Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of prime stock on Thursday 28th November 2024. Forward were 194 cattle and 2179 sheep.
75 Prime Bulls sold to 360ppk or £3049
14 Prime Steers sold to 366ppk or £2355
105 Prime Heifers sold to 412ppk or £2496
1854 Prime Lambs sold to 413ppk or £200
325 Cast Ewes/Rams sold to £300
Prime Bulls (75) – The bull bonanza continues as we exit November on a wonderful high seeing todays offering average a splendid 305ppk and £2150 per head; those at the top end were excellent and certainly set a high bar for the Christmas show entries to aim for next week. The top six bulls sold at 350ppk or more, behind these ten followed in the 340’s whilst on the gross value list three bulls amazingly sold over £3000. Top per kilo at 360 pence was a wonderful 671kg Limousin from J Layfield, Nackshivan Farm; a British Blue from A G Watson & Sons, Nunstainton Grange followed at 358ppk ahead of L S Staley, Bluestone House with Limousin’s at 355ppk and 357ppk. A high-quality heavyweight quartet of Limousin bulls weighing 862kg and 911kg from A C Simpson & Son, McNeil Farm impressed when they sold for gross values between £2951 and £3017 however, the McNeil quartet were pipped to the post for the top price as a brilliant 897kg British Blonde from P Weightman & Sons, Hallfield Farm amounted to a stunning £3049. With the continental connoisseurs cruising it was also fine form from the Friesian feeders as they sold to terrific levels and topped at 294ppk and £1902 from the super feeding of R Hall & Son, Kilton Hall. With all this said and done and the superstars rightly highlighted it could still be argued that the R grade first dairy crosses were enjoying the sharpest trade of all with 310-320ppk more than achievable for these types provided they are well finished. With trade booming some of the weekly averages listed below are true testament to the live auction system and how well stock can be sold without weight, age or farm assured prejudices.
L S Staley, Marwood sold 2 to average 356ppk and £2753
J Layfield, Willington sold 6 to average 344ppk and £2502
A G Watson & Sons, Rushyford sold 6 to average 340ppk and £2360
A C Simpson & Son, Witton-le-Wear sold 4 to average 336ppk and £2993
T W Clark & Son, Durham sold 3 to average 334ppk and £2426
J H & M & N W Brown, Darlington sold 2 to average 331ppk and £2566
J A & M Boyes Ltd, Cleatlam sold 5 to average 322ppk and £2325
Continental Bulls Leading PPK – 360 349(x2) 347 330(x2) J Layfield. 358 351 349 340 327 321 A G Watson & Sons. 357 355 L S Staley. 347 329 318(x2) J A & M Boyes Ltd. 350 340 331 324 A C Simpson & Son. 346 319 J H & M & N W Brown, 343 338 322 T W Clark & Son. 340 P Weightman & Sons. 329 C Stafford. 320 T D Wight & Sons. 319 318 315 J M Ramsay & Son. 317 J R Knox & Son. 316 J R Tiplady.
Friesian Bulls Leading PPK – 294 R Hall & Son. 261 238 G W Dobson & Son. 229 222 D Walker.
Native Bulls Leading PPK – 301 303 R Hall & Son. 292 222 AS Chapman. 298 284 GS Dowson.
Continental Bulls Leading Gross – £3049 P Weightman & Sons. £3017 £3008 £2995 £2951 A C Simpson & Son. £2893 £2544 £2526 £2458 £2415 £2174 J Layfield. £2784 £2722 L S Staley. £2718 £2370 £2361 J R Tiplady. £2634 £2498 J H & M & N W Brown. £2625 £2533 £2429 £2271 A G Watson & Sons. £2617 T D Wight & Sons. £2510 J J Horn. £2483 £2413 £2382 T W Clark & Son. £2408 £2372 £2359 £2260 £2227 J A & M Boyes Ltd. £2287 J M Ramsay & Son. £2244 J R Knox & Son. £2182 J M & S Walton.
Lead Grossing Native Bulls £2031 £1553 AS Chapman. £2010 £1999 R Hall & Son. £1713 £1695 GS Dowson.
Friesian Bulls Leading Gross – £1902 R Hall & Son. £1808 J M & S Walton. £1787 £1715 G W Dobson & Son. £1346 £1303 D Walker.
Clean Cattle (119) – The colossal clean beef trade remains superb, hardly the depth of quality of a week ago with some keeping their class acts for Christmas show next week however another great trade to see the heifer’s level at 349ppk and the steers 342ppk which equated to £2052 per head throughout. The regular Roxburghshire raiders were at it again as W M Fleming, Moss Tower, Kelso topped the trade with a gorgeous handy weight Limousin heifer selling for 412ppk. Others with heifers in the four hundred club were W J Scott Ltd, Low Leam and J Layfield, Nackshivan; behind these a magnificent seven sold in the 390’s which remarkably included all five of a splendid pen from the team at Renton Highlaws, Morpeth. Top of the steers per kilo was an excellent 595kg Limousin from the Askwiths of Crook which sold for 366 pence, following at 357ppk was another from the Crook crusaders ahead of a smart sort from M Robinson & Sons, East Alwent at 356ppk. Four fantastic heifers sold over £2400 and in doing so led the gross values, honourable mentions go to the Henshaw’s of Mainsgill, the Robinson’s of East Alwent and to Gerard Quinn of Rowley Farm who all just failed to catch our leader, a wonderfully fed 684kg Limousin from W Swinbank & Sons, Greystones, Caldwell at £2496. The top three steers on the gross value list were only separated by £15 this week as Neil Brown, West Hartburn found his Limousin at £2346 sandwiched between two brilliant British Blue’s from W J Scott Ltd, Low Leam Farm which topped at £2355. Below as always are some of the day’s top pen averages.
Heifers
Renton Highlaws Ltd, Morpeth sold 5 to average 398ppk and £2189
W J Scott Ltd, West Woodburn sold 4 to average 373ppk and £2173
W M Fleming, Kelso sold 11 to average 367ppk and £2245
J Layfield, Willington sold 6 to average 367ppk and £1995
R Hirst, Neasham sold 9 to average 361ppk and £1948
W Swinbank & Sons, Caldwell sold 8 to average 360ppk and £2224
Steers
Taylor Bros, Richmond sold 3 to average 356ppk and £1977
Askwiths, Crook sold 3 to average 354ppk and £2178
W J Scott Ltd, West Woodburn sold 4 to average 330ppk and £2288
Steers – Top prices ppk 366 357 340 Askwiths. 358 356×2 Taylor Bros. 356 M Robinson & Sons. 348 A Swinbank & Son. 335×2 326 325 WJ Scott Ltd. 326 316 JH Brown.
Lead Grossing Steers £2355 £2340 £2251 £2207 WJ Scott Ltd. £2346 £2193 JH Brown. £2263 £2177 £2094 Askwiths. £2114 M Robinson & Sons. £1994 £1975 £1961 Taylor Bros. £1760 A Swinbank & Son.
Heifers – Top prices ppk 412 389 380 373×2 370 358 357 355 WM Fleming. 401 388 382 359 J Layfield. 400 388 367 WJ Scott Ltd. 399×3 398 397 Renton Highlaws Ltd. 395 374 366 365 359 358 W Swinbank & Sons. 391 379 374 364×2 363 R Hirst. 388 361 360 WF Hustwit. 386 359 JE Suddes & Son. 385 363 360 357 TD Wight & Sons. 377 365 355 A&MJ Henshaw. 374 J&K Woodward. 372 M Robinson & Sons. 370 Taylor Bros. 365 PI Harker. 362 A Swinbank & Son. 358 JF Gibson & Son.
Lead Grossing Heifers £2496 £2373 £2346 £2206 £2177 W Swinbank & Sons. £2447 £2166 M Robinson & Sons. £2416 £2374 £2284 £2270 £2258 £2174 A&MJ Henshaw. £2408 £2276 £2210 JE Suddes & Son. £2399 £2345 £2327 £2298 £2287 £2226 £2196 £2180 £2178 £2139 WM Fleming. £2397 £2257 £2136 WJ Scott Ltd. £2280 £2270 £2230 £2138 Renton Highlaws Ltd. £2251 £2224 J&K Woodward. £2199 WF Hustwit. £2179 A Swinbank & Son. £2177 £2171 R Hirst. £2125 TD Wight & Sons.
Prime Lambs (1854) – Stand on says the lamb trade in Darlington despite some dips and blips elsewhere; the weighed straight average returned very similar on the week at 314ppk with an improved SQQ of 323ppk which all in equated to £145.52 per head which is roughly £20 up on the same week last year. Top per kilo at 413 pence were five sweet little 38kg Beltex from the Askwiths of Crook when they sold for £157; next in line were W Ramsay & Sons, Blakeley Hill as our reigning Christmas champions geared up for another crack at the title next week with 44kg lambs at 411ppk and 49kg’s at 408ppk. On to the gross values and two vendors reached £200; firstly, the aforementioned pair of 49kg lambs from the Ramsay’s which were then duly joined by a stunning heavy weight Charollais from A C Simpson & Son, McNeil Farm. Plenty of heavy lambs sold the top side of £170 whilst the export weights with good loins are now trading 340-360ppk with increasing regularity. Away from the mainstream meat breeds today saw Blue Faced Leicester’s sell to £182, Zwartbles to £149, Mule to £144 and Swaledale to £125. See below a selection of the leading consignments with a Simpson one, two, three at the top.
William Simpson, Caldwell sold 3 to average £177.33
A C Simpson & Son, Witton-le-Wear sold 25 to average £175.64
J C Simpson, Caldwell sold 23 to average £173.52
R Thompson, Woodland sold 2 to average £170.00
W Ramsay & Sons, Wingate sold 16 to average £167.75
D K Barker, Coatham Munderville sold 24 to average £165.33
R W & R Henry, Worsall sold 30 to average £164.10
D & P H Brown, Aldbrough-St-John sold 22 to average £163.45
W Ramsay & Sons, Wingate sold 16 to average 364ppk
Askwiths, Crook sold 24 to average 362ppk
AWSM Farms, Hutton Magna sold 79 to average 344ppk
R Atkinson, Scorton sold 125 to average 342ppk
Lambs – Top prices ppk 413 376 349 346 336 Askwiths. 411 408 379 340 W Ramsay & Sons. 400 335 W Tindale. 387 361 350 329 WA Wardman Ltd. 362 M&A Gaskin. 361 360 350 348 344 340 337 333 R Atkinson. 357 350 341×2 334 AWSM Farms. 354 R Thompson. 353 T Lawson & Son. 351 332 PJ Tindale. 343 JK&CE Farming. 343 JA&A Herbert. 342 CM Cameron. 340 JJ Horn. 340 331 N&LL Brown & Son. 339 328 RW&R Henry. 337 K&PM Lough. 336 330 JE Suddes & Son. 332 R Wood. 330 D&PH Brown.
Lead Grossing Lambs £200 £181 £170 £163 W Ramsay & Sons. £200 £180×2 £174×2 £173×2 £169 AC Simpson & Son. £184×2 £170 £168 £164 DK Barker. £184 £174 £169 £171 JC Simpson. £182 £172 WM Reed & Sons. £181 £170 W Simpson. £173 £170 £165 £164 £162 RW&R Henry. £171 £163 Askwiths. £170 R Thompson. £170 £164 £163.50×2 £162 D&PH Brown. £168 DW Ewin. £166 £161 T Lawson & Son. £166 R Wood & Son. £164 J Hird. £163 M&A Gaskin. £162 JE Suddes & Son. £162 £161×2 WA Wardman Ltd.
Cast Sheep (325) – It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas for the ewe sellers as they move effortlessly through the gears, a marvellous sale average this week of £145.78 was recorded with the top thirty selling over £200 and forty more in the £190’s. Pick of the pack at an excellent £300 were a pair of Texel ewes from O S Laws, Rots Farm, Northallerton; J Atkinson, Black Hall Farm, Fir Tree followed at £290 ahead of W A Wardman Ltd, Thrushwood Farm, Yearby at £284. The super trade was by no means exclusive to the lowland breeds as forty-five great Blackface ewes from L W Martin, Wayworth Farm, Commondale topped at £129 and averaged £112 whereas the eighty Mule’s offered this week averaged just over £130 and topped at an excellent £166 from D M McClurg, Blakely Hill Farm, North Bitchburn and tups topped at £219 from Mark Gray, Broom House.
Leading Prices – £300 £239 £223 OS Laws. £290 J Atkinson. £284 £206 £196 £193 £165 WA Wardman LTD. £250 £205 £198 £195 x2 £192 £181 £174 £150 £140 BR&RI Routledge. £247 £182 x2 F Hare & Sons. £221 P Tindale. £219 £161 £140 Gray. £212 £190 Swalebank Farms LTD. £199 £190 W Weightman. £197 £191 £170 £148 £142 AWSM Farms. £196 M&A Gaskin. £196 DW Robinson. £195 £115 JM&S Walton £194 £166 WR Wilson & Partners. £191 £168 £150 £131 £130 J&A Layfield. £186 Anthony Tindale. £185 £138 JA&A Herbert. £180 £129 A Wilson. £166 DM McClurg. £161 £140 J&MJ Walton. £158 G Williamson. £156 N Medd & son. £146 £137 A Kelly. £137 GS Bainbridge. £134 £129 £105 LW Martin. £131 JK Gill & Son. £130 A Layfield Farms LTD. £114 JV Hodgson & Son.
