Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of prime stock on Thursday 25th January 2024. Forward were 145 cattle and 3136 sheep.
40 Prime Bulls sold to 327ppk or £2753
17 Prime Steers sold to 327ppk or £2358
87 Prime Heifers sold to 368ppk or £2257
1 Cast Cow sold for 282ppk and £2083
2682 Prime Hoggs sold to 396ppk or £202
454 Cast Ewes/Rams sold to £216
Prime Bulls (40) – Numbers short of buyer requirements and many more could have sold to vendor advantage, those in attendance enjoyed proceedings as the sale averaged 279ppk and £1973 per head. Two excellent bulls led the prices per kilo at 327 pence as a 717kg Limousin from A C Simpson & Son, McNeil Farm matched a 764kg British Blonde from F & J S Gargett, Westwick Farm. Fourteen others followed in the 300’s with five of these in the 320’s including another apiece for our two sale toppers, one from A G Watson & Sons, Nunstainton Grange and two super Limousin bulls from J E Jordon & Son, Longhirst. Half a dozen bulls sold over £2500, one British Blonde from Messrs Gargett, an excellent Limousin from W I Suddes & Son, Cornsay plus all four of the fabulous Limousin’s from A C Simpson & Son including the sale leader a terrific 894kg bull selling for £2753. Prolific Friesian finishers R Hall & Son, Kilton Hall returned to the top of the black and white leader board this week when they topped at 248ppk and £1549. Below are some of the day’s top pen averages.
J E Jordon & Son, Morpeth sold 3 to average 318ppk and £2189
F & J S Gargett, Barnard Castle sold 3 to average 317ppk and £2428
A C Simpson & Son, Witton-le-Wear sold 4 to average 313ppk and £2586
A G Watson & Sons, Rushyford sold 6 to average 306ppk and £2255
W I Suddes & Son, Cornsay sold 2 to average 292ppk and £2507
Continental Bulls – Top prices ppk 327 320 310 308 307 AC Simpson & Son. 327 320 304 F&JS Gargett. 323×2 309 JE Jordon & Son. 320 319 316 309 289 288 AG Watson & Sons. 300 285 WI Suddes & Son. 288 JH&M&NW Brown. 271 R Hall & Son. 269 EA Martin & Son. 265 260 JM&S Walton. 260 255 JA&A Herbert.
Lead Grossing Continental Bulls £2753 £2661 £2588 £2582 £2344 AC Simpson & Son. £2640 £2374 WI Suddes & Son. £2598 £2498 £2188 F&JS Gargett. £2373 £2342 £2255 £2223 £2185 £2153 AG Watson & Sons. £2222 £2219 £2125 JE Jordon & son. £2130 R Hall & Son. £1936 £1880 EA Martin & Son. £1780 £1721 JM&S Walton. £1769 £1625 JA&A Herbert.
Friesian Bulls – Top prices ppk 248 241 R Hall & Son. 238 228 222 JM&S Walton. 231 JK&CE Farming.
Lead Grossing Friesian Bulls £1594 £1429 R Hall & Son. £1519 JK&CE Farming. £1420 £1383 JM&S Walton. £1290 GW Dobson & Son.
Clean Cattle (104) – Perhaps not the rip-snorting scenes of last week but non the less a sharp trade throughout as the heifers averaged 320ppk and the steers 294ppk. Twice heifers sold for 368ppk as two regular vendors couldn’t be split; J V & J A Hodgson, The Grange and B Walker, Birch Springs the two firms at the top today. Two other heifers sold in the 360’s as another from the hot Hodgson’s was joined by a topper from the Renton’s of High Highlaws with seven more selling in the 350’s and a further eleven top side of 340ppk. Top steer per kilo came from W J Scott Ltd, Low Leam with an excellent 700kg British Blue reaching 327ppk with Ponteland’s P J & M P Gilhespy just a single penny off the pace at 326ppk. Some grand old gross values again as a quarter of the beast sold over £2000; brilliant steers from the team at Low Leam led the way at £2358 and £2289 with the red-hot Hodgson’s claiming the top four heifer places selling to a top of £2257 with a 622kg Limousin. As always below are some of the days leading consignments.
Heifers
B Walker, Dalton-on-Tees sold 3 to average 355ppk and £1971
W J Scott Ltd, West Woodburn sold 4 to average 352ppk and £2073
Renton Highlaws, Morpeth sold 6 to average 346ppk and £1922
J V & J A Hodgson, Summerhouse sold 12 to average 340ppk and £2091
P Weightman & Sons, Easington sold 2 to average 333ppk and £1769
R Hirst, Neasham sold 10 to average 331ppk and £1883
Steers
W J Scott Ltd, West Woodburn sold 3 to average 312ppk and £2273
J H & M & N W Brown, Darlington sold 3 to average 306ppk and £1992
Steers – Top prices ppk 327 315 297 WJ Scott Ltd. 326 PJ&MP Gilhespy. 312 309 298 JH&M&NW Brown. 296 A Swinbank & Son. 290 276 J&EM Lawson. 283 AJ Marr & son. 281 275 274 270 TW&PT Moss Ltd.
Lead Grossing Steers £2358 £2289 £2173 WJ Scott Ltd. £2197 PJ&MP Gilhespy. £2091 £1960 £1925 JH&M&NW Brown. £2033 AJ Marr & Son. £1873 £1816 J&EM Lawson. £1763 £1757 £1635 £1598 TW&PT Moss Ltd. £1616 A Swinbank & Son.
Heifers – Top prices ppk 368 363 355 348×2 341 339×2 337 329 JV&JA Hodgson. 368 351 347 B Walker. 364 359 349 348 338 320 Renton Highlaws Ltd. 357×2 356 340 WJ Scott Ltd. 350 330×2 328 WA Armstrong. 348 346 344 337 334 327 R Hirst. 343 328 324 PJ&MP Gilhespy. 339 329 P&JH Davison. 336 330 P Weightman & Sons. 328 TW&PT Moss Ltd. 327 LR Welsh & Co. 322×2 317 JE Suddes & Son. 318 GK KN & GJ Hird.
Lead Grossing Heifers £2257 £2244 £2193 £2182 £2144 £2131 £2088 £2082 £2077 £2025 JV&JA Hodgson. £2177 £2067 £2029 £2018 WJ Scott Ltd. £2125 £2074 £1906 £1903 Renton Highlaws Ltd. £2084 £1986 £1980×2 R Hirst. £2053 £1908 B Walker. £2042 JE Jordon & Son. £2037 £1978 £1892 £1877 LR Welsh & Co. £1972 PJ&MP Gilhespy. £1964 £1925 £1923 WA Armstrong. £1962 A Swinbank & Son. £1952 P Weightman & Sons. £1896 £1850 GK KN & GJ Hird.
Hoggs (2682) – More forward and trade back a touch on last week’s humdinger to average a weighed straight all in 287 pence per kilo with an SQQ of 289ppk; the story remains much the same as the best bred and best fed sheep were still very good to move but those lacking real finish were much less desirable. The demand certainly remains promising looking towards next week as even with an increased show the trade noticeably firmed as the sale progressed. Topping the sale both per kilo and pounds per head was a superb 51kg Beltex hogg from P & C M Graham, Dyance Farm, Gainford reaching 396ppk and £202. Excellent runs from regular selling M & A Gaskin and also W A Wardman Ltd finished the closest in the pence per kilo race. With the leader already established at £202 the next best at £200 was a thumping Texel hogg from P Dawson, Nunstainton with a brilliant run of heavyweight fed hoggs from A C Simpson & Son, Witton-le-Wear just behind claiming a stunning average of £163 for their sixty-three thumping hoggs on the day. Plenty of variety further down the ranks as Mule’s, Cheviot’s, Swaledale’s and Romneys were all strongly represented as the store lambs bought in the Autumn months now begin to resurface.
Hoggs – Top prices ppk 396 345 P&CM Graham. 363 337 M&A Gaskin. 346×2 339 338 337 333×2 331 324 317 WA Wardman Ltd. 340 325 RO Gilson. 339 329 320 313 PR Weaver. 334 318 314 TH Richardson & Son. 333 A Tindale. 331 321 WG Whittington. 331 H Haywood & Son Ltd. 325 316 MW&M Skidmore. 323 JK&CE Farming. 323 315 J Norman. 322 R Wood & Son. 322 318 O Chapman. 322 319 315 R Atkinson. 322 320 318 D&M Lowes. 321×2 JC Simpson. 320 A Davenport.
Lead Grossing Hoggs £202 P&CM Graham. £200 £170 P Dawson. £189 £174 £170×4 £163 £162 £161 £160×2 £159 AC Simpson & Son. £178 M&A Gaskin. £169 £164 £161 £160 £159 £157 £156 WA Wardman Ltd. £167 £160 £156 RO Gilson. £167 £160 TH Richardson & Son. £166 £160 £157×3 RW Barker & Sons. £166 £160×2 H Haywood & Son Ltd. £163 W Kirk & Sons. £162 M Hutchinson. £161 £156 W.K M.M Lamb. £161 £158 £155 JR Knox & Son. £159 A Davenport. £157 J&A Layfield. £156 £155 PR Weaver.
Cast Ewes & Rams (454) – Ewe trade staying strong to average £102 with the fifteen tups levelling at £115. Top price for the second week running were the excellent Texel ewes of P R Weaver, Nottinghamshire with a pair making £216. P Dawson followed his £200 hogg with a £200 ewe ahead of a plethora of Texel ewes in the £150 to £190 bracket. Suffolk ewes topped at £160 and average £125 whilst over a hundred and thirty Mule ewes showed more signs of improvement topping twice at £117 with a breed average of £98. Forty-five Blackface ewes topped at £80 to average £68 and fifty-five Swaledale’s topped at £68 and averaged £58.
Lead Grossing Cast Sheep £216 £187 £184 £177 £160×2 £158 £155 £139 PR Weaver. £200 P Dawson. £180 Parkin Butchers. £170 £140 RE&L Frank. £166 JA&A Herbert. £160 £148 RW Barker & Sons. £158 £148 £144 £138 £134 M&A Gaskin. £156 £148 £138 A&R Breeze. £152×2 £136×2 W.K M.M Lamb. £152 L&S Barker. £150 JR&J Crowe. £144 A&PA Jopling. £140 WA Wardman Ltd. £138 £124 TW&PT Moss Ltd. £138 £136 D&M Lowes.
