Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of prime stock on Thursday 16th November 2023. Forward were 162 cattle, 1733 sheep and 15 pigs.
65 Prime Bulls sold to 320ppk or £2630
18 Prime Steers sold to 327ppk or £1933
79 Prime Heifers sold to 352ppk or £2216
1329 Prime Lambs sold to 347ppk or £170
404 Cast Ewes & Rams sold to £205
15 Prime Pigs sold to 150ppk or £117
Prime Bulls (65) – A lighter show of numbers sold to a sharper trade, the averages of 256ppk and £1847 per head appear less on paper but a very varied offering with half a dozen OTM’s and a plethora of native breeds included are in real terms better on the week. The top ten bulls were all Limousin’s today and three times bidding reached a top of exactly 320 pence per kilo, twice from J A Matten & Sons, Avenue Grange and once from T W Clark & Son, Frankland Farm; seven other bulls broke the 300ppk barrier. Of the twenty-seven bulls selling over £2000 the marvellous Matten’s produced three of the top four including the top pair at £2544 and £2630; a super sort from regular selling D Richardson & Co, Bracken House at £2445 was responsible for preventing a Matten clean sweep. The on-song D Richardson & Co also produced the best of our native bred bulls with Aberdeen Angus selling to a top of 251ppk and £1987 whilst a plainer show of dairy breeds peaked at 218ppk and £1222 for a Fleckvieh from G S Dowson, Whitby. See below some of the day’s top pen averages.
J A Matten & Sons, Thirsk sold 3 to average 313ppk and £2519
J H & M & N W Brown, Darlington sold 4 to average 303ppk and £2174
N White, Marrick sold 3 to average 292ppk and £2092
T W Clark & Son, Durham sold 3 to average 290ppk and £2186
A G Watson & Sons, Rushyford sold 7 to average 285ppk and £2101
Continental Bulls – Top prices ppk 320 280 275 TW Clark & Son. 320×2 300 JA Matten & Sons. 317 309 303 288 JH&M&NW Brown. 310 290 278 N White. 310 303 293 286 274 270×2 AG Watson & Sons. 295 285 270×2 269 260 257 D Richardson & Co Ltd. 291 278 K&A Harker. 260 258 JK&CE Farming. 260 JE&B Morgan & Sons. 258 J&A&DA Horn.
Lead Grossing Continental Bulls £2630 £2544 £2385 JA Matten & Sons. £2445 £2268 £2243 £2174 £2125 £2115 £2080 D Richardson & Co Ltd. £2323 £2208 £2166 £1999 JH&M&NW Brown. £2272 £2262 £2024 TW Clark & Son. £2259 £2150 £2135 £2133 £2062 £2049 AG Watson & Sons. £2254 £2182 K&A Harker. £2179 £2114 £1984 N White. £2015 JK&CE Farming.
Native Bulls – Top prices ppk 251 250 D Richardson & Co Ltd. 234 220 JA&A Herbert. 206 196 R Hall & Son. 200 199 188 Clervaux Trust Ltd. 172 RJ Welford.
Lead Grossing Native Bulls £1987 £1952 D Richardson & Co Ltd. £1720 £1653 £1603 Clervaux Trust Ltd. £1716 RJ Welford. £1530 £1403 JA&A Herbert. £1170 £1149 R Hall & Sons.
Clean Cattle (97) – Dearer by a fair margin, a fine show of females resulted in an absolutely stunning heifer average of 315 pence per kilo whilst a mixed show of steers levelled at 271ppk. Amazingly only sixteen of the heifers failed to reach 300ppk, the top two sold in the 350’s with eleven hot on their heels in the 340’s. Pick of the bunch was a superb 572kg Limousin from H D Marks, Gilly Flatts Farm at 352ppk, her closest rival another Limousin, this one 580kg from D W Humphrey, Capon Hall Farm at 350ppk. The magnificent Marks cattle also topped the steers per kilo with a brilliant British Blue weighing 583kg and selling for 327 pence. The top dozen hot heifers all sold over £2000, even the magical Marks pen at £2153 had to admit defeat to the mighty Limousin’s of A C Simpson & Son, McNeil Farm with their best two clocking up to £2180 and £2216. The top two gross valued steers came from W R Thompson, Sloshes Farm with a tidy 716kg Limousin reaching £1933 and a 653kg Limousin at £1932. See below some stunning pen averages.
H D Marks, Bishopton sold 3 heifers to average 344ppk and £1964
J B Luck & Son, Bowes sold 3 heifers to average 343ppk and £1973
J Layfield, Willington sold 6 heifers to average 335ppk and £1903
D W Humphrey, Redcar sold 2 heifers to average 333ppk and £1893
R Hirst, Neasham sold 8 heifers to average 333ppk and £1781
A C Simpson & Son, Witton-le-Wear sold 4 heifers to average 328ppk and £2032
W Swinbank & Sons, Caldwell sold 8 heifers to average 325ppk and £1964
J V & J A Hodgson, Summerhouse sold 12 heifers to average 323ppk and £1877
W J Smith & Partners, Richmond sold 2 steers to average 313ppk and £1773
Steers- Top Prices ppk 327 HD Marks. 319 308 WJ Smith & Partners. 297 281 240 AJ Marr. 296 286 285 280 271 270 WR Thompson. 288 265 260 244 D Walker. 261 240 C&N Waters.
Lead Grossing Steers- £1933 £1932 £1861 £1853 £1785 £1784 WR Thompson. £1906 HD Marks. £1888 £1829 £1711 AJ Marr & Son. £1818 £1727 WJ Smith & Partners. £1710 £1612 £1552 £1527 D Walker. £1639 £1500 C&N Waters.
Heifers- Top Prices ppk 352 345 338 HD Marks. 350 316 DW Humphrey. 349 344 337 336 332 331 328 317 315 314 312 JV&JA Hodgson. 348 336 330 326 321 318 316 308 W Swinbank & Sons. 348 344 338 JB Luck & Son. 347 346 338 334 334 316 J Layfield. 344 336 319 318 AC Simpson & Son. 341 338 337 333 328 324 323 313 WA Armstrong. 340 339 x2 337 336 329 325 322 R Hirst. 337 WJ Smith & Partners. 333 332 317 N White. 325 310 308 WF Hustwit. 316 DH Lawson.
Lead Grossing Heifers- £2216 £2180 £2137 AC Simpson & Son. £2153 £2013 £1728 HD Marks. £2081 £1984 £1854 JB Luck & Son. £2057 £2029 £1978 £1971 £1966 £1961 £1933 £1815 W Swinbank & Sons. £2030 £1756 DW Humphrey. £2013 £2003 £1977 £1905 £1891 £1883 £1875 £1863 £1823 £1808 £1797 £1685 JV&JA Hodgson. £2000 £1963 £1960 £1925 £1882 £1690 J Layfield. £1955 £1874 £1862 £1776 £1762 £1746 £1691 R Hirst. £1949 £1920 £1891 £1713 WF Hustwit. £1919 £1850 £1827 £1811 £1805 £1768 £1689 WA Armstrong. £1853 WJ Smith & Partners. £1834 £1822 N White. £1810 £1727 DH Lawson.
Prime Lambs (1329) – Numbers short as trade easily maintained last week’s high levels despite a real shortage of the best quality lambs. The short supply of quality meant that the better end enjoyed a significant boost this week, mixed with the plain bottom end meant averages finished today more or less the same as last week at 268ppk with an SQQ of 270ppk. J C Simpson of Caldwell usually springs into life at spring lamb time but does save a few super sorts and duly made a rare November appearance today, tops for the Caldwell classics of 347ppk and £170 with a run of twenty-one averaging 48kg and an excellent £165. A fabulous quintet of Beltex crosses from longstanding customers S Thompson & Son, Town Farm, Stillington came closest to the Simpson run when selling to £166 whilst D R Smith, East Roughlea chipped in twice at £158. The East Roughlea lambs also featured highly on the pence per kilo list as did J J Horn, Bushy Park and M Moralee, Blackburn Farm.
Lambs – Top prices ppk 346×2 342 340 302 JC Simpson. 323 307 JJ Horn. 322 309 305 DR Smith. 319 M Moralee. 319 300 287 A Tindale. 315 K Raine. 312 305 289 AS&G Donaldson. 309 G Thompson & Sons. 307 S Thompson & Son. 306 F Myers & Sons. 304 HT Davies & Partners. 304 288 M&A Gaskin. 302 PJ&MP Gilhespy. 302 M Madrell. 302×2 290 TH Richardson & Son. 301 M Hutchinson. 300 297 294 Cole Hill Farm Ltd. 296 JD Seymour. 296 JC Thwaite & Son. 295 P Tindale. 293 J Gilson.
Lead Grossing lambs £170×2 £168 £160 £148 JC Simpson. £166 £146 S Thompson & Son. £158×2 £146.50 £145 DR Smith. £157 M Hutchinson. £156 £143 Cole Hill Farm Ltd. £153 F Myers & Sons. £152 £150 M&A Gaskin. £150 £147 M Moralee. £149×2 R Wood & Son. £149 D Whitcher. £148 C Moralee & Sons. £148 JD Seymour. £148 £139×2 JC Thwaite & Son. £147 DWT Davies. £146.50 M Madrell. £146×2 AC Simpson & Son. £145 PJ Tindale. £142 LW Martin. £141 A Tindale. £140 C Moralee & Sons.
Cast ewes & Rams (404) – Ewe trade somewhat firmer this week to average £86.71. Pick of the pack were a pair of super Texel ewes from W & M Knaggs & Son, Sadberge which sold for £205. The continental and Suffolk ewes combined averaged close to £110 whilst the Mule’s increased on the week to average £80 with a top of £90 and the Swaledale ewes topped at £44 to average £36.
Lead Grossing Cast Sheep- £205 £149 £139 £135 £130 x2 £120 x2 W&M Knaggs & Son. £154 £111 £106 £100 £90 £89 William Tindale. £144 £134 HT Davies & Partners. £130 Cole Hill Farm LTD. £130 £114 M&A Gaskin. £127 x3 £111 £105 AC Simpson & Son. £124 £120 £88 JJ Horn. £123 S Thompson & Son. £121 £120 £110 £96 JL Gill & Son. £117 £110 JM&S Walton. £117 CH&MC Phalp. £114 N Gill. £112 x2 £92 £88 GC&JC Pullan. £110 JC Lockey & Son. £106 £90 x2 A Layfield Farms LTD. £104 £100 C Parton. £100 AS&G Donaldson. £89 D Bowles. £86 x2 GF Whitfield.
Prime Pigs (15) – The pig job slipped back dramatically this week; it gives with one hand and takes away with the other as the buyers today set about recuperating some of last week’s losses following a super sharp trade.
Pigs – Top prices ppk 150 120 J Mitchell & Son.
Lead Grossing Pigs £117 £93 J Mitchell & Son.
