Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of Cast Cattle, Store and Breeding Stock on Monday 5th April 2021. Forward were 241 Cattle and 90 Sheep.
55 Cast Cows & OTM sold to 246ppk or £1654
1 Stock Bull sold for 130ppk and £1411
2 In Calf Cows sold to £900
32 Calves & Stirks sold to £665
46 Young Bulls sold to £1175
47 Store Steers sold to £1485
58 Store Heifers sold to £1355
88 Store Hoggs sold to £82
2 Feeding Ewes sold to £108
Cast Cattle – The end of the road for the geld cows in attendance today turned out to be like finding the end of a rainbow for the vendors, an absolutely insane trade, most probably the dearest ever witnessed. Todays show was reasonable, certainly not exceptional, and the average finished at a mind blowing 165.6 pence per kilo and over £1100 breaking last week’s DFAM all-time record. Top price today went to J R & B Walker, Burn View Farm with a sensational 4 year old Limousin cow which sold for an incredible 246ppk, she was followed closely by a further 8 cows beyond 200 pence as a whole army of buyers descended on Darlington with a rarely seen willingness to push on whatever the cost. The top gross valued cow today was a well fleshed shapely 7 year old British Blue from J Gilson, The Heugh at a wonderful £1654 whilst the solitary stock bull offered from G A Willey, Chopwell was a Longhorn which sold well and grossed over £1400. The dairy cows were, like everything else, very good to sell as a good quality offering of Holstein Friesian’s today averaged 139ppk and peaked at 188ppk from G Swinbank & Sons, Sedgefield.
Cast Cows – Top prices ppk 246 230 224 222 JR&B Walker. 236 216 S&J Dent & Son. 214 162 152×2 J Gilson. 188 160 G Swinbank & Sons. 210 208 198 R Atkinson. 186 156 144 B Watson. 182×2 180 178 174×2 T Clark & Sons. 174 146 R&S Bradley. 172 PT Stephenson. 172 I Spedding. 170 138 JJM Lonsdale. 168 160 156 154 152 ABP Wilsons. 162 140 M Metcalfe. 160 156 T James. 158 142 Anderson. 158 A Willey. 150 E Scott. 142 W Wearmouth & Son. 136 JB Fletcher. 136 R&W Todd.
Lead Grossing Cast Cows £1654 £1202 £1140 J Gilson. £1616 £1591 £1548 £1534 JR&B Walker. £1529 £1484 S&J Dent & Son. £1518 £1497 £1394 R Atkinson. £1378 £1295 £1254 £1249 £1240 T Clark & Sons. £1250 £1160 £1095 £1015 ABP Wilsons. £1240 E Scott & Sons. £1205 PT Stephenson & Son. £1131 Anderson. £1096 A Willey. £1090 I Spedding. £1071 £1031 £964 B Watson. £1084 £1029 T James. £1081 R&S Bradley. £1029 T James. £962 JJM Lonsdale. £941 M Metcalfe.
Cast Bulls – Top prices ppk 130 GA Willey.Lead Grossing Cast Bulls £1411 GA Willey.
Calves & Stirks – The beef trade is brimming with confidence and that certainly shone bright down to the younger cattle offered today. A pair of six month old Friesian heifers from G Swinbank & Sons, Breckon Hill led the trade at £665 with others at £660. Limousin steers from the same home at 4 and 6 months old sold for £560 whilst the pick of the Friesian steers from the Breckon Hill consignment at 6 months old sold for £425, all told a roaring trade throughout.
Heifer Stirks – £665(x2) £660(x2) £500(x4) £480(x5) £370(x3) G Swinbank & Sons. £475 £460 J W & J Collin.
Steer Stirks – £560(x2) £425(x6) £390 £360(x5) G Swinbank & Sons.
Store Cattle – Another magical trade, the beef boom shows no sign of letting up and as the ‘eager to get going’ catering trade now bursts in to life, the short term future then is a very exciting prospect, plenty of vendors are again £150 to £200 ahead of last years returns. The pick of the young bulls today turned out to be a lovely 12 month old British Blonde from W M Bainbridge, Bogg House Farm which sold for £1175, fine runs of under year old bulls from E Parsons, Newstead; T L Holmes & Son, White House and W H Brown, Swale Hall also sold well averaging £1088, £1030 and £1018 respectively. The store cattle continued their extraordinary run of late in some style, a very successful days trading was enjoyed by all as the strong stores were again in great demand and the smaller grass types if anything were unimaginably dearer. Topping the sale today were a fabulous trio of 18-23 month old Limousin steers from D W Dresser, Hall Farm, Greatham when they sold for an amazing £1485 per head, these sensational returns were far from isolated on a day which saw Shorthorn steers (D&J Coulson) reach £1345, Hereford steers (GW&M Singleton & Sons) £1315 and Friesian steers (R&W Todd) £1210. The pick of the heifers this week came from R A Patterson & Son of Whitehouse Farm, Capheaton as they produced a marvellous Limousin to the dizzy heights of £1345, meanwhile the top priced native heifer an exceptional Shorthorn from W Denham sold for £1290.
Store Steers £1485×3 DW Dresser. £1345 £1105 £1060×2 £1015 £985 High Harbour Farms. £1315 £1215×2 £1200 GW&M Singleton & Sons. £1210×3 R&W Todd. £1180×2 WB Rutter & Sons. £1175 G Simpson. £1170 TT Hall & Son. £1155×4 E Wood. £1130 N Basey. £1100 W Denham. £1065 JH Johnson. £950×2 £940 £820 T James. £920 D&JA Teasdale. £880 Northfield Farms.
Store Heifers £1355 £1195 £985 £955×2 RA Patterson & Son. £1345 £995 High Harbour Farms. £1290 £1145 £1065 W Denham. £1240 £1180 £1150 £1135 JG Wilkinson & Son. £1225 £1155 WB Rutter & Sons. £1090 £935 TT Hall & Son. £1065 C Hall. £1060 D&JA Teasdale. £1010 JH Johnson. £990 £970 £900 WM Bainbridge. £970 £910 J Walshaw & Son. £920 I Spedding. £910 T James.
In Calf Cows £900 £880 D & J Coulson.
Young Bulls – £1175 W M Bainbridge. £1145 £975 £970 T L Holmes & Son. £1100(x2) £1090 £1075(x2) E Parsons. £1100(x2) £1095 £990(x2) £835 W H Brown. £900(x2) W S I Anderson. £690 £685(x4) £660 £630(x6) N P & J R Fulford.
Store Sheep – The spatula again ran around the bottom of the store hogg bowl and again came up with a few, the season now though really is at the end. A mixture of rare breeds and hill hoggs averaged a more than pleasing £64.
Store Hoggs £82 £74 £69 £66.50 £59 £53.50 Godschalk Partners. £65.50 J&EM Lawson.
Feeding Ewes £108 LJ Thompson.
