Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of prime lambs and cast sheep on Thursday 28th December 2023. Forward were 2637 head.
2201 Prime Lambs sold to 340ppk or £180
436 Cast Ewes & Rams sold to £242
Prime Lambs (2201) – The year ended on a high as the lamb trade continued in its recent very good form, this week’s weighed straight sale average of 297ppk and £135.26 per head signs 2023 off some fifty pence per kilo better than the corresponding week last year. Fifteen excellent 44kg Beltex lambs from G & R Dawson, Crayke led the price per kilo at 340 pence, just adrift at 338 pence per kilo were a big pen drawn up like peas in a pod when no less than thirty-eight 43kg Beltex from R Atkinson, Scorton found the buyers bidding freely; five further superstars weighing 45kg from W A Wardman, Yearby completed the hat-trick of top prices per kilo for the Beltex breed at 335 pence. Top of the gross values were a pair of thumping Suffolk crosses from Messrs Tallentire, Bishop Auckland weighing 65kg and reaching £180 apiece; up next at £178 were the top pen from an excellent two hundred strong run shown by Thirsk based C S Robinson, Valley View Farm with I M Maughan, Hamsterley and W A Wardman, Yearby also hitting £170 this week. Several other vendors sold well in to the £160’s with two of our familiar mart topping consignors named Simpson (Mark & John) probably enjoying the pick of those folk in the £160 club. As always, an eclectic mix joined the mainstream butcher’s breeds – Mule lambs sold to a top of £139 from R Bell, Thirsk; a pen weighing 37kg led the Swaledale’s at £87 whilst Teeswaters topped at £120 and the unusual in these parts Derbyshire Gritstone’s sold to a best of £127.
Lambs – Top prices ppk 340 327 319 G&R Dawson. 338 327 323 316 314×3 R Atkinson. 335 333 319 314 WA Wardman Ltd. 333 313 J Wigham. 332 325×2 JC Simpson. 331 328 326 323 319 Cole Hill Farm Ltd. 326 K&PM Lough. 326 W.K M.M Lamb. 325 322 317×2 315×2 CS Robinson. 323 M&A Gaskin. 322 317 313 CK&D Muir Ltd. 320 318 J Layfield. 320 Northfield Farms. 319 315 I Kirk. 317 RH Wilson & Son. 317 313 Grants Pro Agri. 317 A Layfield Farms. 315 WR Thompson. 313 IM Maughan.
Lead Grossing Lambs £180 K Tallentire. £178 £155.50 CS Robinson. £176 IM Maughan. £170 £157 £151 £150 WA Wardman Ltd. £169 £165×3 £164 £161×3 £160×2 £158 £156 £155 £154×2 £152×2 AC Simpson & Son. £163 £153 JC Simpson. £161 £156 Cole Hill Farm Ltd. £160 J Wigham. £160 D&PH Brown. £160×2 3159 £155×2 £154×2 J Layfield. £157.50 JK&CE Farming. £155×2 W Denham. £153×3 £150 I Kirk. £153 £151 C Dawson. £150×2 C&R Dawson.
Cast Sheep (436) – A good show of flesh on offer saw the ewe trade stay firm to average a stunning £111 throughout. Nine outstanding pure Texel ewes from Newark’s P R Weaver topped the sale at an impressive £242, the successful marauding Midlander’s run of one hundred averaged over £150 on the day. Other vendors in the £200 plus gang with continental ewes were F W Walton, Hurworth and W K M M Lamb, Cotherstone with plenty of other heavy lowland bred sheep £140 to £180 throughout the sale. Just shy of two-hundred Mule ewes were in attendance this week, largely fleshy sorts they proved to be a tightly knit pack and averaged £97 with a top of £105. Around the other sections we saw continental tups top at £180, Cheviot ewes sell to £116, Blackface to £72 and Swaledale’s to £70.
Lead Grossing Cast sheep £242 £176 £150 £149×2 £146 £142 £139 £138 £130 £125 PR Weaver. £225 £140 £115 £108 FW Walton. £200×2 £144 £123 W.K M.M Lamb. £180 J Wigham. £178 W Denham. £170 £154 £117 Winsbury Farm Partnership. £170 £146 £140×2 £138 AC Simpson & Son. £150 £140×2 J Layfield. £149×2 £130 M&A Gaskin. £145 JC Simpson. £129 £120 RI Jones. £128 £123 JC&A Hutchinson. £123.50 L&S Barker. £120×2 PJ Tindale.
All at DfAM would like to sincerely wish everyone a very Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year.
