Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of prime stock on Thursday 12th October 2023. Forward were 201 cattle, 2450 sheep and 8 pigs.
98 Prime Bulls sold to 319ppk or £2502
12 Prime Steers sold to 307ppk or £1944
91 Prime Heifers sold to 364ppk or £2166
2153 Prime Lambs sold to 334ppk or £164
297 Cast Ewes & Rams sold to £166
8 Prime Pigs sold to 185ppk or £168
Prime Bulls (99) – The sharp bull trade bounds along nicely, today an excellent nineteen sold over 300 pence per kilo and some thirty-seven over £2000 helping the averages to an excellent 274ppk and £1888 per head. Some magic from Marrick led the prices per kilo when a superb 659kg Limousin from Neil White, Barf House sold for 319 pence; excellent bulls from K & A Harker, Worsall and A C Simpson & Son, Witton-le-Wear followed closely behind at 317ppk. After two weeks at the top of the gross value list for J A Matten & Sons, Thirsk they had to yield that position today to the aforementioned A C Simpson & Son; despite a best of £2436 from the Matten pen they were twice beaten by the Simpson’s home bred Limousin’s which peaked at £2502. Plenty of first crosses but again not so many pure dairy bred bulls this week, pick of the Holstein Friesian’s again came from G W Dobson & Son, Wingate at 224ppk and £1482. Below are some of the top pen averages.
A C Simpson & Son, Witton-le-Wear sold 4 to average 307ppk and £2438
J A Matten & Sons, Thirsk sold 3 to average 300ppk and £2377
M & G Chantrell Ltd, Leicester sold 15 to average 299ppk and £1776
J E Jordon & Son, Morpeth sold 4 to average 294ppk and £2264
A & D Proctor, Morpeth sold 3 to average 294ppk and £1939
L S Staley, Marwood sold 2 to average 290ppk and £2242
Prime Bulls Leading PPK – 319 290 N White. 317 K & A Harker. 317 316 299(x2) A C Simpson & Son. 312(x2) 308 307 305 302 297 296(x2) 295 293(x2) 292 291(x2) M & G Chantrell Ltd. 312 308 305 295 A G Watson & Sons. 310 J H & M & N W Brown. 307 295 293 J E Jordon & Son. 303 294 A & D Proctor. 300(x3) J A Matten & Son. 299 T W Clark & Son. 298 L S Staley. 294 L W Martin.
Native Bred Bulls Leading PPK – 254 G S Dowson. 239 R Hall & Son. 224 223 J A & A Herbert.
Friesian Bulls Leading PPK – 224 214 G W Dobson & Son. 207 J M & S Walton.
Prime Bulls Leading Gross – £2502 £2445 £2411 £2393 A C Simpson & Son. £2436 £2391 £2304 J A Matten & Son. £2428 East Newbiggin Farm. £2419 £2311 £2300 J E Jordon & Son. £2390 £2343 £2267 £2245 £2102 D Richardson & Co. £2303 £2205 £2141 £2138 A G Watson & Sons. £2270 £2215 L S Staley. £2251 T W Clark & Son. £2146 K & A Harker. £2140 J & K Woodward. £2105 C Harle & Sons. £2102 N White. £2097 £2092 J H & M & N W Brown. £2096 A & D Proctor.
Native Bred Bulls Leading Gross – £1632 R Hall & Son. £1474 £1386 J A & A Herbert. £1386 G S Dowson.
Friesian Bulls Leading Gross – £1482 £1476 G W Dobson & Son. £1227 J M & S Walton.
Clean Cattle (103) – Absolutely electric as the smoking hot trade surpassed even the stunning highs of last week, a miraculous twenty-eight cattle sold over 330ppk as the heifers levelled at 309ppk and a small and varied offering of steers 272ppk. Just the one heifer boarded the lorry South from Northumberland this morning, it transpired that the marauding Morpeth men only needed one as the absolute stunner from J E Jordon & Son, Longhirst Limousin’s weighing 547kg led the way when she sold for a brilliant 364 pence per kilo. Great heifers from J Layfield, Nackshivan (360ppk) and W & M Knaggs & Son, East Newbiggin (359ppk) came closest to the Longhirst superstar with tremendous runs from the regular Hirst’s and Hodgson’s also pressing hard. Plenty of heifers sold over £2000, the top three sailed beyond £2100 as J V & J A Hodgson collected third place whilst the Layfield pen scooped its second, second prize but it was the excellent run from Robin and Imogen Hirst, Neasham which claimed the win as they topped at £2166 with a 612kg Limousin. Top of the steers at 307ppk was a handy weighted Limousin from W J Smith & Partners, Richmond whilst the top gross value went to M Robinson & Sons, Staindrop at £1944. Some wonderful heifer returns are listed below as the top seven vendors all climbed over a 320ppk average.
W & M Knaggs, Sadberge sold 2 to average 337ppk and £1931
R Hirst, Neasham sold 15 to average 333ppk and £1898
J Layfield, Willington sold 6 to average 327ppk and £1973
P J & E S Rogerson, Appleby sold 4 to average 325ppk and £1868
J V & J A Hodgson, Summerhouse sold 12 to average 324ppk and £1930
M & G Chantrell Ltd, Leicester sold 7 to average 323ppk and £1652
S Luck & Sons, Bowes sold 3 to average 321ppk and £1769
Steers- Top Prices ppk 307 305 285 WJ Smith & Partners. 300 M Robinson & Sons. 292 279 274 234 A&MJ Henshaw. 258 251 250 240 Jack Henshaw.
Lead Grossing Steers- £1944 M Robinson & Sons. £1762 £1706 £1641 WJ Smith & Partners. £1641 £1640 £1509 £1336 A&MJ Henshaw. £1593 £1511 £1433 £1367 Jack Henshaw.
Heifers- Top Prices ppk 364 JE Jordon & Son. 360 340 338 319 310 303 J Layfield. 359 318 W&M Knaggs & Son. 356 354 x2 349 348 346 338 336 334 x2 333 326 320 317 R Hirst. 356 349 343 337 328 325 319 314 310 JV&JA Hodgson. 352 313 300 S Luck & Son. 347 325 320 311 PJ&ES Rogerson. 339 336 x2 328 320 319 M&G Chantrell LTD. 337 329 314 RW Sowerby & Sons. 333 315 310 P&N Tattersall. 318 317 313 310 309 WF Hustwit. 317 M Robinson & Sons. 314 WJ Smith & Partners. 310 TN Callender. 303 A&MJ Henshaw.
Lead Grossing Heifers- £2166 £2077 £2038 £1996 £1993 £1975 £1973 £1927 £1918 £1863 £1815 £1806 £1747 R Hirst. £2156 £2045 £2041 £1888 £1869 £1839 J Layfield. £2128 £2055 £2036 £1968 £1937 £1933 £1929 £1917 £1849 £1840 £1792 £1781 JV&JA Hodgson. £2059 £1980 £1771 £1767 RW Sowerby & Sons. £1998 £1924 £1816 £1734 PJ&ES Rogerson. £1991 JE Jordon & Son. £1964 £1740 S Luck & Son. £1960 £1873 £1797 £1794 £1746 A&MJ Henshaw. £1949 £1913 W&M Knaggs & Son. £1919 TN Callender. £1841 J Richmond. £1831 P&N Tattersall. £1800 £1764 £1758 £1752 £1749 £1746 WF Hustwit. £1752 WJ Smith & Partners. £1749 M Robinson & Sons.
Prime Lambs (2153) – With the mornings beef on a high the lambs kept their side of the bargain as they too took a lift on the week; as always, weighed straight today’s sale averaged 258 pence per kilo. Despite the price rise be under no illusion, the buyers continue to spot a well-fed lamb from a mile away and the lean meat is nobody’s treat, the serious coin lies firmly in the loin. A trio of excellent Beltex lambs from Mike Hird, Thorney Close Farm topped today’s sale weighing 49kg and selling for 334 pence (£164). Excellent efforts also came from Nottinghamshire’s G W Whittington with 48kg Beltex at 333ppk (£160) and regular toppers M & A Gaskin’s Aberfield cross Beltex at 49kg 328ppk. A thumping quartet of 54kg Texel’s from J P Coatsworth & Son, Hamsterley also joined the £160 club as copious amounts of the better fed and better-bred sheep sold top side of £140 on the day. The glorious Gaskin pen topped the averages with fifty lambs levelling over £146 with Northumberland’s K J & S S Bell next best averaging over £140.
Lambs- Top Prices ppk 334 295 J Hird. 333 280 GW Whittington Livestock. 328 295 283 x2 282 275 x2 M&A Gaskin. 320 307 292 CH Tindale. 311 AWSM Farms. 310 308 300 WKMM Lamb. 310 275 273 C Wise. 306 J Milbank & Sons. 304 J&P Armstrong. 300 298 295 285 281 278 KJ&SS Bell. 300 276 W Denham. 296 JP Coatsworth & Son. 293 284 MW&M Skidmore. 291 A&EJ Dobinson. 286 JA&A Herbert. 285 C&N Waters. 285 TW Clark & Son. 284 280 J Norman. 284 283 W&M Knaggs & Son. 283 282 I Burn & Sons. 282 P Tindale. 276 x3 RG&G Rutter. 275 O Chapman. 273 WE Frank & Son.
Lead Grossing Lambs- £164 £142 J Hird. £161 £158 £150 x3 £149 £145 £140.50 M&A Gaskin. £160 £132 JP Coatsworth & Son. £160 £132 GW Whittington Livestock. £158 £134 TW Clark & Son. £150 £149 x2 £140 £139 £131 KJ&SS Bell. £150 £144 O Chapman. £150 £141 W Denham. £148 x2 £135 £130.50 WKMM Lamb. £147 J Milbank & Sons. £143 A&EJ Dobinson. £142 £138 F Watson. £140 £130 AWSM Farms. £138 CH Tindale. £137.50 £136.50 J Norman. £136 I Burn & Sons. £134 WE Frank & Son. £133 x2 MW Barker & Son. £131 £129 N Edmondson. £130.50 C Wise. £130 B Staley. £130 JA&A Herbert. £129 A&EJ Dobinson. £129 MW&M Skidmore.
Cast Ewes & Rams (297) – Trade very similar as the good continental ewes remain the easiest sold, a plainer bottom end pulled the average down to £82 however in real terms little changed in the ewe trade. Top price of £166 apiece went to a pair of pure Texel ewes from B Needham, Woolhouse Farm, Marwood with the same good home producing a further half dozen at £150. Fit Mule ewes typically £80 to £90 whilst the tups topped at £134 for a Blue Face Leicester cross from P Cockburn, Heighington.
Lead Grossing Cast Sheep- £166 £150 £110 B Needham. £140 £130 £110 Bridge House Farm. £140 £130 £106 Emma Moorcock. £136 £116 KJ&SS Bell. £134 £129 £120 x2 £114 £110 £107 RA&J Blyth. £130 £113 W Denham. £125 R Errington & Son. £114 £90 J Waters. £112 B Willis. £110 x2 A&EJ Dobinson. £110 JA&A Herbert. £106 M Gray. £104 £92 P Tindale. £100 TW Clark & Son. £100 D Chapman. £98 M Smith. £85 GP&A Carter. £84 R Herbert. £84 D Coupland.
Prime Pigs (8) – Pork just a shade easier around and about, still massively better than this stage last year. The best way to prevent another pig trade collapse would certainly be to treat yourself to a sausage roll at our 600+ lot collective sale this Saturday. If you don’t manage to source a sausage roll you might be lucky and buy a tractor instead. Sale starts 9.30am.
Leading PPK – 185 160 150 110 C Weightman.
Leading Gross – £168 £145 £131 £105 C Weightman.
