Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of prime stock on Thursday 4th June 2026. Forward were 302 cattle and 1311 sheep.
70 Prime Bulls sold to 404ppk or £3457
86 Prime Steers sold to 415ppk or £2928
144 Prime Heifers sold to 449ppk or £2928
2 Cast Cows sold to 254ppk or £1861
909 New Season Lambs sold to 585ppk or £275
291 Prime Hoggs sold to 490ppk or £258
111 Cast Ewes/Rams sold to £261
Prime Bulls (70) – A plainer show with the vast majority dairy bred or first crossed, the R grade bulls look arguably sharper on the week however trade was back for the few suckler bred bulls on offer. Out on his own in the pence per kilo race was an excellent 773kg Charolais from WA Wardman Ltd, Thrushwood Farm when he sold for 404ppk, him aside the tidier types sold typically in and around the 370’s. Top of the bulls in the lump were a hefty pair of British Blondes from JJ Horn, Bushy Park, the strong duo both over 900kg sold for £3457 and £3400. As mentioned, a whole host of first dairy crosses this week, trade typically 320ppk to 350ppk for these whilst the pick of the native bred cattle hailed from over the border topping from Stephen Allardyce, Tarland with Beef Shorthorn’s to £2530 and Aberdeen Angus to 350ppk.
Bulls- Lead Grossing Top Averages
JJ Horn sold 2 (909kg) Average £3428
PI Harker sold 2 (874kg) Average £3208
LS Staley sold 2(735kg) Average £2767
Bulls- PPK Top Averages
JJ Horn sold 2 (909kg) Average 377ppk
LS Staley sold 2 (735kg) Average 376ppk
Cole Hill Farm Ltd sold 3 (683kg) Average 374ppk
Continental Bulls – Top prices ppk 404 353 350 346 WA Wardman Ltd. 382 378 364 Cole Hill Farm Ltd. 379 JC Johnson. 378 375 LS Staley. 377×2 JJ Horn. 375 JM&S Walton. 372 350 J Gracey. 371 341 GH Farms Ltd. 370 344 JJ Kemp & Son. 369 365 PI Harker. 360 342 SH Watson & Son. 350 S Allardyce. 342 JR Knox & Son. 341 Williamson. 340 JA&A Herbert.
Lead Grossing Continental Bulls £3457 £3400 JJ Horn. £3317 £3099 PI Harker. £3288 £2996 £2522 J Gracey. £3122 £2601 £2560 WA Wardman Ltd. £2778 £2755 LS Staley. £2778 JC Johnson. £2722 JM&S Walton. £2718 £2602 SH Watson & Son. £2682 GH Farms Ltd. £2662 £2611 Cole Hill Farm Ltd. £2634 £2545 DP Wood. £2629 £2526 JR Knox & Son. £2514 W&M Knaggs & Son.
Native Bulls – Top prices ppk 350 343 342 336 S Allardyce. 326 GC Dowson. 325 JK&CE Farming. 325 324 312 J Armstrong. 315 WM Allison & Son Ltd. 282 W&R Kemp & Son.
Lead Grossing Native Bulls £2530 £2499 £2304 £2243 S Allardyce. £2489 JK&CE Farming. £2413 W&R Kemp & Son. £2334 WM Allison & Son Ltd. £2261 £2205 £2128 J Armstrong. £1998 GS Dowson.
Friesian Bulls – Top prices ppk 301 Williamson. 282 280 268 HM&JS Hutchinson. 277 GS Dowson.
Lead Grossing Friesian Bulls £1864 £1807 £1634 HM&JS Hutchinson. £1642 GS Dowson. £1637 Williamson.
Clean Cattle (230) – A huge offering ladened with weight this week, the honest appraisal would be that most types look down 10 pence per kilo with some of the super heavies probably back 15ppk. Still sixty-five cattle sold beyond 400 pence per kilo and twenty-three between £2700 and £3000; all included the heifers averaged 382ppk and £2301 whilst the steers levelled at 357ppk and £2561. Five heifers reached the 440’s and five more followed in the 430’s; top of the pack at 449ppk was a sweet 562kg Limousin heifer from W Miller, High Aketon which sold to H Taylor & Sons Butchers, Darlington. Two followed at 442ppk as another High Aketon high flyer was joined by a smart sort from R Hirst, Neasham Grange whilst the next two at 440ppk hailed again from W Miller and also from W Swinbank & Sons, Greystones. Topping the steers per kilo at 415 pence was an excellent 717kg Limousin from J Dixon & Sons, Lesson Hall, just a penny adrift was a smart 668kg sort from the Askwiths of Low Mown Meadows. Top of the gross values at £2975 was the above mentioned 717kg superstar from the Wigton based J Dixon & Sons, Lesson Hall; next in line at £2966 was the pick of a strong Scottish contingent when E Buchan, Glenisla sold a terrific 753kg British Blue. Top of the heifers in the lump was a superb homebred 709kg Limousin from WJ Scott Ltd, Low Leam Farm at £2928, she was followed by another cracker from Lesson Hall, a second from the team at Low Leam and then a trio of North Yorkshire raiders J Brown, Hood Grange, CR Horner, Kilburn and TJ Dennis, Howgrave Lodge.
Clean Cattle- Lead Grossing Top Averages
J Dixon & Sons Ltd sold 3 (730kg) Average £2855
J Gracey sold 2 (833kg) Average £2753
WJ Scott Ltd sold 9 (677kg) Average £2646
C Addison & Co sold 2 (835kg) Average £2640
Clean Cattle- PPK Top Prices
W Miller sold 8 (553kg) Average 433ppk
R Hirst sold 10 (567kg) Average 420ppk
Cole Hill Farm Ltd sold 2 (549kg) Average 416ppk
Askwiths sold 4 (614kg) Average 410ppk
Steers – Top prices ppk 415 402 J Dixon & Sons Ltd. 414 388 Askwiths. 403 399 WJ Scott Ltd. 402 382 381 371 WO Grix & Partners. 401 NE Dyson. 400×2 394 370 365 364 E Buchan. 398 388 RE Miller. 390 380 Messrs Miller, Allerby Hall. 383 375 JD Forsyth & Son. 378 DR&RL Burns. 377 374 CR Horner. 371 W Swinbank & Sons. 365 I Marshall & Sons.
Lead Grossing Steers £2975 £2737 J Dixon & Sons Ltd. £2966 £2812 £2700 £2668 £2609 E Buchan. £2858 £2732 Messrs Miller, Allerby Hall. £2847 £2780 £2689 £2670 Messrs DA Harrison. £2844 £2765 Askwiths. £2793 £2740 £2704 WJ Scott Ltd. £2781 £2626 RE Miller. £2781 £2725 J Gracey. £2750 TJ Dennis. £2729 C Addison & Co. 371 RO Grix & Partners. 371 W Swinbank & Sons.
Heifers – Top prices ppk 449 442 440 434 431 430 422 W Miller. 442 439 428×2 420 418 R Hirst. 440 W Swinbank & Sons. 434 Cole Hill Farm Ltd. 431 429 428 415 JV&JA Hodgson. 428 422 Askwiths. 428 I Marshall & Sons. 420 413 WJ Scott Ltd. 419 411 Taylor Bros. 418 410 JJ Kemp & Son. 418 AJ Marr & Son. 416 J Layfield. 416 411 410 WO Grix & Partners. 411 Messrs Miller, Allerby Hall. 410×2 JE Suddes & Son. 410 JC Thwaite & Son.
Lead Grossing Heifers £2928 £2797 £2658 £2533 WJ Scott Ltd. £2854 J Dixon & Sons Ltd. £2732 J Brown. £2695 £2612 CR Horner. £2688 TJ Dennis. £2677 JE Suddes & son. £2672 NE Dyson. £2603 £2533 I Marshall & Sons. £2568 R Hirst. £2550 WO Grix & Partners. £2542 CS Robinson. £2537 TW Clark & Son. £2525 W Swinbank & Sons. £2523 £2497 W Miller. £2523 RE Miller. £2513 JV&JA Hodgson. £2512 J Layfield.
Prime Lambs (909) – The spring lamb juggernaut continues at an impressive rate, trade and numbers forward both significantly up on the year to average a weighed straight 489ppk and an excellent £218.60. Top per kilo at an impressive 585 pence were six 42kg continental lambs from the good weekly run of JC Simpson, Hill Top East; the Hill Top heroics continued with six more at 569ppk and another six at 564ppk joined a trio from DK Barker, Little Ketton. One hundred lambs sold at £250 or more as the heavy weights really are in impeccable form, first time vendor SC Brown, Moorhouse Farm, Thirsk set the bar highest with a thumping 60kg lamb at £275. Three Suffolk’s weighing 56kg from PJ Tindale, Preston Tilery came next at £270 just ahead of six more Suffolk’s (also 56kg) from WA Armstrong, Coxhoe which checked in at £269. All classes look in high demand, plenty of lambs out of Mules included and still only one third of the show didn’t reach £200. Amazingly just fourteen of the nine-hundred sold today failed to reach £180, this week last year only twenty-one lambs reached that figure!
Spring Lambs- Lead Grossing Top Averages
SC Brown sold 24 (50kg) Average £251
R Atkinson sold 106 (47kg) Average £245
WR Thompson sold 11 (47kg) Average £242
PJ Tindale sold 69 (48kg) Average £238
Spring Lambs- PPK Top Averages
JC Simpson sold 56 (43kg) Average 542ppk
DK Barker sold 10 (40kg) Average 524ppk
R Atkinson sold 106 (47kg) Average 519ppk
WR Thompson sold 11 (47kg) Average 510ppk
Lambs – Top prices ppk 585 569 564 535 534×3 JC Simpson. 564 555 DK Barker. 561 539 527 517 Cole Hill Farm Ltd. 545 AWSM Farms. 542 JR Knox & Son. 533 519 I&A Holmes. 532 522 GF Whitfield. 531 520 511 W&M Knaggs & Son. 531 521 WR Thompson. 530 508 JE&E Dobson. 529 527 525 518 513 510×2 R Atkinson. 529 518 511 PJ Tindale. 526 R Lawson & Son. 521 WA Armstrong. 517 B&L Robson. 514 Askwiths,
Lead Grossing Lambs £275 £260×2 £250 SC Brown. £270 £263 £254 £249×2 PJ Tindale. £269 £266 £265 £260 WA Armstrong. £266 GF Whitfield. £266 WR Thompson. £264 £259 £253 £238 £232 Cole Hill Farm Ltd. £258 R Lawson & Son. £254 £246 £245 JC Simpson. £254 £244 £240 I&A Holmes. £254 £252 £249×2 £248 R Atkinson. £250 DK Barker. £245 J&B Stanwix & Son. £244 JR Knox & Son. £244 £236 JE&E Dobson. £243 R Lawson & Son.
Prime Hoggs (291) – Tick tock goes the hogg clock but its certainly not slowing down, this week the offering averaged a gravity defying 431ppk and £230.40 per head. Top per kilo at 490 pence were a smart pen of thirty-four clipped 50kg Texels from R Atkinson, High Greenbury Farm. Top of the gross values at £258 were a super pair of 70kg Texel hoggs from PJ Tindale, Preston Tilery before an onslaught from High Greenbury with a remarkable one-hundred and thirty-seven hoggs selling between £240 and £245.
Hoggs – Top prices ppk 490 489 480 476 469 456 454 450 R Atkinson. 437 415 407 344 322 S Love. 400 368 PJ Tindale. 398 334 328 G Bolton. 335 TW Dinning. 300 A Newton. 298 270 PM Hill. 294 JR Knox & Son. 291 261 J Layfield. 284 RA Patterson & Son. 277 G Te-Lintelo. 229 D Chapman.
Lead Grossing Hoggs £258 £220 PJ Tindale. £245 £242 £241 £240×2 £239 £238 £230 R Atkinson. £236 £224 £220 £200×2 S Love. £220 £199 £194 G Bolton. £204×2 J Layfield. £200×2 PM Hill. £200 G Te-Lintelo. £180 A Newton. £178 TW Dinning. £168 RA Patterson & Son. £150 JR Knox & Son. £140 D Chapman.
Cast Ewes/Rams (111) – Ewes dearer on the week to average a marvellous £183.89. Top of the day at £261 was a smart Beltex ewe from Askwiths, Crook. Good continental ewes sold regularly £200 to £250. Suffolks sold to £238 from JR & J Crowe, Tups topped at £223 from Charlotte Newton whilst Mule ewes hit a peak of £190 from WR Thompson, Sloshes Farm.
Lead Grossing Cast Sheep £261 £202 £174 £140 Askwiths. £248 £204 W Hanson. £242 £205 £201 £198 £196 TW Dinning. £240 £238 £200 JC Simpson. £238 £220 JR&J Crowe. £226 £220 Anna Herbert. £223 C Newton. £220 PR&V Barlow & Son. £218 WR Thompson. £213 M Radford. £205 £200 B Armstrong. £205 WA Armstrong. £200 £198 I&A Holmes. £199 AWSM Farms.
