Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of prime stock on Thursday 11th December 2025. Forward were 175 cattle and 1539 sheep.
56 Prime Bulls sold to 433ppk or £3229
19 Prime Steers sold to 476ppk or £3137
100 Prime Heifers sold to 514ppk or £3475
1389 Prime Lambs sold to 468ppk or £220
150 Cast Ewes & Rams sold to £210
Prime Bulls (56) – All classes sharper, not so many heavy sorts offered this week, the sale averaged 369ppk and £2622. The top dozen sold over 400 pence per kilo, three of these made it to at least 430ppk; pick of the pack at 433ppk was an excellent 682kg Limousin from LR Welsh & Co, Green Lane Farm, following at 431ppk was a cracker from JB Luck & Son, Milestone House with the second string from Green Lane Farm next at 430ppk. Top of the gross values at £3229 was a fleshy 767kg Limousin from JJ Kemp & Son, Elstob Hill; second place on the gross value list went to D Richardson & Co, Bracken House at £3162 with TW Clark & Son, Frankland Farm third at £3156 and a further super seven checked in over £3000. Native breed success came for Scottish raiders P & E Roger, Aberdeen with Angus bulls to 354ppk and Whitby based GS Dowson with a handy run of Hereford’s topping at £2378 whereas the Friesian tops went to R Hall & Son, Kilton Hall today.
Bulls- Lead Grossing Top Averages
K&A Harker sold 2 (781kg) Average £3105
D Richardson & Co Ltd sold 4 (837kg) Average £3066
JB Luck & Son sold 2 (719kg) Average £3047
TW Clark & Son sold 3 (751kg) Average £3035
Bulls- PPK Top Averages
JB Luck & Son sold 2 (719kg) Average 423ppk
LR Welsh & Co sold 3 (698kg) Average 418ppk
JJ Kemp & Son sold 3 (727kg) Average 417ppk
TW Clark & Son sold 3 (751kg) Average 404ppk
Continental Bulls – Top prices ppk 433 430 395 LR Welsh & Co. 431 416 JB Luck & Son. 426 421 405 JJ Kemp & Son. 412 403 J Norman. 409 405 299 TW Clark & Son. 406 389 K&A Harker. 390 370 367 D Richardson & Co Ltd. 386 361 P&E Roger. 385 S Luck. 380 J Gracey. 374 368 366×2 JM&S Walton. 367 366 363 J&A Herbert. 366 J&L Shepherd
Lead Grossing Continental Bulls £3229 £2980 £2888 JJ Kemp & Son. £3162 £3130 £3112 £2860 D Richardson & Co Ltd. £3156 £3049 £2899 TW Clark & Son. £3134 £3076 K&A Harker. £3098 £2995 JB Luck & Son. £3037 £2967 £2685 P&E Roger. £2979 £2741 £2606 J&L Shepherd & Son. £2962 £2929 £2754 J Norman. £2953 £2941 £2883 LR Welsh & Co. £2880 £2704 JM&S Walton.
Friesian Bulls – Top prices ppk 322 R Hall & Son.
Lead Grossing Friesian Bulls £1938 R Hall & Son.
Native Bulls – Top prices ppk 354 324 P&E Roger. 348 344 340 334 GS Dowson.
Lead Grossing Native Bulls £2378 £2263 £2216 £2039 GS Dowson. £2180 £2164 P&E Roger.
Clean Cattle (119) – When the deadweight scrooges said “bah humbug this week” the magnificent live ring politely replied “tis the season to be jolly” and duly showed those on the hook highwaymen the famous Harvey Smith salute. Heifers today averaged a stupendous 442ppk and £2682 whilst the super steers levelled at 421ppk and £2712. Three tremendous heifers sold over 500ppk, nine followed between 480ppk and 499ppk on a day which saw the top twenty-two clean cattle sell over £3000, butchers and wholesalers alike went hard to fill their festive fridges. WM Fleming of Moss Tower, Kelso took pride of place under the mistletoe with a delightful 570kg Limousin heifer which sold for 514ppk, next to pull a cracker were WJ Scott Ltd, Low Leam, West Woodburn with a beautiful 597kg British Blonde at 510ppk with the flying Fleming pen then in business again at 508ppk. The team from Low Leam were surely happy driving home for Christmas back to Northumberland with the top steer per kilo under their belt, another brilliant British Blonde (611kg) sold for 476ppk. Some great gross values continued the awesome advent, none more so than for the Aberdeenshire outfit of Messrs WA Fettes, Braes of Enzie; their star on the top of the tree, a 799kg Limousin, reached £3475 and a baker’s dozen heifers, well worthy of an eggnog or two, from this great home sold to average an unbelievable £3247. Finding the greatest gift under the steer gross value tree were the local feeding family firm of TN Callender, Ox Eye Farm with a smart 756kg Limousin at £3137, just adrift was a shapely sort from the Askwith family of Crook at £3134.
Clean- Lead Grossing Top Averages
Messrs WA Fettes sold 13 (719kg) Average £3247
TN Callender sold 3 (715kg) Average £3035
J&L Shepherd & Son sold 3 (696kg) Average £2990
WJ Scott Ltd sold 7 (604kg) Average £2890
Clean- PPK Top Prices
JB Luck & Son sold 2 (580kg) Average 494ppk
WJ Scott Ltd sold 7 (604kg) Average 478ppk
WM Fleming sold 8 (605kg) Average 464ppk
Messrs WA Fettes sold 13 (719kg) Average 451ppk
Steers – Top prices ppk 476 WJ Scott Ltd. 455 427 370 361 W Bainbridge. 454 430 Taylor Bros. 449 420×2 Askwiths. 438 422 415 TN Callender. 434 GC&KJ White & Son. 425 400 DL&D Lovegreen. 420 A Swinbank & Son. 409 400 P&N Tattersall.
Lead Grossing Steers £3137 £3042 £2925 TN Callender. £3134 £3032 £2893 Askwiths. £2923 £2819 £2675 £2673 W Bainbridge. £2908 WJ Scott Ltd. £2646 £2511 Taylor Bros. £2507 £2392 DL&D Lovegreen. £2425 P&N Tattersall. £2419 A Swinbank & Son. £2391 GC&KJ White & Son.
Heifers – Top prices ppk 514 508 469 466 454 446 WM Fleming. 510 492 484 480 470 WJ Scott Ltd. 499 465 447 JE Suddes & Son. 494×2 JB Luck & Son. 488 471 460 459 451 R Hirst. 484 J&L Shepherd. 483 461 458 449 447 W Bainbridge. 479 477 466 459×2 458 452 450 Messrs WA Fettes. 476 470×2 N White. 468 NE Dyson. 465 455 F&JS Gargett. 448 Taylor Bros. 446 P&JH Davison.
Lead Grossing Heifers £3475 £3401 £3397 £3366 £3323 £3258 £3240 £3237 £3224 £3200 £3148 £3070 Messrs WA Fettes. £3204 £2970 £2797 J&L Shepherd & Son. £3164 £2929 £2879 £2847 £2743 WM Fleming. £3079 £3062 £3044 £2847 WJ Scott Ltd. £3019 £2985 £2884 NE Dyson. £2970 £2913 £2807 £2774 £2755 W Bainbridge. £2934 F&JS Gargett. £2923 £2864 £2831 JE Suddes & Son. £2904 £2830 JB Luck & Son.
Prime Lambs (1389) – A touch more life in the lambs to see the sale average £143.93 (+£5.82) with a whole sale average of 308ppk and an SQQ of 312ppk. Top of the day at £220 (468ppk) was a wonderful 47kg Beltex lamb from H Thompson, Sloshes Farm. Others impressing were the familiar heavy weights of AC Simpson & Son, McNeil Farm which hit a high of £200 and a lovely run of Beltex lambs from KP & M Lough, Redgate House Farm which produced 46kg to £187 (406ppk) and 45kg to £180 (400ppk).
Lambs- Lead Grossing Top Averages
AC Simpson & Son sold 40 (58kg) Average £172
JK&CE Farming sold 6 (54kg) Average £171
J Hird sold 22 (50kg) Average £163
K&PM Lough sold 31 (46kg) Average £160
JC Simpson sold 38 (50kg) £160
D & PH Brown sold 11 (51kg) £160
Lead Grossing Lambs- £220 £170 H Thompson. £200 £180 £179 £178 x2 £175 x2 £173 x2 £167 £162 £160 AC Simpson & Son. £187 £180 £161 £160 K & PM Lough. £174 £170 £163 JK&CE Farming. £172 £162 x2 £160 D&PH Brown. £170 £165 £164 J Hird. £170 £168 IR Appleton. £169 GP&A Carter. £169 WKMM Lamb. £169 £160 x2 JC Simpson. £169 x2 RE&L Frank. £169 JC&A Hutchinson. £169 £165 RH Wilson & Son. £168 I Marshall & Sons. £167 R Wood & Son. £167 LW Martin. £165 x2 W Denham. £163 M&A Gaskin. £162 x2 R Atkinson. £162 Anna Herbert. £160 CJM Hedley.
Lambs- Top Prices PPK 468 320 H Thompson. 406 400 363 322 K&PM Lough. 375 325 JA&B Nappey. 368 x2 347 344 337 R Atkinson. 360 357 355 351 x2 329 322 321 320 AWSM Farms. 357 333 A&PA Jopling. 357 W Denham. 347 D&AM Bayles. 334 James Gilson. 334 R Wood & Son. 333 C&V Harrison. 333 323 321 J Hird. 333 EA Hinton. 331 324 WKMM Lamb. 329 322 JE Lockey & Son. 325 322 William Tindale. 325 JC Simpson. 324 WM Allison & Son Ltd. 322 A Wilson. 321 M&A Gaskin. 321 320 IR Appleton.
Cast Ewes & Rams (150) – The ewe trade remains solid without setting the world alight to this week average £118.88. Top of the day at £210 was a strong Texel, rounding off a good day for H Thompson, Sloshes Farm. Other strong lowland ewes sold typically £160 to £200 whilst the Mule ewes averaged £109 as the biggest end traded £120 to £140. Cheviot ewes sold to a top of £130 whilst horned ewes peaked today at £80.
Lead Grossing Cast Sheep £210 £150 £120 H Thompson. £180 £130×3 W.K M.M Lamb. £172 £160 £129 JC Simpson. £170 £140 M Robson. £160 DL&D Lovegreen. £160 £140 £130 M&A Gaskin. £160 D&PH Brown. £150 M&J Dryden. £140 RH Wilson & Son. £130 I Marshall & Sons. £130 R Appleton. £130 BG Dale. £130 RD&D Elders. £130 £116×3 RH Thompson & Son.
