Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of prime stock on Thursday 15th February 2024. Forward were 231 cattle, 2736 sheep and 21 pigs.
70 Prime Bulls sold to 345ppk or £2929
28 Prime Steers sold to 326ppk or £2196
128 Prime Heifers sold to 349ppk or £2374
5 Cast Cows & Bulls sold to 251ppk or £1949
2243 Prime Hoggs sold to 389ppk or £182
493 Cast Ewes & Rams sold to £240
21 Prime Pigs sold to 200ppk or £198
Prime Bulls (70) – Bull numbers remain tight and the trade as a result continues in fabulous fashion, this week’s sale averaged a splendiferous 283ppk and £1933 per head. Top of the day per kilo at an excellent 345 pence was a brilliant Limousin from A & D Proctor, Swarland Old Hall; a second Swarland superstar sold for 330ppk but in between them came three excellent Cumbrian bulls from T N & J Hall, Ainstable Hall selling between 333ppk and 335ppk. Plenty of bulls as usual flew beyond £2000, a brilliant top three sold over £2500 including Limousin’s from Ainstable Hall (£2601) and also A C Simpson & Son, McNeil Farm (£2565) however the top spot at a magical £2929 belonged to a thumping 970kg British Blonde from P Weightman & Sons, Hallfield Farm, Easington. Fine Beef Shorthorns from W Denham, Dent Gate led the native breed trade at 258ppk and £2017 whilst Friesian feeders were also in fine fettle this week, top spot went to an excellent sort from R Hall & Son, Kilton Hall which sold for 261ppk and £1787. See below some of the week’s shining lights.
A & D Proctor, Swarland sold 2 to average 337ppk and £2208
T N & J Hall, Ainstable sold 6 to average 328ppk and £2397
A C Simpson & Son, Witton-le-Wear sold 3 to average 315ppk and £2418
A G Watson & Sons, Rushyford sold 4 to average 308ppk and £2219
J J Horn, Richmond sold 2 to average 304ppk and £2088
J K & C E Farming, Piercebridge sold 2 to average 301ppk and £2123
Continental Bulls – Top prices ppk 345 330 A&D Proctor. 335 333×2 325 324 318 TN&J Hall. 324 320 304 AC Simpson & Son. 322 280 JK&CE Farming. 319 311 303 300 AG Watson & Sons. 314 DC&KL Hutchinson. 309 300 JJ Horn. 308 302 296 285 274 D Richardson & Co Ltd. 304 G Corner. 302 P Weightman & Sons. 295 C Binks & Son. 293 R Hall & Son. 282 276 SH Watson & Son. 281 JM Greensit & Son Ltd.
Lead Grossing Continental Bulls £2929 P Weightman & Sons. £2601 £2484 £2414 £2408 £2355 £2124 TN&J Hall. £2565 £2374 £2316 AC Simpson & Son. £2383 DC&KL Hutchinson. £2287 £2252 £2211 £2127 AG Watson & Sons. £2277 £2235 £2231 £2156 £2036 D Richardson & Co Ltd. £2270 £1976 JK&CE Farming. £2240 £2176 A&D Proctor. £2206 R Hall & Son. £2193 £1983 JJ Horn. £2174 £2045 SH Watson & Son. £2143 £2084 GW Dobson & Son.
Friesian Bulls – Top prices ppk 261 R Hall & Son. 245 229 MA&PD Foster. 234 233 231 224 JM&S Walton. 206 C&M Atkinson & Sons.
Lead Grossing Friesian Bulls £1787 R Hall & Son. £1670 £1660 MA&PD Foster. £1616 £1505 £1413 £1321 JM&S Walton. £1281 C&M Atkinson & Sons.
Native Bulls – Top prices ppk 258 257 250 242 W Denham. 252 R Hall & Son. 251 JKJ Gregory. 241 JC&P Tallentire. 240 235 218 C&M Atkinson & Sons.
Lead Grossing Native Bulls £2017 £1972 £1806 £1765 W Denham. £1832 R Hall & Son. £1684 £1663 £1369 C&M Atkinson & Sons. £1527 JC&P Tallentire. £1410 JK Gregory.
Cast Cattle – Top prices ppk 251 237 M&G Chantrell Ltd. 227 P Tindale. 210 J Bayles. 208 WJ&AS Bowes & Sons.
Lead Grossing Cast Cattle £1949 P Tindale. £1964 £1955 M&G Chantrell Ltd. £1728 WJ&AS Bowes & Sons. £1686 J Bayles.
Clean Cattle (156) – A few more forward this week and the sharp trade continues as our marvellous parliament of butchers and wholesalers again came up trumps and fought hard to source their clean cattle. Heifers today averaged 310ppk and a below par offering of steers levelled at 283ppk. A blanket finish for the top spot per kilo as fifteen heifers sold between 340ppk and 349ppk; the in form Cumbrian crusaders from Ainstable Hall continued their good day with the leader, a 537kg Limousin. Second place went to a super home bred British Blue cross from W J Scott Ltd, Low Leam Farm with another pair from Low Leam and a trio from J V & J A Hodgson, The Grange all in very close attendance to the top spot. With Cumbria and Northumberland leading the heifers it was an altogether more local affair in the steers as Tunstall based G C & J C Pullan nudged out Nottinghamshire’s P R & V Barlow by a penny to top the prices per kilo at 326 pence and the Askwith family of Crook topped the pounds per head with an outstanding 680kg Limousin at £2196. See below some of the days top pen averages.
Steers
G C & J C Pullan, Tunstall sold 2 to average 319ppk and £1897
Askwiths, Crook sold 2 to average 316ppk and £2073
M & G Chantrell, Leicestershire sold 2 to average 315ppk and £1620
W J Scott, West Woodburn sold 3 to average 314ppk and £2054
Heifers
B Walker, Dalton-on-Tees sold 2 to average 344ppk and £1904
W J Scott, West Woodburn sold 7 to average341ppk and £2111
T N & J Hall, Ainstable sold 4 to average 339ppk and £1912
Askwiths, Crook sold 3 to average 335ppk and £1773
F & J S Gargett, Barnard Castle sold 3 to average 327ppk and £1852
W J Smith & Partners, Richmond sold 2 to average 327ppk and £1808
Steers – Top prices ppk 326 314 GC&JC Pullan. 325 314 PR&V Barlow & Son. 323 310 Askwiths. 318 313 311 WJ Scott Ltd. 317 314 M&G Chantrell Ltd. 307 270 LR Welsh & Co. 303 JE Suddes & Son. 301 299 WJ Smith & Partners. 277 J Pallister & Sons. 256 255 A&MJ Henshaw.
Lead Grossing Steers £2196 £1949 Askwiths. £2185 £2103 LR Welsh & Co. £2127 £2061 £1975 WJ Scott Ltd. £2019 £1776 GC&JC Pullan. £1939 JE Suddes & Son. £1800 £1748 PR&V Barlow & Son. £1731 J Pallister & Sons. £1702 £1538 M&G Chantrell Ltd. £1701 £1679 WJ Smith & Partners.
Heifers – Top prices ppk 349 340 339 332 TN&J Hall. 348 345×2 344 339 336×2 WJ Scott Ltd. 346 345×2 340 339 327 321 320 JV&JA Hodgson. 344×2 B Walker. 344 343 334 WA Armstrong. 343 336 329 Askwiths. 338 328 TW Clark & Son. 338 336 335 329 328 325 R Hirst. 337 334 332 331 329 325×3 321×2 M&G Chantrell Ltd. 337 TN Callender. 334 LR Welsh & Co. 334 331 WJ Smith & Partners. 333 331 319 F&JS Gargett. 330 WJ&AS Bowes & Sons. 330 EW Grieves. 329 328 JE Suddes & Son. 324 PR&V Barlow & Son.
Lead Grossing Heifers £2374 Home Farms. £2225 £2200 £2107 £2094 £2087 £2064 £2002 WJ Scott Ltd. £2105 £2074 £2041 £2033 £1961 £1959 £1952 JV&JA Hodgson. £2071 £1915 TW Clark & Son. £2007 £1979 £1920 £1915 £1909 R Hirst. £1998 £1992 £1931 WA Armstrong. £1959 £1944 TN&J Hall. £1943 B Walker. £1931 £1930 PR&V Barlow & Son. £1922 £1899 A&MJ Henshaw. £1910 WJ&AS Bowes & Sons. £1904 F&JS Gargett. £1899 £1878 JE Suddes & Son. £1890 TN Callender. £1886 £1851 K&A Harker. £1880 JJ Kemp & Son.
Prime Hoggs (2243) – Numbers again healthy for the time of year and why wouldn’t they be with trade a remarkable 100 pence per kilo better than it was at this stage last year. This week’s sale, weighed straight as always, averaged 324ppk and £148.52 per head with an SQQ average of 335ppk. Topping the sale per kilo at 389 pence (£152) were nine brilliant 39kg Beltex from regular selling W A Wardman Ltd, Thrushwood Farm. The chasing pack per kilo also contained ten more 42kg hoggs from the Wardman’s plus pens of ten, fourteen and twenty twice all weighing 43kg from R Atkinson, Scorton and also fourteen 42kg from Nottinghamshire’s P R Weaver. Thumping well fed hoggs once again from A C Simpson & Son, McNeil Farm led the gross values, this week’s topper at £182 was a brilliant 59kg Texel, the same good home surpassed £170 another half a dozen times. Other vendors up in the higher echelons were the excellent and consistent Wardman’s plus a mention must surely go to the marauding band of Midlanders who arrived with some super sheep up from Lincolnshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire. More sheep are needed, more can be processed efficiently and sold to vendor’s advantage. Below are some of the pace setters this week.
A C Simpson & Son, Witton-le-Wear sold 77 to average £167
A Crowder, Butsfield sold 44 to average £164
R E & L Frank, Stokesley sold 20 to average £164
C A Mottram & Sons, Lincs sold 102 to average £162
W A Wardman Ltd, Yearby sold 108 to average £162
J & A Layfield, Hamsterley sold 70 to average £159
W A Richardson Ltd, Hutton Magna sold 43 to average £158
G C & J C Pullan, Tunstall sold 16 to average £156
R H Thompson & Son, Bishop Auckland sold 12 to average £156
W Allison & Sons, Lincs sold 66 to average £155
J R Knox & Son, Heighington sold 17 to average £155
P R & V Barlow & Son, Notts sold 27 to average £154
P R Weaver, Notts sold 97 to average £154
R Atkinson, Scorton sold 160 to average 369ppk
AWSM Farms, Richmond sold 78 to average 354ppk
P R Weaver, Notts sold 97 to average 352ppk
Hoggs – Top prices ppk 389 376 372 369 357 WA Wardman Ltd. 386 383 374×2 372 371 364 361 350 R Atkinson. 373 370 PR Weaver. 367 PR&V Barlow & Son. 367 3654 364×3 362 359 357 348 TA Greensit & Sons. 362 A Peart & Son. 361 351 350×2 AWSM Farms. 357 Whittington. 357 RE&L Frank. 356 WR Wilson & Partners. 355 352 PR Weaver. 355×2 K&PM Lough. 355 CA Mottram & Sons. 354 WH Brown. 354 A Graham. 354 GC&JC Pullan. 354 J&A Layfield. 353 348 I Kirk.
Lead Grossing Hoggs £182 £178 £176 £172 £171×2 £170 £169 £165×5 £164 AC Simpson & Son. £174×2 £170 £168 £164 WA Wardman Ltd. £173 £166 PSM Farms. £171 £167 £164 CA Mottram & Son. £171 PR&V Barlow & Son. £170 £169 £168 £165 J&A Layfield. £170 £165 W Allison & Sons. £169 £164×2 TA Greensit & Sons. £169 WA Richardson Ltd. £168 RE&L Frank. £168×2 JR Knox & Son. £166 £165 £164 R Atkinson. £166 A Peart & Son. £165 £164 A Crowder. £165 TW Clark & Son.
Cast Ewes & Rams (493) – More numbers but on the whole less meat available, trade looks improved for all classes and particularly the fleshy Mule’s which took a very noticeable price lift. No doubting the day’s sale topping vendor as P R Weaver of Little Manor Farm, Nottinghamshire produced a fabulous run of Texel’s; the best of the pen sold for £240, three others followed at £238 and another reached £230 as the Midland’s magician sold nineteen ewes to average £169.21. As mentioned, the Mule ewes looked well sold, one hundred and sixty averaged £96.42 with a top of £123; elsewhere we saw North Country Cheviot’s top at £118 and Swaledale’s peak at £70.
Cast Sheep Leading Prices- £240 £238 £230 £202 £150 PR Weaver. £197 £149 £143 £137 J&A Layfield. £188 £153 £148 £136 £116 CS Robinson. £171 £159 PR&V Barlow & Son. £163 £118 £115 K&MM Henderson. £161 £151 £130 x2 £123 WA Wardman LTD. £160 £157 £128 RI Jones. £158 £147 £127 £127 AWSM Farms. £158 RE&L Frank. £156 JR&AR Wall. £153 RW Dalton. £152 WL Robinson & Partners. £148 £126 £122 William Tindale. £134 TW Clark & Son. £134 £118 S&D Ferrie. £130 D Coupland. £126 P Tindale. £126 N White. £124 PJ Tindale. £120 £112 GE Spence & Son. £117 F Myers & Sons. £116 MW&M Skidmore. £115 J Waters. £114 RD&D Elders & Son.
Prime Pigs & Sows (21) – Pigmaggedon the squeakwel! The pig fans want more? Fear not there’s pork galore!
Pigs – Top prices ppk 200 177 160 156 C Weightman. 180 160 J Mitchell & Son.
Lead Grossing Pigs £198 £180 £173 £139 C Weightman. £140 £126 J Mitchell & Son.
