Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their Limousin Primestock Spectacular Show and Sale in conjunction with their weekly sale of Primestock on Thursday 20th May 2021. Forward were 234 Cattle, 1733 Sheep and 5 Pigs.
66 Prime Bulls sold to 254ppk or £186731 Prime Steers sold to 330ppk or £1956136 Prime Heifers sold to 300ppk or £1807686 New Season Lambs sold to 388ppk or £178729 Prime Hoggs sold to 361ppk or £190318 Cast Ewes & Rams sold to £152
5 Prime Pigs sold to 105ppk or £78Limousin Primestock Spectacular – Firstly both appreciation and praise must be heaped upon the vendors who produced a wonderful depth and quality before our judge Willis Piper of Piper’s Quality Butchers, some 20 heifers, 14 steers and 12 bulls were shown before the Darlington stalwart who used his wealth of industry knowledge to place the beast at this successful inaugural British Limousin Cattle Society event. Few could argue with the judge as he meticulously narrowed his winners down, the hardest choice looked to be the last one as two terrific locally produced beast were a pleasure to see, the winner came from the steer class with a sensational home bred bullock full of style, loin and hind quarter from Jim and Heather Marks of Bishopton, sired by Bassingbourn Malcolm the steer will go on to hang proudly in the Houghton-le-Spring shop of our judge. Mention also must go at this point to the wonderful gesture from the Marks family who selflessly donated their prize money today to DFAM’s favoured charity Darlington MIND, we thank them wholeheartedly. The reserve champion was a pure Limousin bred from Ronick Nissan at the Swarland herd of the Proctor family, Morpeth and brought out today by Michael Robinson, Staindrop; she heads across the Pennines to great DFAM supporters Bowland Foods. Leading the bull class was another pure bred sired by the Swale herds current stock bull Norman Jockey as the super sort from W E Swales & Son, Thirsk stayed local as Michael Jewitt of Spennymoor as always got stuck in to some high quality bull beef.
Class 1 – Best Steer sired by a Limousin Bull kindly sponsored by APSV Agriplant Ltd1st (£50) J L Marks, Gilly Flatts, Bishopton 593kg sold for 330ppk £1956 to Pipers Quality Butchers, Houghton-le-Spring2nd (£30) J L Marks, Gilly Flatts, Bishopton 563kg sold for 270ppk £1520 to Worsley Wholesale, Briestfield3rd (£20) M Robinson & Sons, East Alwent, Staindrop 512kg sold for 272ppk £1392 to John Penny, Rawdon
Class 2 – Best Heifer sired by a Limousin Bull kindly sponsored by WE Jameson & Sons1st (£50) M Robinson & Sons, East Alwent, Staindrop 524kg sold for 300ppk £1572 to Bowland Foods, Preston2nd (£30) W Dandie & Son, Learielaw, West Lothian 690kg sold for 262ppk £1807 to Worsley Wholesale, Briestfield3rd (£20) B Walker, Birch Springs, Dalton-on-Tees sold for 266ppk £1654 to Worsley Wholesale, Briestfield
Class 3 – Best Beef Bull sired by a Limousin Bull kindly sponsored by Farm Matters1st (£50) W E Swales & Son, Mount Pleasant, Thirsk 699kg sold for 254ppk £1775 to J A Jewitt, Spennymoor2nd (£30) W Wallis & Son, Birk Hall, Brignall 844kg sold for 209ppk £1763 to S S Meats, West Auckland3rd (£20) J B Luck, Milestone House, Bowes 684kg sold for 246ppk £1682 to J A Jewitt, Spennymoor
Overall Champion (£250) kindly sponsored by Vickers & Barrass Chartered Surveyors
J L Marks, Gilly Flatts, Bishopton 593kg sold for 330ppk £1956 to Pipers Quality Butchers, Houghton-le-Spring
Reserve Champion (£100) kindly sponsored by Peter Monkhouse Haulage
M Robinson & Sons, East Alwent, Staindrop 524kg sold for 300ppk £1572 to Bowland Foods, Preston
Prime Bulls (66) – Less bulls offered this week following last week’s bonanza, the show was made up of largely dairy bulls and trade as is the case this week was less. A quartet today sold beyond £1800 all of which were Limousin’s, twice J B Luck of Bowes topped £1800 as did C & J C Stephenson of Woodland however the bragging rights at £1867 went home to Marwood with regular supporter L S Staley. A total of 9 bulls today sold for 240ppk or beyond and on show day they remarkably all carried Limouisin upon their passport, the top price went away with the show winning bull from W E Swales & Sons Ltd, Thirsk at 254 pence whilst the contenders already mentioned were joined by a super pen shown by W I Suddes & Son, Cornsay which all sold between 244ppk and 246ppk. No matter which week, if you turn the clock back our Friesian bull report often mentions the expert feeding of R Hall & Son, Kilton Hall Farm, Brotton; a wonderful Friesian today from this home turned the clock back to around 1985 as the incredible old fashioned sort weighed 692kg and sold for 212ppk and £1467.
Continental Bulls – Top prices ppk 254 WE Swales & Sons Ltd. 251 250 246 JB Luck. 246 244×2 240 WI Suddes & Son. 246 228 LS Staley. 229 C&JC Stephenson. 229 214 PM Bradley & Bros. 221 216 DH Lawson. 221 213 MG Betney. 218 JK&CE Farming. 218 212 210×2 206 205 JT JM & EJ Bourne. 215 206 205 C Parker.
Lead Grossing Continental Bulls £1867 £1744 LS Staley. £1857 C&JC Stephenson. £1837×2 £1682 JB Luck. £1775 WE Swales & Sons Ltd. £1763 £1542 W Wallis & Son. £1638 WE Frank & Son. £1598 £1365 DH Lawson. £1534 Lester Knight. £1528 JK&CE Farming. £1513 £1388 PM Bradley & Bros. £1463 WI Suddes & Son. £1459 J Richmond.
Friesian Bulls – Top prices ppk 212 187 182 R Hall & Son. 203 193 189 186 179 159 JB&L Knight. 187 JM&S Walton. 187 186 N Howard. 186 JK&CE Farming. 186 181 180×2 J&JH Musgrave. 172 163 161 160 D Walker.
Lead Grossing Friesian Bulls £1467 £1194 £1161 R Hall & Son. £1183 £1156 £1132 £1116 £1049 JB&L Knight. £1177 JK&CE Farming. £1092 £1063 £1062 £1008 J&JH Musgrave. £1078 JM&S Walton. £1006 £929 N Howard. £937 £871 £852 £829 D Walker.
Native Breed Bulls – Top prices ppk 194 GA Willey.Lead Grossing Native Breed Bulls £1270 GA Willey.
Clean Cattle (167) – A superb show, certainly aided by the very classy display of Limousin’s however a great depth was presented throughout of all breeds and creeds. Little doubting the sale leaders as the aforementioned show cattle dominated the top price columns, naturally our champion led the steer trade at 330ppk and £1956 but certainly worthy of mention are the other 13 steers beyond 250ppk and the 8 beyond £1600 of which 5 hailed from first time vendor Walter Dandie & Son of Broxburn. A similar story with the heifers as our reserve champion led the pence per kilo race, it was the Broxburn firm again in the high values as their solitary heifer took home the top gross valued female bragging rights along with her 2nd prize rosette, a further 6 heifers from 5 vendors sold beyond £1600 on the day. Ten heifers, 9 of which were Limousin’s, sold beyond 270ppk as local producers M Robinson & Sons and Messrs Askwith of Crook battled it out with regular raider from the North M F Hall and Lincolnshire’s Beeswax Dyson Farming, they were also joined in the 270 club by first time vendors RAO Johnson all the way from Derbyshire.
Steers – Top prices ppk 330 270 265 JL Marks. 272 M Robinson & Sons. 264×2 262 260 252 Beeswax Dyson Farming Ltd. 259 RAO Johnson. 256 MF Hall. 252 Askwiths. 250 WA Armstrong. 250 JJ Crichton. 246 243 242 240 237 Walter Dandie & Son. 244 B Walker. 240 PJ&MP Gilhespy. 230 K&J Heslop. 223 P&JH Davison. 222 212 JT JM & EJ Bourne. 204 IW Cairns.
Lead Grossing Steers £1956 £1571 £1520 JL Marks. £1856 £1854 £1824 £1813 £1753 Walter Dandie & Son. £1695 B Walker. £1663 Askwiths. £1630 K&J Heslop. £1525 WA Armstrong. £1507 MF Hall. £1490 JJ Crichton. £1489 RAO Johnson. £1486 £1478 £1425 £1401 Beeswax Dyson Farming Ltd. £1392 M Robinson & Sons. £1326 IW Cairns. £1324 P&JH Davison.
Heifers – Top prices ppk 300 270 M Robinson & Sons. 275×2 274 271 267 266×2 263 Beeswax Dyson Farming Ltd. 273 RAO Johnson. 271×2 266 Askwiths. 270 265 263 MF Hall. 269×2 268 JV&JA Hodgson. 268 261×2 JJ Crichton. 267 264 263 R Hirst. 266 B Walker. 266 262 260 256×3 WA Armstrong. 266 WI Suddes & Son. 264 260 258 254 WJ Scott Ltd. 263 JE Suddes & Son. 262 Walter Dandie & Son. 261 K&J Heslop.
Lead Grossing Heifers £1807 Walter Dandie & Son. £1693 £1630 £1532 JE Suddes & Son. £1654 B Walker. £1608 JJ Crichton. £1605 K&J Heslop. £1604 £1564 £1562 £1560 £1527 £1506 WJ Scott Ltd. £1572 WI Suddes & Son. £1572 £1542 M Robinson & Sons. £1570 £1543 £1514 £1497 £1493 JV&JA Hodgson. £1522 £1519 TN Callender. £1515 £1492 £1491 R Hirst. £1508 JJ Crichton. £1506 £1500 £1497 WA Armstrong. £1474 RAO Johnson.
Cast Cows – Top prices ppk 164 GA Willey.Lead Grossing Cast Cows £1069 GA Willey.
Prime Lambs (686) – The numbers are arriving as we now see the February lambers in full selling mode and some of the lowland March born crop knocking on the door. A tremendous trade this week with, as always, every kilo paid for and a sale average of 331ppk which equates to £135.52 per head, the same week last year vendors were it certainly seemed more than satisfied and were at the time a staggering 64 pence per kilo behind todays average. Top of the tree and not for the first time was J C Simpson of Hill Top Farm, Caldwell with his terrific run selling as high as 388ppk and £178, the wonderful run of 102 expertly finished lambs averaged over 360 pence per kilo and £154. Other terrific runs of sheep on the day came from Steve Hugill of Wytherstone Farm, North Yorkshire with 37 averaging £148 and Ian Kirk, Nottinghamshire produced 50 to level at £144.
Lambs – Top prices ppk 388 374 370 369 365×2 356 354 350 348 346 340 334 JC Simpson. 363 360 335 334 333×2 Ian Kirk. 362 343 Wytherstone Farm. 348 335 330 327 GC&JC Pullen. 347 345 340 338 333×2 332 G&E Walton. 343 338 332 331 B&R Routledge. 341 340 334 333×2 332 327 P Tindale. 338 331 C Binks & Son. 337 332 J Bolton. 337 332 TW&PT Moss. 336 334 BE&C Dawson. 336 331 327 PR Weaver. 333 A&EJ Dobinson. 332 JR Knox & Son. 330 C Moralee & Sons. 328 326 Thoresby Livestock. 327 W Kirk & Sons. 326×2 T Lawson & Son. 325 Anna Herbert.
Lead Grossing Lambs £178 £171 £163 £160 ££156 £155 £154×2 £153.50 £152 £150×3 JC Simpson. £156 £153 £151 £145.50 £145 £144 Wytherstone Farm. £154 C Binks & Son. £153 £144 £137.50 P Tindale. £151.50 £149 £144 £143.50×2 £141 Ian Kirk. £1447 £146 T Lawson & Son. £147 £141 £140×2 GC&JC Pullen. £146×2 May Tree Farm. £146 JW&DW Laing. £145.50 C Moralee & Sons. £140 A&EJ Dobinson. £140 BE&C Dawson. £139.50 £139 £138 G&E Walton. £139 PR Weaver.
Prime Hoggs (729) – The hoggs in May are always hiding somewhere, no matter how often we foresee them drying up they will always appear. Clearly some sweepings up included in the sale average of 275ppk however those which were good, were very good today. Top price per kilo went to a single Texel from T H Richardson & Son, Hamsterley at 361 pence whilst the top gross value this week belonged to R H Thompson & Son, Whins Farm, Newfield at a remarkable £190. The Whins Farm patience in producing hoggs late is certainly paying off this season as their 114 tremendous heavy weight Suffolk and Charollais averaged £171.70 today.
Hoggs – Top prices ppk 361 TH Richardson & Son. 341 I Spedding. 321 320 319×2 317 311 310 AC Simpson & Son. 321 320 318 307 304 298 M Robinson & Sons. 318 313 309 308 307 306 305 303 301×2 300 RH Thompson & Son. 317 314 SA Braithwaite. 315 311 300×2 JL Potter. 313 303 300 TN Callender. 310 C Binks & Son. 307 302 300×2 J Hicks. 3036×2 RE&L Frank. 305 JH&D Wise. 297 A&EJ Dobinson. 291 JR Knox & Son.
Lead Grossing Hoggs £190×2 £189 £184 £182×3 £181 £180×2 £178 £173×2 £172 £171 £170£169 £168 £166 £165 £161 RH Thompson & Son. £183 C Binks & Son. £180 £179 £174 £166 £165 £160 £150 AC Simpson & Son. £160 JR&J Crowe. £149 GM Simpson. £146 J Hicks. £145 £141.50 £140 M Robinson & Sons. £144 £142 JL Potter. £144 HS Hutchinson. £144 GC&JC Pullen. £140 I Spedding. £140 JR Knox & Son. £140 £138 TN Callender.
Cast Ewes & Rams (318) – The Darlington hot spot continues in the ewe department, 305 ewes averaged £97.93 whilst the 13 tups amazingly levelled at £119.15; it was then a tup which set the high bar as a terrific specimen from G M Simpson, Pallet Hill Farm led the charge at £152. Mule ewes this week sold to a top of £126 and a must mention are 4 huge (Scotch Blackface) horned tups from the Tyreman’s of Danby selling for £122.
Lead Grossing Cast Sheep £152 GM Simpson. £142 £126 £124 G Thompson. £140 P Cockburn. £137 £120 F Hare & Sons. £131 I&A Holmes. £131 G&E Walton. £130 TW&PT Moss. £130 M Navazi. £129 £110 R Worthy. £129 £127 £116 BR&RI Routledge. £122 W Tyreman & Sons. £121 S&RE Williamson. £119 I Spedding. £118×2 TH Richardson & Sons. £117 C Dawson.
Pigs (5) – Just the famous five today, trade remarkably similar, in fact identical.
Pigs – Top prices ppk 105 100 J Mitchell & Son.Lead Grossing Pigs £78 £75 J Mitchell & Son.
