Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of prime stock on Thursday 24th November 2022. Forward were 276 Cattle and 2232 Sheep.
114 Prime Bulls sold to 290ppk or £2444
22 Prime Steers sold to 307ppk or £1941
140 Prime Heifers sold to 329ppk or £1955
1848 Prime Lambs sold to 350ppk or £156
384 Cast Ewes & Rams sold to £260
8 Prime Pigs sold to 115ppk or £119
Prime Bulls (114) – More forward and quality variable throughout, the sale this week averaged 248ppk and £1716. Despite the mixed offering the best end were excellent as no less than 19 sold the top side of £2000. The top ten sold over 280 pence per kilo, one of which reached 290 pence which was a marvellous 732kg Limousin bull from J Layfield, Nackshivan Farm, Willington. A great Limousin from W Barron, Burnhope came closest but no vendor could ultimately compete with the remarkable homebred Limousin’s from A C Simpson & Son, McNeil Farm in the gross value standings, the stunning top three from this good home weighing between 850kg and 870kg sold for £2391, £2433 and £2444. Some nice native breeds appeared this week, none bettered the excellent Aberdeen Angus from M I Wainwright, Cupar, Fife which sold for 267ppk and £1869. Finally, the Friesian’s and the top accolades not for the first time go to the phenomenal feeders R Hall & Son, Kilton Hall, Brotton who set the pace at 216ppk and £1434. Below as always are some of this week’s leading players in the bull ring.
A C Simpson & Son, Witton-le-Wear sold 4 to average 280ppk and £2359
J B Luck & Son, Bowes sold 4 to average 277ppk and £2043
L S Staley, Marwood sold 2 to average 275ppk and £2197
F & J S Gargett, Barnard Castle sold 3 to average 269ppk and £1986
J Layfield, Willington sold 6 to average 265ppk and £1900
Continental Bulls – Top prices ppk 290 278 265×2 J Layfield. 286 W Barron. 286 266 LS Staley. 285 270×2 269 D Richardson & Co Ltd. 284 281 278 270 JB Luck. 282×2 280×2 AC Simpson & Son. 277 273 F&JS Gargett. 276 268×2 TW Clark. 273 CW Gray. 269 265 264 East Newbiggin. 265 260 JJ Kemp & Son. 264 261 254×2 LR Welsh & Co. 262 260×2 257×2 MI Wainwright. 262 JJ Horn. 260 JK&CE Farming. 253 JR Knox & Son. 253 G Younger.
Lead Grossing Continental Bulls £2444 £2433 £2391 £2168 AC Simpson & Son. £2333 W Barron. £2207 £2187 LS Staley. £2193 £2108 £2031 JB Luck. £2122 £1992 £1870 £1862 J Layfield. £2121 £2092 £1999 £1989 £1901 £1885 D Richardson & Co Ltd. £2090 East Newbiggin. £2090 £2082 £1982 £1938 LR Welsh & Co. £2052 £1997 £1908 F&JS Gargett. £2027 £1926 £1924 TW Clark & Son. £2014 £1991 JR Knox & Son. £1905 JJ Kemp & son. £1869 £1857 £1847 £1840 £1833 MI Wainwright.
Friesian Bulls – Top prices ppk 216 210 R Hall & Son. 209 JK&CE Farming. 207 204 190 JM&S Walton. 208 186 184 183 D Walker.
Lead Grossing Friesian Bulls £1434 £1308 R Hall & Son. £1337 £1303 £1134 JM&S Walton. £1272 JK&CE Farming. £1156 £1028 £1019 £946 D Walker.
Native Breed Bulls – Top prices ppk 267 MI Wainwright. 245 G Younger. 239 234 229 226 W&R Kemp & Son. 239 CW Gray. 232 F Fabi. 223 221 AM&G Mackay.
Lead Grossing Native Breed Bulls £1869 MI Wainwright. £1766 CW Gray. £1751 G Younger. £1705 F Fabi. £1579 £1488 £1336 £1282 W&R Kemp & Son. £1564 £1369 AM&G Mackay.
Prime Clean Cattle (162) – Outstanding again, carrying on from last week our marvellous independent butchers and wholesalers went hammer and tongs to buy some brilliant British beef; arguably the very top end was ever so slightly easier but all things considered trade remains superb. The numbers show heifers averaging 293ppk and steers 264ppk with the whole show £1689 on a day which an incredible 74 cattle sold for at least 300 pence per kilo. Top price per kilo of 329 pence was shared between two great heifers, J B Luck & Son, Milestone House produced a smart 562kg Limousin which was soon after matched by a brilliant 536kg British Blue from the Renton Family, High Highlaws, Morpeth. A further thirteen heifers sold in the 320’s which included more from both the Renton and Luck pens plus top runs from N White, Marrick; R Hirst, Neasham and P & N Tattersall travelled up from York. The York based raiders had things somewhat their own way in the steers as they stole a march on the chasing pack with a terrific 553kg Limousin just 13-months-old selling for 307 pence per kilo. Gross values now and once again the thriving live auction was giving the famous Harvey Smith salute to the way adrift deadweight options. Fourteen beast sold over £1900 as things were tight at the top, best steer at £1941 came from the successful Renton Highlaws team whilst the top gross heifer at £1955 weighing just 611kg was another for the in-form Bowes based J B Luck & Son. See below some of today’s pace setters.
J B Luck & Son, Bowes sold 5 Heifers to average 323ppk and £1789
N White, Marrick sold 4 Heifers to average 321ppk and £1755
P & N Tattersall, York sold 4 Heifers to average 318ppk and £1684
Renton Highlaws, Morpeth sold 7 Heifers to average 314ppk and £1864
W J Smith & Partners, Richmond sold 2 Heifers to average 314ppk and £1751
S Luck & Son, Bowes sold 2 Heifers to average 313ppk and £1861
R Hirst, Neasham sold 29 Heifers to average 305ppk and £1715
J V & J A Hodgson, Summerhouse sold 20 Heifers to average 304ppk and £1820
W A Armstrong, Coxhoe sold 10 Heifers to average 300ppk and £1727
C W Gray, Amble sold 6 Heifers to average 299ppk and £1769
E W Grieves, Stockton sold 4 Heifers to average 299ppk and £1686
Steers – Top prices ppk 307 P&N Tattersall. 294 275 K Ramsay. 293 264 259 241 229 RO Gilson. 292 269 DL&D Lovegreen. 290 253 WJ Smith & Partners. 279 260 256 Askwiths. 279 TN Callender. 279×3 268 Renton Highlaws Ltd.
Lead Grossing Steers £1941 £1833 £1802 £1763 Renton Highlaws Ltd. £1929 £1848 £1670 £1580 £1568 RO Gilson. £1735 TN Callender. £1713 £1697 £1536 Askwiths. £1697 P&N Tattersall. £1672 £1499 K Ramsay. £1638 £1495 WJ Smith & Partners. £1582 £1474 DL&D Lovegreen.
Heifers – Top prices ppk 329 325×2 320 318 JB Luck. 329 327×2 321 319 310 Renton Highlaws Ltd. 327 325 322 309 N White. 326×2 318 316 314 313 312 310×2 309 308×3 R Hirst. 326 321 315 310 P&N Tattersall. 318 317 316 314×2 313 310 308 JV&JA Hodgson. 316 314 WJ Smith & Partners. 316 AJ Marr & Son. 316 312 S Luck & son. 314 310×2 EW Grieves. 314 WA Armstrong. 308 WF Hustwit.
Lead Grossing Heifers £1955 £1852 £1848 JB Luck & Son. £1946 £1929 £1912 £1884 £1839 Renton Highlaws Ltd. £1937 £1922 £1904 £1902 £1900 £1877 £1869 £1845 £1842 £1832 JV&JA Hodgson. £1918 £1804 S Luck & Son. £1918 £1839 £1835 £1832 £1825 £1818 £1806 R Hirst. £1917 £1883 N White. £1892 JH&M&NW Brown. £1869 £1841 CW Gray. £1843 W Swinbank & Sons. £1840 W&M Knaggs & Son. £1820 AJ Marr & Son. £1820 £1808×2 WA Armstrong.
Prime Lambs (1848) – Lamb trade improved, the top end were a pleasure to view this week as some very high-quality goods were presented by our vendors. As always, every pen weighed straight the sale averaged a wonderful 257ppk and £114. Super shapes and big weights remain the most saleable, still we see a proportion of lean lambs which are worth way more in the store ring. Some 21 pens from 13 different homes sold over 300 pence per kilo, top of them all at 350ppk were a perfect pair of 40kg Beltex lambs from J D Brannen, Toronto. The top 200 lambs this week sold over £130, of these eleven vendors scaled beyond £140 with three breaking £150; going close to the top were the Boocock ladies of Moorsholm and twice good pens from J C Simpson, Caldwell however best of the day went to an outstanding pen of six Beltex from the Askwiths, Crook which sold to Castlebank Butchers for £156 apiece.
Lambs – Top prices ppk 350 307 JD Brannen. 331 W Simpson. 330 AW Dixon. 328 317 310 294 Askwiths. 325 304 292 AS&G Donaldson. 318 314 309 304 293 J Thompson & Sons. 311 J Bolton. 310 302 294 288 JC Simpson. 305 288 W Ramsay & Sons. 304 P Cockburn. 304 I Burn & Sons. 302 C&E Gaskin. 300 C&N Waters. 297 PJ&MP Gilhespy. 297 AWSM Farms. 295 WA Wardman Ltd. 293 JA&UM Fawcett. 292 J Thompson. 292 JG Atkinson. 290 M&A Gaskin. 289 287 AW Dixon. 288 CJM Hedley. 285 I Burn & Sons.
Lead Grossing Lambs £156 £149 £146 £130 Askwiths. £152 £150 £148 £147 JC Simpson. £150 J Boocock. £149 I Burn & Sons. £143 £136.50 M&A Gaskin. £141 AS&G Donaldson. £141 £140 £136 £133 £130 J&A Layfield. £141 R Wood. £140 £132 JD Brannen. £140 £135 £134 £130 J Thompson & Sons. £140 J Bolton. £140 D&AM Bayles. £140 £138 J&A Layfield. £136 W Simpson. £136 J Mathias. £135.50 W Wardman Ltd. £135 D&PH Brown. £135 FT Gibbon & Son. £134 P Cockburn. £133 £131 RO Gilson. £132 AW Dixon.
Cast Ewes & Rams (384) – Ewe trade looks stronger as this week’s sale averages £92, way out in front was a fabulous pure Texel from W B Mitchell & Sons, Morpeth when she sold for a whopping £260, behind her a super Beltex from W Ramsay & Sons, Wingate the only other to reach £200. Top of the tups at £170 proved to be a Texel from J R & M Richardson, Winston. A whole heap of continental and Suffolk ewes sold between £130 and £160 whilst the pick of the Mule ewes sold between £90 and £110 with our best fleshed Swaledale’s £50 to £60 this week.
Lead Grossing Cast Sheep £260 £160×2 £150 £145×2 £130 £128 WB Mitchell & Sons. £200 £130 £125 W Ramsay & Sons. £170 JR&M Richardson. £160 £125 £116×2 WA Wardman Ltd. £150 W Weightman. £150 £122 RW&R Henry. £145 £140 £130×2 £112×2 BR&R Routledge. £140 £115 W Tindale. £140×2 RE&L Frank. £138 £128 G Hodgson. £130 I Marshall & Sons. £130 JW&DW Laing. £128×2 £125 DG&PD Ayre. £125 N White. £125 JG Atkinson. £120×4 PJ&MP Gilhespy. £120×2 JW&B Firby.
Prime Pigs (8) – Put some pork on your fork, it’s the food of winners and now I finally have some (very debatable and probably inaccurate) evidence to support this claim. Congratulations to the Japanese national football team who beat Germany yesterday in the world cup, the most eaten meat in Japan is apparently pork which has clearly given these chaps the diet they needed over many years to perform at their best.
Pigs – Top prices ppk 115 100 95 M&A Gaskin.
Lead Grossing £119 £114 £101 M&A Gaskin.
