Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of Cast Cattle, Store and Breeding Stock on Monday 14th February 2022. Forward were 366 Cattle and 945 Sheep.
84 Cast Cows & OTM sold to 224ppk or £1758
5 Stock Bulls sold to 186ppk or £2135
92 Store Steers sold to £1540
114 Store Heifers sold to £1450
63 Young Bulls sold to £1450
4 Bulling Heifers sold to £940
2 Cows & Calves sold to £1580
602 Store Hoggs sold to £127
34 Feeding Ewes sold to £114
309 In Lamb Sheep sold to £700
Cast Cattle – The old girls (and boys) celebrated their final valentines day in some style, an absolutely electric trade for all classes led to a whopping sale average of 148ppk. Endless super returns to report, a tremendous 43-month-old Limousin from S & J Dent & Son, Great Burdon Farm led the pence per kilo at 224; a beautiful British Blue OTM from D & B Harding, Thornhill Farm sold for 220ppk whilst a lovely Limousin OTM heifer from B Watson, Baal Hill Farm followed close behind at 216ppk. Behind this exceptional trio remarkably came our top Friesian as a superb 31-month-old from R & W Todd, High Toft Hill Farm reached the remarkable heights of 200ppk. On to the gross values and no female bettered the exceptional Limousin from J C Johnson, Beanley Carr Farm when she reached £1758, next in line came our top native a whopping 1010kg Aberdeen Angus from R E Dickson, Stubdale Farm sold for £1616; just behind these in the cow line up were a fabulous pair of Limousin’s from W I Suddes & Son, South Farm with a combined age between them of 23 years and an impressive average of £1598. Now, the bulls, and some staggering returns, the five of them averaged £1621, the best a marvellous 7-year-old British Blue from the aforementioned Harding’s of Thornhill Farm, Commondale sold for a huge 186ppk and £2135.
Cast Cows & OTM Leading PPK – 224 166 S & J Dent & Son. 220 D & B Harding. 216 B Watson. 200 R & W Todd. 186 L Claughan. 186 C S Robinson. 182(x2) 178 W I Suddes & Son. 182 J C Johnson. 180 166 B R Lawson. 180 P & J Martin. 178 A K Clark. 172 Stainton Hill Farms. 170 M Shepherd. 170 W M Reed & Sons. 164 162 R G & G Rutter. 160 L Brown & Partner. 160 158 R E Dickson. 160 W J & A S Bowes. 158 W J & F J Hadley. 158(x2) Stevens & Son.
Stock Bulls Leading PPK – 186 D & B Harding. 156 J Brearley. 148 J Elliot. 140 J C Close. 120 P Turnbull.
Cast Cows & OTM Leading Gross – £1758 J C Johnson. £1616 £1279 R E Dickson. £1600 £1596 £1425 W I Suddes & Son. £1465 D & B Harding. £1461 A K Clark. £1438 £1245 S & J Dent. £1353 £1336 W J & A S Bowes & Sons. £1333 W J & F J Hadley. £1328 B Watson. £1307 C S Robinson. £1292 H N & R Tweddle. £1283 W M Reed & Sons. £1233 R G & G Rutter. £1221 High Hedley Hope Farm Ltd. £1216 M W Cook & Son. £1208 £1184 R & W Todd. £1190 M Shepherd. £1173 B R Lawson. £1164 Stevens & Son. £1159 P & J Martin. £1149 L Claughan.
Stock Bulls Leading Gross – £2135 D & B Harding. £1804 J Brearley. £1565 J Elliot. £1360 J C Close. £1238 P Turnbull.
Store & Breeding Cattle – The feeding cattle trade continues in scintillating fashion, once again some staggering prices were on offer. No less than 14 of the top 16 steers today were native breeds, strong Aberdeen Angus from J H Johnson, White Lea Farm and R W Perowne, High House Farm sold well but could not match the mighty Longhorn of G A Willey, Broomfield Farm, Chopwell which lifted the roof off at a stunning £1540. The heifer race also went to the Chopwell based Willey family as they produced a hefty 22-month-old Simmental which sold for £1450; in the photo finish for heifer glory were the exceptional Limousin’s of K & M M Henderson, West Witton Row Farm when they sold to a top of £1440 and the super run of six averaged a whopping £1286. Young bulls, following last Thursday’s prime bull bonanza the fast trade today was perhaps to be expected; aside from the top trio all the bulls were under a year old with some mouth-watering achievements listed below, topping the sale however were the strong 15–16-month Charolais of K Sayer, Scotland Farm peaking at £1450.
Bulling Heifers – £940 £885 £840 £640 Glenariff Pedigree Livestock.
Cows & Calves £1550 B & B Kitching & Son. £1120 Godschalk Partners.
Store Steers – £1540 £1380 £1130 G A Willey. £1390(x2) £1360(x2) £1350 £1300(x4) £1270(x2) £1260(x2) £1170(x2) J H Johnson. £1315 £1120 £1040 R W Perowne. £1250 £1190 L Kidd. £1165 £1120 G W & M Singleton & Sons. £1145(x2) M Metcalfe. £1100 £1095 £1060 £1040 R A & S L Wearmouth. £1100 £1075 W Denham. £1100 K Sayer. £1070 £1050 G L & M Steel. £1030 £1015(x2) A Walton. £1000 J & J W Kenny.
Store Heifers – £1450 A Willey. £1440 £1420 £1300(x2) £1190 £1070 K & M M Henderson. £1395 £1160 £1045 J R & J Crowe. £1300 £1180 £1170 £1010(x2) R A & S L Wearmouth. £1280(x2) £1250 £1230 £1095 £1010(x2) £1000(x2) H S Hutchinson. £1220 £1160 W Denham. £1180 £1040 C S Robinson. £1160 £1155 L Kidd. £1155 £1050 G W & M Singleton & Sons. £1050(x2) T T Hall & Son. £1000 W Lodge & Sons. £980(x2) A J Lawson. £960 C & M Burnett. £955 D J & A Teasdale. £935 BJS Farms.
Young Bulls – £1450 £1335 K Sayer. £1330 L Claughan. £1290(x2) £1255(x2) £1220(x2) J R & M Richardson. £1255 £1230 £1220 £1090 R White. £1200 £1170 £1095 T Ducker. £1170 £1160(x2) £1150(x2) £1145(x2) £1150 £1075 £1060(x2) W Lodge & Sons. £1160(x2) F Bainbridge. £1145(x2) £1105 M E & T D Tailford. £1085 W E Muir & Son. £1070 £1025 J F Harland. £1060(x4) £1010 J A & U M Fawcett.
Store Sheep – Signs that the store hoggs are coming towards the full-time whistle, largely sweepings up on offer, thus said still 120 hoggs sold in three figures. No doubting the sale leaders as some super Texel’s from Wilsons of Throstlenest Farm, Hollinside stood out a mile and their top 20 all sold for at least £125.
Leading Prices
Store Hoggs – £127 £125 £119.50 Wilsons. £124 Adam Mason. £121 £103 Ivanhoe Livestock. £120 £106 £94 M J Hutchinson. £117.50 £112.50 P D Shepherd. £115 £104 £100 S A Smith & Sons. £104 F M Armstrong. £100 G Bolton. £100 £80 W H Brown. £97 W T Hall. £95 £89 W Marley. ££91.50 W L Alderson. 80 F T Pickering.
Feeding Ewes – £114 J M Shotton. £90 £80 G Pickering. £85 T & D I Allen & Son. £76 G H & R G Stobbs.
In Lamb Sheep – A wonderful trade for the top end however some value for the eagle-eyed buyer if shopping lower down the pecking order, unscanned ewes or those with triplets inside them certainly harder to move than some may have foreseen given the high prime sheep prices we are becoming so used to. Leading the way were the superb Texel shearlings of K O Stones, Nun Cote Nook Farm, Marrick which peaked at £700 and averaged £580; behind these we witnessed more success for the Stones pen as they produced a pair of the increasingly popular North Country Cheviot’s to sell for £320 apiece.
Leading Prices – £700 £600 £520 £500 £320 K O Stones. £220 J Gilson. £170 £165 £145 T Nesbitt & Son. £160 £150 £120 J H Craggs. £150 £145(x3) £142 £140(x4) £135(x2) M Jopling & Son. £135(x2) J M Shotton. £130 £125 E W Holmes. £128 £120 C Slee.
