Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of prime stock on Thursday 20th July 2023. Forward were 133 Cattle, 2651 Sheep and 13 Pigs.
65 Prime Bulls sold to 299ppk or £2461
15 Prime Steers sold to 315ppk or £2022
53 Prime Heifers sold 348ppk or £2091
2143 New Season Lambs sold to 336ppk or £161
508 Cast Ewes & Rams sold to £210
13 Prime Pigs sold to 170ppk or £136
Prime Bulls (65) – Best bull trade appearing easier again however the black and whites if anything dearer on the week, all in the sale averaged 256ppk and £1744. Top price per kilo of 299 pence went to a superb 673kg Limousin bull from Messrs Hird of Meadow View; five other bulls from four different vendors also sold over 290ppk. The top thirteen bulls sold beyond £2000, best of all at £2461 proved to be a tremendous 19-month-old 846kg British Blonde from P Weightman & Sons, Hallfield Farm, a thumping Limousin from W & M Knaggs & Son, East Newbiggin was the best of the rest at £2350. As mentioned, the Friesians found homes with the greatest ease, best of all were the remarkable R Hall & Son, Kilton Hall topping at 236ppk and £1463. Below as always are some of the days top pen averages.
GK, KN & GJ Hird, Whashton sold 3 to average 285ppk and £1900
A G Watson & Sons, Rushyford sold 5 to average 284ppk and £2076
L R Welsh & Co, Spennymoor sold 4 to average 283ppk and £1964
F W Hodgson & Son, Staindrop sold 2 to average 278ppk and £1961
W J & A S Bowes & Sons, Stainton sold 2 to average 277ppk and £2054
W & M Knaggs & Son, Sadberge sold 4 to average 275ppk and £1962
Continental Bulls – Top prices ppk 299 286 272 GK KN & GJ Hird. 296 295 281 278 277 AG Watson & Sons. 294 288×2 264 LR Welsh & Co. 291 P Weightman & Sons. 291 289 286 250 W&M Knaggs & Son. 286 270 FW Hodgson & Son. 281 275 270 S&J Dent & Son. 278 276 WJ&AS Bowes & Sons. 275 263 258 LW Martin. 273 257 DH Lawson. 271 JJ Horn. 269 260 256 GS Dowson. 264 JJ Kemp & Son. 263 256 JK&CE Farming.
Lead Grossing Bulls £2461 P Weightman & Sons. £2350 £1967 £1895 W&M Knaggs & Son. £2191 £2151 £2121 £2051 AG Watson & Sons. £2101 £1875 £1862 LW Martin. £2090 £1833 FW Hodgson & Son. £2076 £2031 WJ&AS Bowes & Sons. £2047 £2001 £1916 £1890 LR Welsh & Co. £2012 £1933 £1754 GK KN & GJ Hird. £1991 Rigel Pedigree. £1965 £1804 £1790 DH Lawson. £1959 £1914 JK&CE Farming. £1956 £1833 £1687 JJ Kemp & Son.
Friesian Bulls – Top prices ppk 236 233 226 R Hall & Son. 218 214×3 206 C&M Atkinson & Sons.
Lead Grossing Friesian Bulls £1463 £1460 £1444 R Hall & Son. £1416 £1362 £1358 £1326 £1285 C&M Atkinson & Sons.
Native Bulls – Top prices ppk 245 239 236 235 229×2 223 SN Bird & Sons.
Lead Grossing Native Bulls £1545 £1449 £1447 £1374 £1337 £1328 £1290 SN Bird & Sons.
Clean Cattle (68) – In contrast to the free-falling deadweight dictators grid a light show of clean cattle met with a brilliant trade this week, steers averaged 274ppk and a hot heifer trade saw them level at 295ppk. Top of the table this week was a wonderful 579kg Limousin from J V & J A Hodgson, The Grange when she sold for an excellent 348 pence per kilo, the Askwiths of Crook finished closest at 346ppk on a day which saw over half the clean beast the top side of 300 pence. Topping the steers twice at 315ppk were the homebred Limousin’s of W J Smith & Partners, Belle Isle, this pair look well out in front as any remaining steers were either dairy bred or heavy weights. The top five heifers all sold over £2000, the pick of them at £2091 was a handsome 617kg Limousin from W Swinbank & Sons, Caldwell. Five of the top six gross valued steers came from Hexhamshire’s R A & B A Ridley & Son, the best of this pen a cracking 738kg Limousin reached £2022. Below are some of today’s top returns.
Heifers
W Swinbank & Sons, Caldwell sold 4 to average 326ppk and £1902
Askwiths, Crook sold 2 to average 326ppk and £1813
J H Brown, Darlington sold 4 to average 315ppk and £1793
R Hirst, Neasham sold 9 to average 313ppk and £1727
Steers
W J Smith & Ptnrs, Richmond sold 4 to average 304ppk and £1727
Askwiths, Crook sold 2 to average 288ppk and £1930
R A & B A Ridley & Son, Hexham sold 6 to average 265ppk and £1943
Prime Lambs (2143) – The biggest show of the season so far, trade easier on the week however heavyweights remain in high demand, leaner grass-fed lambs proved much harder to place. Weighed straight today’s sale averaged 266ppk and £112 per head which is remarkably similar to the corresponding week last year. Top price per kilo went to the excellent Beltex crossed lambs of W K M M Lamb, Doe Park reaching 336 pence, P J Tindale, Preston Tilery and Caldwell’s J C Simpson completed the top three per kilo. Top gross value went to the first draw this year from Ponteland based P J & M P Gilhespy at £161 with J R & J Crowe, Bishops Close and D & P H Brown, Cordilleras Farm in hot pursuit. Heavy Mule lambs sold to £135 whilst Cheviots reached £116.50 and a run of forty grass-fed handy weight Easycares all sold beyond £100.
Lambs – Top prices ppk 336 315 295 W.K M.M Lamb. 322 317 297 PJ Tindale. 317 312 300 JC Simpson. 315 S&S Davies. 307 286 282 HT Davies & Partners. 304 290×2 288 F&JS Gargett. 304 G Carins & Partners. 304 J&P Armstrong. 304 286 282 D&PH Brown. 302 287 PJ&MP Gilhespy. 300 J&A Herbert. 300 292 GC&JC Pullan. 300 MW&M Skidmore. 300 DR Smith. 297 M&A Gaskin. 295 MJ Blacklidge. 295 292 Wytherstone Farm. 295 289 W&M Knaggs & Son. 294 D&JA Teasdale. 293 291 J Hird.
Lead Grossing Lambs £161 £144 PJ&MP Gilhespy. £153 JR&J Crowe. £149×2 £130 D&PH Brown. £148 £139 W.K M.M Lamb. £144 PD Shepherd Farm. £144 T Duckitt. £143 M&A Gaskin. £141 £139.50 £137.50 £135 GC&JC Pullan. £141 £137 J Hird. £140 £130 J&P Armstrong. £140 £135 M Hutchinson. £140 JA&A Herbert. £140 £137 £133 £129 G Carins & Partners. £140 £138 £137 DR Smith. £139 Wytherstone Farm. £139 £137 £132.50 F&JS Gargett. £136 MJ Blacklidge. £136 Anna Herbert. £135×2 £130 JA Gilson Agriculture.
Cast Ewes & Rams (508) – Heavy ewes and fleshy ewes are good to sell, the leaner meat looked harder to place. Superb Texel’s from F & A L Lyth, Whitby claimed the top spot when their excellent run peaked at £210. Biggest Mule ewes sold frequently beyond £100 whilst the best horned ewes sold over £80.
Lead Grossing Cast Sheep – £210 £160 £150 £147 F&AL Lyth. £170 £123 PJ&MP Gilhespy. £170 £130 £126 £120 £115 CA&JG Skidmore. £150 £119 RA&J Blyth. £150 x2 £127 x2 £125 x2 £110 TN Callender. £150 £115 T Lawson & Son. £140 £136 D Chapman. £140 £130 K Tallentire. £135 £110 x2 JM&S Walton. £130 £112 OS Laws. £130 £114 C Moralee & Sons. £129 J Bolton. £120 PD Shepherd. £120 JW&DW Laing. £120 £112 JA&A Herbert. £120 JC Johnson. £120 £118 £114 Wytherstone Farm. £120 RA Patterson & Son. £120 £114 East Mellwaters Farm. £117 J&B Stanwix & Son. £117 JJ&CA Welford. £116 D Alderson. £115 RG Richardson. £115 TT Hall & Son. £114 J Pallister & Sons. £112 P Kirk. £112 Rose A Farms LTD.
Prime Pigs (13) – So infamous is our pig report nowadays that word has incredibly spread as far North as Corbridge. Amazingly, even the marvellous osteopath who successfully treated my good ladies back this week was familiar with Darlington’s ongoing charge for world pig domination; our expanding pork fan base widens.
Pigs – Top prices ppk 170 145 J Mitchell & Son.
Lead Grossing Pigs £136 £117 J Mitchell & Son.
