattle yet less life in the buyers of R and O grades, all said and done this left our heifers averaging 264ppk, steers 236ppk with the whole show average £1477. Just five heifers this week broke the 300 pence barrier as W & M Knaggs & Son, Sadberge and near neighbours J L Marks, Bishopton joined a pair from Ponteland’s P J & M P Gilhespy, the winner however came from the familiar expert feeding of J V & J A Hodgson, The Grange, Summerhouse when they sold a cracking Limousin for 308 pence per kilo. Top steer per kilo was the Limousin show champion from J L Marks with the next best at 283ppk coming from B Walker, Dalton-on-Tees. Leading the gross values were two bulky British Blue bullocks, the successful vendors were W J Scott Ltd, West Woodburn reaching £1966 however just pipping them at the post selling to £1973 were J E Suddes & Son, Cornsay Colliery. Top gross valued heifer was another feather in the cap for the excellent breeding of Jim and Heather Marks as they produced an excellent 647kg Limousin which sold for £1915, a second silver medal followed for W J Scott Ltd whilst both the aforementioned Suddes and Hodgson pens also sold heifers beyond £1800. As is customary some of the top consignors are listed below.
Heifers
B Walker, Dalton-on-Tees sold 2 Heifers to average 299ppk and £1545
J L Marks, Bishopton sold 2 Heifers to average 297ppk and £1835
W & M Knaggs & Son, Sadberge sold 3 Heifers to average 295ppk and £1616
S H Watson & Son, Winston sold 3 Heifers to average 289ppk and £1614
Askwiths, Crook sold 3 Heifers to average 286ppk and £1604
P J & M P Gilhespy, Ponteland sold 6 Heifers to average 284ppk and £1550
Steers
J L Marks, Bishopton sold 2 Steers to average 286ppk and £1543
M Robinson & Sons, Staindrop sold 2 Steers to average 267ppk and £1603
Askwiths, Crook sold 2 Steers to average 264ppk and £1808
W J Scott Ltd, West Woodburn sold 5 Steers to average 262ppk and £1783
J E Suddes & Son, Cornsay sold 3 Steers to average 248ppk and £1917
Steers – Top prices ppk 292 282 JL Marks. 283 B Walker. 280 255 M Robinson & Sons. 273 264 263 259 256 WJ Scott Ltd. 269 260 Askwiths. 260 250 236 JE Suddes & Son. 242 228 224 220 213 203 J Henderson. 228 D Walker. 214 210×2 200 TN Hodgson & Sons. 212 210 RD Musgrave. 210 M Ord.
Lead Grossing Steers £1973 £1890 £1888 JE Suddes & Son. £1966 £1823 £1749 £1712 £1666 WJ Scott Ltd. £1820 £1796 Askwiths. £1741 £1466 M Robinson & Sons. £1618 B Walker. £1553 £1534 JL Marks. £1463 D Walker. £1388 £1377 TN Hodgson & Sons. £1379 £1345 J Henderson.
Heifers – Top prices ppk 308 290 286 285 281 280×2 JV&JA Hodgson. 306 302 299 286 PJ&MP Gilhespy. 303 295 289 W&M Knaggs & Son. 300 296 JL Marks. 299×2 B Walker. 298 291 J Layfield. 298 285 284 JE Suddes & Son. 296 289 288 R Hirst. 296 295 SH Watson. 295 WJ&AS Bowes & Sons. 290×2 Askwiths. 289 288 284 WJ Scott Ltd. 285 M Robinson & Sons. 284 280 MF Hall. 279 K&J Heslop. 279 EW Grieves.
Lead Grossing Heifers £1915 £1755 JL Marks. £1818 £1664 £1661 £1651 WJ Scott Ltd. £1805 £1787 £1684 £1672 JE Suddes & Son. £1801 £1797 £1747 £1731 £1721 £1705 £1698 £1687 £1677 JV&JA Hodgson. £1793 SH Watson & Son. £1760 £1663 DW Dresser. £1719 £1658 R Hirst. £1714 £1601 W&M Knaggs & Son. £1684 £1669 M Robinson & Sons. £1682 £1604 Askwiths. £1664 £1637 PJ&MP Gilhespy. £1648 K&J Heslop.
Prime Lambs (396) – Numbers increasing, that’s to be expected at this time of year and more so following last week’s fabulous trade here in DFAM compared to other outlets, so whilst easier this week still good as the weighed straight sale averaged 321ppk and £132.70. First sell of the season came today for the often-prolific J C Simpson, Hill Top East, Caldwell who duly produced some peaches to top the sale with 40kg lambs selling for 400ppk and the same run finding 50kg lambs which sold for £166. Last weeks star performers W & M Knaggs & Son, Sadberge chased the Simpson consignment all the way as a show with an exceptional top end yet containing all shapes and sizes farther down the ranks found homes with absolute ease throughout.
Lambs – Top prices ppk 400 363 358 353×2 346 345 332 JC Simpson. 370 365 356 352 331×2 328 321 W&M Knaggs & Son. 356 321 314 309 302 BR&R Routledge. 346 340 337 JR Knox & Son. 340 300 C&V Harrison. 329 320 316 312 303 M Barley. 327 326 323 317 309 P Tindale. 325×2 B Fisk. 322×2 314 312 302 Wytherstone Farm. 319 316 303 TW Clark & Son. 313 311 306 RA Patterson & Son. 301 A&EJ Dobinson.
Lead Grossing Lambs £166 £160 £156 £155.50 £152 £149 £147 £145 JC Simpson. £150 £148×2 £146 £136×2 £135 £134.50 W&M Knaggs & Son. £147 £139.50 £137 £136 £134 £129 TW Clark & Son. £149 £143 £138.50 JR Knox & Son. £146 £135×2 £130×2 BR&R Routledge. £145.50 £141 £134 P Tindale. £140×2 B Fisk. £138 £136 C Hird. £136 £130 C&V Harrison. £135 £128×2 £127.50 M Barley. £133 R Tookey & Son. £132 £129×2 Wytherstone Farm.
Prime Hoggs (367) – Still the hoggs are appearing as they always do through May; for the top price per kilo, we simply copy and paste T N Callender, Ox Eye Farm in to this space as they continue to turn out unbeatable Beltex hoggs, this week they sold a trio to 329ppk. A top gross value this week of £150 went to B & S M Rutherford, Old Cassop with a hefty Charollais tup hogg, behind this the better fed and better bred hoggs regularly sold £130 to £145.
Hoggs – Top prices ppk 329 325×2 306 287 TN Callender. 311 289 271 S&RE Williamson. 300 280 JE Braithwaite & Son. 291 285 277 RE&L Frank. 290 260 J Waters. 286 243 TW Clark & Son. 282×2 275 268 P Turnbull. 282 C&V Harrison. 277 261 DA Gill. 277×2 270 268 250 248 JH&D Wise. 270 D Alderson. 270 GP&A Carter. 268 260 JR&P Ward. 265 264 GC&JC Pullan. 263 L fowler. 258 L&S Barker.
Lead Grossing Hoggs £150 B&SM Rutherford. £148 £145 £140×2 £136 £135 £134 £130 £115 AC Simpson & Son. £144 £140 £138 £136 S&RE Williamson. £140 £139 £135 WA Richardson Ltd. £138.50 £138 £130×2 £124 £120 JH&D Wise. £135 £130 £122.50 £118 TN Callender. £134 £125 DA Gill. £134 £133 £120 RE&L Frank. £133.50 I Spedding. £125 J Waters. £125 G Sedgewick. £125 C&V Harrison. £120 JE Braithwaite & Son. £120 JP&R Ward.
Cast Ewes & Rams (195) – The ewe trade continues in fine form as a light show kept the buyers hungry and maintained the £100 plus average, in reality big numbers are now not expected at this time of year and with Eid al-Adha falling in early July the signs are promising for the marvellous mutton run to continue. Topping the sale at £220 were two vendors as a shapely ewe from William Tindale, Paradise Farm had her price matched by a Beltex ram from W & M Knaggs & Son, East Newbiggin. Big Mule ewes sold to £124 with plenty well beyond £100 whilst the pick of the horned ewes reached £80. Last but not least this week a rare mention for the Zwartbles breed when a pair of strong ewes from D & C Greensit, Little Smeaton sat high on our leader board selling for £137.
Lead Grossing Cast Sheep £220 £200 £140×2 William Tindale. £220 £200 W&M Knaggs & Son. £200 C Hird. £195 B&L Robson. £190 £160 JC Simpson. £178 £160×2 A&D Proctor. £145 W Ramsay & Sons. £142 £140 £135×2 £130 JR&M Richardson. £137 D&C Greensit. £134 £127 RA Patterson & Son. £130 Anthony Tindale. £130 D Lynn. £130 MF Hall. £126 Wytherstone Farm. £125 IR Appleton. £125 DW&A Appleton.
Prime Pigs (16) – Genuinely great news for the pigs of Darlington Mart, following last weeks foray into fetlocks and farriers our bacon flavoured buddies have (for the first time since records began) climbed off the bottom of the authors most disliked species list, watch out cattle and sheep the pigs are coming for you! Trade back a little but still infinitely better than it was.
Pigs – Top prices ppk 120 115 J Mitchell & Son. 100×2 C Weightman. 100 M&A Gaskin.
Lead Grossing Pigs £92 £86 J Mitchell & Son. £85 M&A Gaskin. £78 £70 C Weightman.
