Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of prime stock on Thursday 21st December 2023. Forward were 105 cattle and 1400 sheep.
57 Prime Bulls sold to 337ppk or £2707
9 Prime Steers sold to 314ppk or £2236
38 Prime Heifers sold to 347ppk or £2122
1 Cast Cow sold to 140ppk and £1094
1233 Prime Lambs sold to 390ppk or £181
167 Cast Ewes & Rams sold to £262
Prime Bulls (57) – The final offering before Christmas sold to an excellent trade as demand remained high right up until the twelfth hour, a reduced show averaged a tremendous 284ppk and £1980 per head. No less than twenty sold over 300 pence per kilo, the top four all sold in the 330’s with eight others in the 320’s. Top of the pile were regular selling brothers Cliff and Terry Watson of A G Watson & Sons, Nunstainton Grange with excellently finished Limousin bulls reaching 336 and 337 pence per kilo. Twenty-seven sold over £2000 today, three of these the top side of £2500 as the Kemp family, Whitwell Farm at £2550 were joined by J A & M Boyes, Strathmore House at £2649 however neither could catch a tremendous Limousin from T W Clark & Son, Durham weighing 846kg and selling for a whopping £2707. Regular Friesian feeders throughout the year again fought for the top spots as the J K & C E Farming, Piercebridge topped the prices per kilo at 240 pence and the ultra-consistent R Hall & Son, Brotton topped the gross values at £1778. Below are some of the impressive top pen averages of the day.
A G Watson & Sons, Rushyford sold 5 to average 331ppk and £2274
A C Kemp, Sherburn sold 3 to average 319ppk and £2254
T W Clark & Son, Durham sold 3 to average 306ppk and £2297
A W & S M Kemp, Sherburn sold 7 to average 301ppk and £2214
J A & M Boyes Ltd, Cleatlam sold 4 to average 295ppk and £2204
D Richardson & Co, Melsonby sold 5 to average 293ppk and £2170
Continental Bulls – Top prices ppk 337 336 330 328×2 AG Watson & Sons. 330 293 288 JA&M Boyes Ltd. 329 327×2 321 312 311 300×2 AS&SM Kemp. 325 305 280 JH&M&NW Brown. 320 299×2 TW Clark & Son. 314 300 JJ Horn. 307 291×3 287 D Richardson & Co Ltd. 284 277 269×2 WE&CA Anderson. 280 JA&A Herbert. 280 269 JE&B Morgan & Sons. 270 JM&S Walton.
Lead Grossing Continental Bulls £2707 £2266 £1919 TW Clark & Son. £2649 £2156 £1992 JA&M Boyes Ltd. £2550 £2336 £2289 £2280 £2275 £2207 £2166 £2152 £2082 AS&SM Kemp. £2479 £2027 £1945 JH&M&NW Brown. £2459 £2443 £2214 £2145 £2112 AG Watson & Sons. £2417 £2376 JJ Horn. £2377 £2319 £2118 £2042 £1995 D Richardson & Co Ltd.
Friesian Bulls – Top prices ppk 240 235 230 JK&CE Farming. 235 231 R Hall & Son. 210 208 GW Dobson & Son.
Lead Grossing Friesian Bulls £1778 £1517 R Hall & Son. £1584 £1538 £1532 JK&CE Farming. £1389 £1316 GW Dobson & Son.
Native Bulls – Top prices ppk 267 JA&M Boyes Ltd. 266×2 W&R Kemp & Son. 220 JA&A Herbert.
Lead Grossing Native Bulls £2018 JA&M Boyes Ltd. £1856 £1465 W&R Kemp & Son. £1529 JA&A Herbert.
Clean Cattle (47) – Few could argue that 2023 has proved to be an excellent year in the finished beef trade and even at this late stage there was no let up at all as a depleted show due to the forthcoming festivities saw steers average 296ppk and the heifers a brilliant 318ppk. Two vendors topped at 347 pence per kilo with Limousin heifers, Robin and Imogen Hirst of Neasham were joined by Neil White of Marrick at the summit. Plenty of other tidy heifers sold regularly 320pk to 340ppk whilst the top steer came from the Askwiths of Crook with a 610kg Limousin reaching 314ppk. Some great gross values saw heifers top at £2122 from Ricky Alder of M F Hall, Ponteland but the top of the day was an excellent 731kg Limousin steer from A J Marr & Son, Old Ravensworth when he sold for £2236. Some leading heifer averages below.
N White, Marrick sold 4 to average 334ppk and £1879
R Hirst, Neasham sold 10 to average 319ppk and £1780
W J Smith & Partners, Richmond sold 2 to average 317ppk and £1780
M F Hall, Ponteland sold 8 to average 316ppk and £1801
Steers- Top Prices PPK 314 308 Askwiths. 311 MF Hall. 308 Askwiths. 306 287 AJ Marr & Son. 292 x2 WJ Smith & Partners. 288 A&CA Stanwix.
Lead Grossing Steers- £2236 £2075 AJ Marr & Son. £1915 £1848 Askwiths. £1791 MF Hall. £1687 A&CA Stanwix. £1632 £1623 WJ Smith & Partners.
Heifers- Top Prices PPK 347 343 337 319 318 316 309 308 298 297 R Hirst. 347 345 339 309 N White. 339 330 323 317 313 312 304 295 MF Hall. 327 EW Grieves. 320 318 Askwiths. 320 316 WJ Smith & Partners. 307 AJ Marr & Son. 300 RW&R Henry.
Lead Grossing Heifers- £2122 £2013 £1928 £1752 £1676 £1650 x2£1615 MF Hall. £1981 £1876 £1843 £1786 £1771 £1738 £1731 £1719 £1690 £1662 R Hirst. £1977 £1887 £1866 £1786 N White. £1926 £1853 Askwiths. £1925 £1722 RW&R Henry. £1890 EW Grieves. £1881 AJ Marr & Son. £1785 £1776 WJ Smith & Partners.
Prime Lambs (1233) – Up another gear as the Christmas demand for lamb exceeded expectations today, a lighter show of numbers sold to a splendid weighed straight sale average of 302ppk and £137.25 per head. Top per kilo at 390 pence were seven super Beltex from Ricky Alder of M F Hall, Woodhill Farm; close behind came a top trio from M & A Gaskin, Holdsworth Farm weighing 46kg and selling for 369pppk with five more from Woodhill Farm at 43kg next in line at 362ppk. Top of the gross values at £181 was a fantastic 56kg Texel lamb from W A Wardman Ltd, Thrushwood Farm; second place at £178 went to six 53kg Texel’s from J & A Layfield, New Row Farm with colossal Charollais from A C Simpson & Son, McNeil Farm hot on their heels at £177 and £175. Mule lambs sold in to the £130’s whilst of the hill lambs on offer it was perhaps a pen of 34kg pure Herdwick’s which impressed the most when reaching three figures.
Lambs- Top Prices ppk 390 362 312 309 MF Hall. 369 354 314 M&A Gaskin. 361 x2 I Oliver. 352 309 RO Gilson. 342 318 315 JS Simpson. 338 326 325 TH Richardson & Sons. 335 333 323 x2 322 315 313 J&A Layfield. 334 325 310 JD Brannen. 333 314 x2 311 W Denham. 333 311 AC Simpson & Son. 328 D&PH Brown. 328 LW Martin. 327 320 RE&L Frank. 326 313 HT Davies & Partners. 326 323 320 WA Wardman LTD. 325 322 RH Wilson & Son. 324 311 E Scott & Sons. 322 R Wood & Son. 321 FW Hodgson & Son. 320 320 315 310 C&R Metcalfe. 320 Cole Hill Farm LTD. 318 315 309 WKMM Lamb. 317 315 311 BJS Farms. 317 C Binks & Son. 316 JR Tiplady. 316 FT Gibbon & Son. 315 312 MW&M Skidmore. 315 Anthony Tindale. 314 SM Donaldson. 312 JG Hall. 311 JK&CE Farming. 311 J Norman. 309 JV&JA Hodgson.
Lead Grossing Lambs- £181 £170 x3 £162 £160 x2 £150 WA Wardman LTD. £178 £170 £168 £165 £161 x2 £160 x2 £157 J&A Layfield. £177 £175 £171 £170 £166 £165 x3 £162 £161 £160 £155 AC Simpson & Son. £174 £169 £161 £160 RO Gilson. £173 SM Donaldson. £172 £160 £151 W Denham. £171 £170 x2 £151 M&A Gaskin. £171 JS Simpson. £171 £159 TH Richardson & Sons. £170 £152 I Oliver. £169 JK&CE Farming. £162 £151.50 Anthony Tindale. £161 £150 D&PH Brown. £161 WKMM Lamb. £161 LW Martin. £161 RH Wilson & Son. £160 £154 RE&L Frank. £160 £156 x3 £152 MF Hall. £158 FT Gibbon. £158 £151 T Lawson & Son. £155 £151 FW Hodgson & Son. £155 JV&JA Hodgson. £154 JD Brannen. £151 R Wood & Son. £150.50 JW&NJ Stokoe LTD.
Cast Ewes & Rams (167) – A lot less forward and a blistering trade as a result, the sale averaged a stunning £131. Top of the pile was a cracking continental ewe from W Denham, Dent Gate Farm at £262, the same good home also sold to £216 with other vendors in the two hundred club being R E & L Frank and W K M M Lamb. Fifty Mule ewes in attendance averaged £105 to a top of £132; Scottish Blackface topped the hill ewes at £108 and Hebridean’s sold to a best of £78 whilst tup trade topped at £182 for a trio of Texels.
Lead Grossing Cast Ewes- £262 £216 £180 £168 £143 £140 W Denham. £202 RE&L Frank. £200 £148 £146 WKMM Lamb. £196 £148 £144 £142 MF Hall. £196 £166 £156 TH Richardson & Sons. £182 I Oliver. £181 £180 £162 Cole Hill Farm LTD. £176 £136 C&M Burnett. £172 £140 £138 J Norman. £170 £127 Anthony Tindale. £150 £141 £139 £130 SM Donaldson. £148 JS Simpson. £148 £146 JG Hall. £143 £134 £132 JR Tiplady. £142 Clervaux Trust LTD. £138 I Marshall & Sons. £134 £132 JM&S Walton. £130 K Buckle.
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas.
