Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of prime stock on Thursday 23rd January 2025. Forward were 213 cattle and 1795 sheep.
69 Prime Bulls sold to 398ppk or £3328
22 Prime Steers sold to 399ppk or £2733
121 Prime Heifers sold to 433ppk or £2768
1 OTM Heifer sold to 394ppk or £2454
1568 Prime Hoggs sold to 444ppk or £196
227 Cast Ewes & Rams sold to £210
Prime Bulls (69) – The average fell by a single penny on the week to 332ppk however a heavier show saw them add up more in the lump as they all in levelled at a remarkable £2380; trade in real terms down a touch however remaining very strong and still sits over 50ppk and £400 ahead of the same week last year. An excellent eight sold over 380ppk, of these three made it past 390ppk which were two terrific Limousin’s from A C Simpson & Son, McNeil Farm and a tremendous British Blue from J A Matten & Sons, Avenue Grange. The magic from McNeil led the way when the pick of their pen at 830kg sold for a wonderful 398 pence per kilo. Some twenty-six bulls sold over £2500, the top eight of these sold over £3000; four vendors shared the limelight in the £3k plus club as three apiece for the successful Simpson’s and the motoring Matten’s were joined by British Blonde’s from both P Weighman & Sons, Hallfield Farm and our sale leader a stunning 876kg bull from F & J S Gargett, Westwick Farm at a brilliant £3328. Native breed bulls were again in high demand and not for the first time led by the fleshy Hereford’s of J A & M Boyes Ltd, Strathmore House who peaked this week at 338ppk and £2393. Friesians scarce this week, the pick of them came from regular selling R Hall & Son, Kilton Hall at 250ppk and £1667. Below are some of the top pen averages.
A C Simpson & Son, Witton-le-Wear sold 4 to average 387ppk and £3126
J A Matten & Sons, Thirsk sold 3 to average 374ppk and £3084
F & J S Gargett, Barnard Castle sold 3 to average 361ppk and £2919
C Harle & Sons, Brandon sold 3 to average 350ppk and £2498
J E Jordon & Son, Morpeth sold 2 to average 350ppk and £2138
D Richardson & Co, Melsonby sold 10 to average 349ppk and £2746
Continental Bulls Leading PPK – 398 395 380 376 A C Simpson & Son. 390 376 358 J A Matten & Sons. 388 P Weightman & Sons. 386 W J Scott Ltd. 386 C Harle & Sons. 380 358 343 F & J S Gargett. 373 370 359 350 349 347 345(x2) D Richardson & Co. 356 346 J E Jordon & Son. 355 J A & M Boyes Ltd. 350 T W Clark & Son. 344 340 C H & S E Armstrong.
Native Bulls Leading PPK – 338 329 320 J A & M Boyes Ltd. 296 268 C H & S E Armstrong. 284 JK & CE Farming. 272 260(x2) G S Dowson.
Friesian Bulls Leading PPK – 250 R Hall & Son. 248 C H & S E Armstrong.
Continental Bulls Leading Gross – £3328 £2803 £2627 F & J S Gargett. £3303 £3163 £3119 £2917 A C Simpson & Son. £3181 P Weightman & Sons. £3155 £3075 £3023 J A Matten & Sons. £2954 £2911 £2819 £2794 £2785 £2675 £2656 £2654 £2645 £2570 D Richardson & Co. £2678 W J Scott Ltd. £2626 J A & M Boyes Ltd. £2593 £2590 £2490 C H & S E Armstrong. £2460 T W Clark & Son. £2420 J E & B Morgan & Sons.
Native Bulls Leading Gross – £2393 £2263 £2246 J A & M Boyes Ltd. £2119 £1988 C H & S E Armstrong. £2087 JK & CE Farming.
Friesian Bulls Leading Gross – £1667 R Hall & Son. £1599 C H & S E Armstrong.
Clean Cattle (144) – Scream if you want to go faster, forget the deadweight and most other live rings for good measure, Darlington does it again, catch us if you can. Hallelujah for the heifers which averaged a stupendous 385 pence per kilo, the super steers averaged 362ppk with the whole show levelling up at £2317 per head. The statistics are incredible, a fantastic forty heifers reached at least 400 pence per kilo and eight vendors averaged over 400 pence per kilo. Top of the extraordinary heap was a wonderful 589kg homebred British Blue heifer from the Renton family, High Highlaws, Morpeth; behind the Northumbrian superstar came a Cumbrian cracker as W Miller, High Aketon sold a 558kg Limousin at 426ppk. Regular sellers joined the charging chasing pack as J V & J A Hodgson and R Hirst both sold to 423ppk followed by three more from W Miller and another Highlaws heifer in the 420’s. Half a dozen sold in the four eighteens and nineteens as a high-quality quartet from W J Scott Ltd, Low Leam kept pace with J Suddes & Son, Rowley Farm and M I Wainwright, Todhall Farm, Cupar. Gross values, more good news as the team from Low Leam, a dozen from the aforementioned Cupar crusader plus N E Dyson of Masham and local feeders T N Callender, Ox Eye Farm all broke the £2500 averages as you will see below. Top of them all at £2768 was a tremendous 708kg Limousin heifer down from Cupar, Fife as M I Wainwright made the trip a memorable one, following at £2760 was a brilliant 675kg Limousin heifer from N E Dyson, Gebdykes Farm just in front of our top steer a 692kg Limousin from L R Welsh & Co, Spennymoor at £2733. From Whitby on the East coast to Egremont on the West and from Fife in the North down to a super pen from R W Barker & Sons, Grantham in the South our vendors from all four corners enjoyed a barnstorming trade. See below some sensational pen averages.
Heifers
W J Scott Ltd, West Woodburn sold 6 to average 411ppk and £2504
Renton Highlaws, Morpeth sold 5 to average 410ppk and £2361
T N Callender, Whinney Hill sold 2 to average 409ppk and £2291
B Walker, Dalton-on-Tees sold 3 to average 407ppk and £2414
R W Barker & Sons, Grantham sold 3 to average 402ppk and £2324
W Miller, Wigton sold 11 to average 402ppk and £2197
N E Dyson, Masham sold 3 to average 401ppk and £2561
M I Wainwright, Cupar sold 12 to average 386ppk and £2595
Steers
T N Callender, Whinney Hill sold 2 to average 395ppk and £2655
W R Thompson, Etherley sold 2 to average 382ppk and £2416
P J & M P Gilhespy, Ponteland sold 2 to average 368ppk and £2344
W J Scott Ltd, West Woodburn sold 3 to average 364ppk and £2557
Steers – Top prices ppk 399 355 341 WJ Scott Ltd. 396 395 TN Callender. 395 NE Dyson. 395 LR Welsh & Co. 389 348 PJ&MP Gilhespy. 385 381 WR Thompson. 380 JJ Crichton. 370 TW West. 359 342 MF Hall. 357 341 JH&M&NW Brown. 350 RG Richardson. 348 347 JR&B Anderson & Son.
Lead Grossing Steers £2733 LR Welsh & Co. £2717 NE Dyson. £2697 £2567 £2406 WJ Scott Ltd. £2696 £2614 TN Callender. £2565 JJ Crichton. £2499 RG Richardson. £2497 £2192 PJ&MP Gilhespy. £2434 £2398 WR Thompson. £2363 £2284 JH&M&NW Brown. £2268 TW West. £2254 £2202 MF Hall. £2220 £2032 JR&B Anderson & Son.
Heifers – Top prices ppk 433 420 413 Renton Highlaws Ltd. 426 421×2 420 416 402 399 W Miller. 423 411 410 408×2 406 400 JV&JA Hodgson. 423 409 R Hirst. 419×2 418×2 399 WJ Scott Ltd. 418 JE Suddes & Son. 418 415 407 398 397 MI Wainwright. 416 RW Barker & Sons. 415 413 LR Welsh & Co. 414 412 398 B Walker. 413 MF Hall. 411 TN Callender. 409 398×2 NE Dyson. 408 TN Callender. 405 PJ&MP Gilhespy. 405 WJ&AS Bowes & Sons. 404 AC Simpson & Son. 403 JJ Crichton. 400 WF Hustwit. 398 JR&M Anderson.
Lead Grossing Heifers £2768 £2723 £2687 £2674 £2665 £2646 £2615 £2523 £2505 £2487 £2456 MI Wainwright. £2760 £2583 NE Dyson. £2729 £2625 £2585 £2474 WJ Scott Ltd. £2656 £2546 £2529 £2501 £2452 £2444 £2425 £2419 JV&JA Hodgson. £2654 £2481 AC Simpson & Son. £2622 £2523 LR Welsh & Co. £2597 £2490 WJ&AS Bowes & Sons. £2575 £2463 B Walker. £2550 £2465 Renton Highlaws Ltd. £2502 £2478 £2434 £2419 PJ&MP Gilhespy. £2478 JJ Crichton. £2470 £2444 R Hirst. £2425 G Bird & Sons.
OTM – Top prices ppk 394 JV&JA Hodgson.
Lead Grossing OTM £2454 JV&JA Hodgson.
Prime Hoggs (1568) –Thankfully the Blue Tongue restrictions are now lifted on the abattoirs so at least everyone is on a level playing field, business as normal here, a long-established red market and one which never implemented any apartheid style rules anyway. Trade easier as they have been across the nation this week to average all in 314ppk with an SQQ of 324ppk which equated to £145.72 per head. Top per kilo at 444 pence were a smashing pair of 43kg Texel hoggs from P & C M Graham, Dyance Farm which sold for £191 per head. The run from Dyance also took a share of the top spot in the gross values with a thumping hogg at 61kg and £196; joining the Graham’s at that price was a smart 60kg Charollais hogg from Double O Commercials, North Lincolnshire. Amongst the hill bred hoggs it was the Blackie’s meaning business this week selling to a top of £156 from M Robinson & Sons with a breed average of £149. Mule hoggs topped at £152 and averaged £147 whilst Cheviot’s topped at £163 and levelled at £145.
Top Averages-
R Atkinson, Scorton, sold 137 (47kg) to average £163 or 343PPK
J&A Layfield, Hamsterley, sold 63 (54kg) to average £163 or 301PPK
JR Knox & Son, Heighington, sold 21 (54kg) to average £163 or 298PPK
M&A Gaskin, Eggleston, sold 42 (51kg) to average £160 or 311PPK
RE&L Frank, Stokesley, sold 21 (50kg) to average £157 or 314PPK
WKMM Lamb, Cotherstone, sold 21 (43kg) to average £156 or 359PPK
P&N Tattersall, York, sold 35 (49kg) to average £156 or 317PPK
Hoggs – Top prices ppk 444 333 P&CM Graham. 416 360×2 340 333 R Atkinson. 400 335 JD Brannen. 400 335 Double O Commercials. 395 338 MW Barker & Son. 390 345 WA Wardman Ltd. 376 351 336 335 Tallentire. 375 JA&A Herbert. 373 355 353 344 343 W.K M.M Lamb. 357 352 346 R Errington. 357 348 DG&PD Ayre. 356 350 K&PM Lough. 347 346 RE&L Frank. 343 P&N Tattersall. 342 JK&CE Farming. 340 335 RA&BA Ridley & Son Ltd. 337 334 W Denham. 335 RO Gilson. 334 CJM Hedley. 334 W Swinbank.
Lead Grossing Hoggs £196 £160 Double O Commercials. £196 £191 P&CM Graham. £188 JD Brannen. £179 £166×2 £164 £163.50 £162 R Atkinson. £178 MW Barker & Son. £171 RO Gilson. £170 £169.50 £166×2 £165.50 £165 £164×2 £163 J&A Layfield. £170 £164 £162 W Wearmouth & Son. £170 £166 £164 £163 WA Wardman Ltd. £170×2 RE&L Frank. £169.50 M&A Gaskin. £169.50 £164.50 £164 JR Knox & Son. £166×2 R Wood & Son. £165 £162 W.K M.M Lamb. £165 P&N Tattersall. £164 W Swinbank.
Cast Ewes & Rams (227) – The whole show averaged this week £118.47, trade remains firm however not reaching the dizzy heights of the last few weeks. Double O Commercials led the way twice at £210 with Texel and Beltex ewes, just what the buyers require, fit not fat, as uncle Philip would say they were all meat, a real treat. Top of the tups at £200 were two continentals from W H Smith & Sons, West Shields, Satley which sold to Lancashire Direct Halal; at this point we would like to sincerely thank the Smith family and the buyer for their generosity as they kindly donated the proceeds from the sale of these two tups to Cancer Research UK. Amongst the other breeds heavy Teeswaters impressed reaching £170 whilst the best of the horned ewes still sold over £100 to top at £104 for fourteen fleshy Blackface. Mule ewes look less money after enjoying the pick of the trade last week, today a leaner offering topped at £124 and averaged £103.
Lead Grossing Cast Sheep £210×2 £170 Double O Commercials. £170 G Horner. £161 C Dawson. £160 £159 £137 £130×2 AWSM farms. £160×2 £132 A&R Breeze. £160 £132 £124 WA Wardman Ltd. £159 JR Knox & Son. £156×2 JC Thwaite & Son. £153 MR Souter. £140 RRC Andrew. £140 £134 P Hutchinson. £140 E Scott & Sons. £140 W Denham. £138 CK&D Muir Ltd. £134 Tallentire. £130 R Wood & Son. £130 PM Hill. £130 D Chapman. £130 GP Addison. £129.50 DG&PD Ayre.
