Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of prime stock on Thursday 8th January 2026. Forward were 188 cattle and 1475 sheep.
59 Prime Bulls sold to 449ppk or £3977
25 Prime steers sold to 459ppk or £3699
101 Prime Heifers sold to 502ppk or £3538
3 OTM sold to 449ppk or £3050
1360 Prime Hoggs sold to 400ppk or £182
115 Cast Ewes/Rams sold to £230
Prime Bulls (59) – The blistering bulls averaged a magnificent 397ppk and £2897 per head. Credit to the vendors as a good show assembled, trade every bit as good as anything witnessed anywhere in recent months. The top four found their way to 440ppk or more, thirteen fine fellows followed over 430ppk. Pick per kilo on the day was an excellent 737kg Limousin from AS & SM Kemp & Son, Heugh Hall; following at 448ppk were JB Luck & Son, Milestone House whilst both TW Clark & Son, Frankland Park and J Layfield, Nackshivan both knocking on the door in the 440’s. Ten bulls the top side of £3500, seventeen others between £3000 and £3500. A superstar set the pace, a thumping 1002kg Limousin from AC Simpson & Son, McNeil Farm sold for a marvellous £3977. Following at £3676 was another good sort from the consistent Kemp’s with Foxton Livestock, Abbey Farm and F & JS Gargett, Westwick Farm each in close attendance. Native bred bulls were topped this week by a hansome Hereford from W & R Kemp & Son, Wigdon Walls at 376ppk and an excellent Aberdeen Angus from R Hall & Son, Kilton Hall at £2717. Friesian bulls also enjoyed a sharper shot, tops went to HH Smith & Son, Woodhill House at 357ppk and to GW Dobson & Son, Wood Close at £2303. Some of the top averages are listed below followed by the day’s top prices.
AS & SM Kemp Ltd sold 7 averaged 433ppk & £3347
J Layfield sold 7 averaged 428ppk & £3251
Foxton Livestock sopld 2 averaged 424ppk and £3469
F & JS Gargett sold 3 averaged 421ppk and £3516
AC Simpson & Son sold 4 averaged 419ppk and £3670
TW Clark & Son sold 4 averaged 412ppk and £3117
Continental Bulls Per Kilo – 449 438 436 434 431 430 420 AS & SM Kemp & Son Ltd. 448 JB Luck & Son. 442 424 403 TW Clark & Son. 440 436(x3) 432 431 J Layfield. 436 433 398 F & JS Gargett. 431 427(x2) 397 AC Simpson & Son. 428 421 Foxton Livestock. 422 JE Jordon & Son. 420 BJ Haigh. 419 R Hall & Son. 416 JK & CE Farming. 403 JM Smith.
Native Bred Bulls Per Kilo – 376 W & R Kemp & Son. 370 BJ Haigh. 358 R Hall & Son.
Friesian Bulls Per Kilo – 357 327 320 319 H H Smith & Son. 316(x2) GW Dobson & Son.
Continental Bulls Gross Value – £3977 £3612 £3552 £3538 AC Simpson & Son. £3676 £3407 £3357 £3309 £3284 £3250 £3146 AS & SM Kemp & Son Ltd. £3667 £3271 Foxton Livestock. £3613 £3579 £3355 F & JS Gargett. £3603 JE Jordon & Son. £3518 £3479 £3400 £3387 £3088 £3049 J Layfield. £3377 R Hall & Son. £3222 £3133 £3127 TW Clark & Son.
Native Bred Bulls Gross Value – £2717 R Hall & Son. £2613 W & R Kemp & Son. £2497 BJ Haigh. £2171 WR Barron.
Friesian Bulls Gross Value – £2303 £2199 GW Dobson & Son. £1977 £1769 £1712 £1677 HH Smith & Son.
Clean Cattle (126) – The Darlington clean dream continues, trade absolutely excellent for all classes with a superb top end joined by a more commercial show of R grades further down the ranks, all weights and grades were in high demand; heifers levelled up a at a marvellous 437ppk and £2623 with the steers averaging 414ppk and £2759. The latest member of the 2026 DfAM 500 pence club is W Miller, High Aketon Farm, Wigton topping the prices per kilo today with an excellent 563kg Limousin heifer selling to H Taylor & Sons Butchers, Darlington for 502ppk. Half a dozen hot heifers following in the 490’s included four more from the motoring Miller and one apiece for R Hirst, Neasham Grange and TW Clark & Son, Frankland Farm. Top of the steers was a magnificent sort from a quality quartet shown by F & R Simpson, Square House Farm when he sold for 459 pence per kilo, tipping the scales to 806kg the brilliant Limousin also topped the gross values at a whopping £3699. Some marvellous gross values were found all through the sale, no less than nineteen sold over £3000. Highlights included a great 776kg Limousin heifer from P Langstaff, Dunn House Farm at £3538, two fleshy steers from TN Callender, Ox Eye Farm both over £3400, three more from Square House beyond £3400, another heifer from Dunn House at £3390 plus two excellent heifers from NE Dyson, Gebdykes Farm over £3300. All in all, a super day in the cattle ring, numbers handled with ease and more needed weekly; some sensational averages are listed below.
W Miller sold 15 averaged 473ppk
NE Dyson sold 3 averaged 470ppk
B Walker sold 2 averaged 460ppk
JV & JA Hodgson sold 12 averaged 458ppk
R Hirst sold 7 averaged 457ppk
TW Clark & Son sold 4 averaged 456ppk
F & R Simpson sold 4 averaged £3485
NE Dyson sold 3 averaged £3313
TN Callender sold 3 averaged £3192
P Langstaff sold 3 averaged £3158
TW Clark & Son sold 4 averaged £3017
Steers – Top prices ppk 459 450 443 442 F&R Simpson. 455 425 418 391 Askwiths. 444 432 TN Callender. 433 A Swinbank & Son. 428 418 Taylor Bros. 418 JR&B Anderson & Son. 415 409 392 JA Gilson. 397 JM Smith. 390 380 TF Bothroyd & Son. 388 376×2 W Lewis.
Lead Grossing Steers £3699 £3419 £3415 £3407 F&R Simpson. £3494 £3423 TN Callender. £3130 £2962 £2913 £2432 Askwiths. £2699 JM Smith. £2658 JR&B Anderson. £2619 A Swinbank & Son. £2610 £2469 £2437 JA Gilson. £2546 TF Bothroyd & Son. £2436 £2426 Taylor Bros. £2353 £2270 W Lewis & Sons.
Heifers – Top prices ppk 502 497 496 491 490 482 477 476 474 467 455 W Miller. 490 476 468 R Hirst. 490 480 TW Clark. 485 477 473×2 469 458×2 457 JV&JA Hodgson. 484 468 PJ&MP Gilhespy. 484 JR&B Anderson. 483 456 P Langstaff. 480 B Walker. 479 460 JE Suddes & Son. 478 WA Richardson Ltd. 478 477 457 NE Dyson. 468 467 Taylor Bros. 460 WO Grix & Partners. 454 JM Smith.
Lead Grossing Heifers £3538 £3390 P Langstaff. £3329 £3322 £3290 NE Dyson. £3206 £3015 £2968 £2904 JV&JA Hodgson. £3150 £2856 R Hirst. £3066 £3033 £3003 £2966 TW Clark & Son. £3037 JM Smith. £2949 £2733 WA Richardson Ltd. £2933 JR&B Anderson. £2894 £2716 B Walker. £2879 £2840 £2827 PJ&MP Gilhespy. £2826 £2823 £2817 £2733 £2728 W Miller. £2823 £2801 £2778 JE Suddes & Son.
Prime Hoggs (1360) – A lot of weight on offer and one or two firms switched off resulted in a steadier trade across the board, only one quarter of the hoggs offered weighed under 46kg. All in the weighed straight averages returned at £147.57 per head which equated to 306ppk with an SQQ of 320ppk. Top per kilo at 400 pence was a sweet 40kg Beltex hogg from WM Allison & Son, Quarry Works; following at 387ppk were eight 46kg hoggs from WA Wardman Ltd, Thrushwood Farm. Some super heavies led the gross values as MH Hodgson, East Greystones topped the sale with 64kg and 67kg at £182 followed by AC Simpson & Son, McNeil Farm at 78kg and £180.
Leading Averages
AC Simpson & Son sold 40 averaged £166.75
D & PH Brown sold 22 averaged £163.27
MH Hodgson sold 20 averaged £161.15
Hoggs – Top prices ppk 400 WM Allison & Son Ltd. 387 375 357 350 347 340 330×2 325 324 WA Wardman Ltd. 363 352 W.K M.M Lamb. 360 337×2 329 W Swinbank. 359 JM&S Walton. 352 350 344 DG&PD Ayre. 352 331 325 CK&D Muir Ltd. 337 332 327 Ainsty Farms Direct. 337 335 333 328 AW Dixon. 333×2 323 R Errington & Son. 333 J&A Layfield. 333 J&D Gibson. 329 328 326 AWSM Farms. 328 JA&A Herbert. 326 GP&A Carter.
Lead Grossing Hoggs £182×2 MH Hodgson. £180 £174 £171×2 £170×5 £165×3 £163×2 AC Simpson & Son. £178 £175 £166×2 £165×2 £164.50 WA Wardman Ltd. £175 £170×3 £165 D&PH Brown. £170 R Errington & Son. £166.50 G Thompson & Sons. £165 £160×2 JR Knox & Son. £165 W Denham. £164 J&A Layfield. £160 WM Allison & Son Ltd. £160 W.K M.M Lamb. £160×2 JK&CE Farming.
Cast Ewes/Rams (115) – The ewe trade rumbles along nicely to see them average £128.06. Topping twice at £230 were excellent pure Texel ewes from JP Floyd, Ugthorpe. Mule ewes topped at £140 from W Lewis & Sons, Kettleness and the breed averaged £118.28 whilst horned ewe trade was topped at £82 by J Milbank & Sons, Gayles Fields.
Lead Grossing Cast Sheep £230×2 £160 JP Floyd. £184 £130 F Shield. £182 £140 J&D Gibson. £180×2 £150 WR Thompson. £165 £150×3 Anna Herbert. £165 £120 JM&S Walton. £160 £140×2 W Denham. £150 £144 £120 W.K M.M Lamb. £150×2 JR&J Crowe. £144 RH Wilson & Son. £140 £130 W Lewis & Sons. £140 £130 J Milbank & Sons. £140×2 WA Wardman Ltd. £130 L&S Barker. £130 A&CA Stanwix.
