Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of prime stock on Thursday 26th June 2025. Forward were 203 cattle and 2163 sheep.
97 Prime Bulls sold to 422ppk or £3815
26 Prime Steers sold to
79 Prime Heifers sold to
1 Cow sold to 280ppk and £2791
1573 New Season Lambs sold to 424ppk or £210
124 Prime Hoggs sold to 296ppk or £194
466 Cast Ewes & Rams sold to £210
Prime Bulls (97) – Bigger numbers this week saw the bulls average 361ppk and £2482 per head. Meat was key as no matter the shape or size the fleshiest bulls proved easy to sell, leaner sorts would be harder work on the week. Top per kilo at 422 pence was a cracking 764kg British Blue from W A Wardman Ltd, Thrushwood Farm, eleven Limousins followed in the 400’s including top bulls from W & M Knaggs & Son, East Newbiggin at 418ppk and J H Mitchinson, Beck House at 417ppk. Some terrific patiently fed Limousin’s from A C Simpson & Son, McNeil Farm blew the competition away in the gross value standings running away with the top four spots with a best of £3815. Brilliant bucket reared dairy crosses from R Hall & Son, Kilton Hall led the native breed prices this week as they sold Aberdeen Angus to highs of 354ppk and £2431 and Hereford’s to 363ppk and £2399. Finally, to the pure dairy breeds and a mixed offering today saw the in-form Kilton Hall team sell a Dairy Shorthorn at 330ppk and £2075 whilst the Friesian’s saw highs of 310ppk from D Walker and £2008 from W E & C A Anderson.
A few of today’s top averages:
AC Simpson & Son sold 4 (892kg) average 393ppk & £3512
W&M Knaggs & Son sold 2 (772kg) average 408ppk & £3150
D Richardson & Co Ltd sold 2 (790kg) average 379ppk & £3001
SH Watson & Son sold 2 (771kg) average 384ppk & £2963
WA Wardman Ltd sold 5 (729kg) average 394ppk & £2878
JH Mitchinson sold 6 (697kg) average 404ppk & £2822
Continental Bulls – Top prices ppk 422 404 400 397 WA Wardman Ltd. 418 399 W&M Knaggs & Son. 417 413 407 400 397 396 JH Mitchinson. 410 409 382 A&D Proctor. 405 390 385 384 372 CH&SE Armstrong. 400 370 SH Watson & Son. 399 395 393 387 AC Simpson & Son. 385 374 D Richardson & Co. 375 374 JJ Horn. 375×5 371 GA Mackie. 370 GW Dobson & Son. 370 J Richmond. 368 JK&CE Farming.
Lead Grossing Continental Bulls £3815 £3555 £3411 £3266 AC Simpson & Son. £3227 £3072 W&M Knaggs & Son. £3224 £3102 £2886 £2696 WA Wardman Ltd. £3171 £2940 CH&SE Armstrong. £3141 £2861 D Richardson & Co Ltd. £2967 £2960 SH Watson & Son. £2937 £2935 £2827 £2808 £2771 JH Mitchinson. £2777 A&D Proctor. £2773 £2730 GW Dobson & Son. £2748 £2719 GA Mackie. £2718 JJ Horn.
Friesian Bulls – Top prices ppk 310 308 306×2 D Walker. 309 WE&CA Anderson. 305 271 JR Spink. 286 R Hall & Son.
Lead Grossing Friesian Bulls £2008 WE&CA Anderson. £1958 £1863 £1850 £1783 D Walker. £1952 £1848 JR Spink. £1807 R Hall & Son.
Native Bulls – Top prices ppk 363 360 354 338 330 R Hall & Son. 348 GS Dowson.
Lead Grossing Native Bulls £2431 £2399 £2246 £2197 £2075 R Hall & Son. £1771 GS Dowson.
OTM – Top- prices ppk 280 J Elliott.
Lead Grossing OTM £2791 J Elliott.
Clean Cattle (105) – A similar trade on the week to see the heifers average a more than healthy 422ppk and the steers a credible 379ppk. Arguably a tiny bit of resistance from some buyers but prices remain far and away ahead of many other options and outlets available. Cumbrian crusader W Miller of High Aketon Farm, Wigton sold the top two per kilo with a cracking duo of Limousin heifers at 476 and 474 pence, three more followed in the 460’s and four in the 450’s. Topping the steers per kilo at 430 pence twice were a smart pair of Limousin’s from Five Houses, the tidier end of the suckler bred steers between 600 and 700kg sold typically 390 to 410ppk. Four vendors this week sold cattle over £2900 as D Richardson & Co, Bracken House joined I Marshall & Sons, Hope House with steers and J Layfield, Nackshivan paired up with J E Suddes & Son, Rowley Farm with heifers; top of them all at £2958 was a super 688kg Limousin from Rowley Farm.
A few of today’s top averages:
D Richardson & Co Ltd sold 3 (716kg) average 388ppk & £2783
I Marshall & Sons sold 6 (706kg) average 389ppk & £2749
W Swinbank & Sons sold 5 (617kg) average 436ppk & £2692
GG Stevenson & Son sold 2 (666kg) average 401ppk & £2676
R Hirst sold 12 (609kg) average 433ppk & £2642
Steers – Top prices ppk 430×2 426 Five Houses. 415 360 J&EM Lawson.406 396 395 388 376 374 I Marshall & Sons. 397 W Swinbank & Sons. 395 385×2 D Richardson & Co Ltd. 393 358 JM Smith. 388 EW Grieves. 383 GG Stevenson & Son. 372 WL Robinson & Partners. 372 A&CA Stanwix.
Lead Grossing Steers £2911 £2733 £2706 D Richardson & Co Ltd. £2902 £2772 £2750 £2736 £2673 £2662 I Marshall & Sons. £2747 £2691 £2429 Five Houses. £2723 EW Grieves. £2659 £2563 A&CA Stanwix. £2636 W Swinbank & Sons. £2551 WL Robinson & Partners. £2542 JM Smith. £2493 GG Stevenson & Son. £2465 £2390 J&EM Lawson.
Heifers – Top prices ppk 476 474 462 446 439 437 436 434 432 W Miller. 465 450 441 431 W Swinbank & Sons. 463 455 448 443 440 438 427 426 425 R Hirst. 457 449×2 448 438 432 Five Houses. 452 437 436 J Layfield. 448 447 438 430 423 JV&JA Hodgson. 442 EW Grieves. 439 WL Robinson & Partners. 438 433 430 JE Suddes & Son. 432 421 420 PJ&MP Gilhespy. 418 GH Farms Ltd.
Lead Grossing Heifers £2958 £2860 JE Suddes & Son. £2951 £2645 £2626 £2563 J Layfield. £2880 £2813 £2764 £2746 £2744 £2726 £2670 R Hirst. £2860 GG Stevenson & Son. £2794 £2781 £2681 £2568 W Swinbank & Sons. £2764 £2721 £2613 PJ&MP Gilhespy. £2702 £2652 £2628 £2617 £2549 Five Houses. £2656 £2611 W Miller. £2641 R Hirst. £2594 WL Robinson & Partners. £2575 JM Smith.
New Season Lambs (1573) – Here come the lambs in quantity, for the first time this season the numbers way exceed those of twelve months ago. The best bred, best fed and big weights sold at stunning levels with eleven buyers operating ensuring that thirty-one lambs sold over £200 and a remarkable two-hundred sold over 400 pence per kilo. All in today’s sale averaged a weighed straight 369ppk and £161.31 per head. Top per kilo on the day at 424 pence were a perfect pen of nine 45kg Texels from R G Richardson, East Farm, Burdon; following at 422ppk were a trio the same weight from L Walton, The Meadow at 422ppk followed by four pens (33 lambs) from the weekly run of J C Simpson, Hill Top East between 417 and 421ppk. Some grand old gross values again this week were led by a thumping Suffolk from AWSM Farms, Dalton which sold at £210; G & E Walton followed at £209 ahead of H T Davies & Partners at £207 and D & P H Brown at £206. The fresh weaned lightweights too were in demand and may well look very well sold in the coming weeks and months, no finer example today than the seventy-three young Lleyn lambs from Allison Devereux Farms which averaged 35.62kg and £127.35.
Lambs- Top Prices PPK 424 404 393 RG Richardson. 422 L Walton. 421 x2 418 417 416 413 412 411 x2 JC Simpson. 416 PR&V Barlow & Son. 415 D&PH Brown. 414 397 DJ Summers & Son. 414 JA&A Herbert. 410 PJ Tindale. 410 390 WA Wardman LTD. 408 394 G&E Walton. 407 404 400 398 395 HT Davies & Partners. 406 391 JR Knox & Son. 404 F&JS Gargett. 402 DL&D Lovegreen. 402 x2 400 W&M Knaggs & Son. 402 393 Cole Hill Farm LTD. 400 395 x2 AWSM Farms. 397 389 x2 JG Hall. 393 JE Suddes & Son. 393 J Atkinson. 392 W Hanson. 392 CN Whitaker. 389 IR Appleton. 389 J Hird. 389 M&J Smith.
Lead Grossing Lambs- £210 £184 £182 AWSM Farms. £209 £200 G&E Walton. £207 HT Davies & Partners. £206 £191 £186 D&PH Brown. £203 JR Wilkinson. £202 £189 PJ Tindale. £202 £200 £199 £198 £197 £186 WA Wardman LTD. £198 £194 £192 £182 JC Simpson. £197 £196 £195 x2 £193 Cole Hill Farm LTD. £195 £193 £183 JR Knox & Son. £194 A&R Breeze. £194 F Brown & Son. £194 H&P Hutchinson. £191 £186 RG Richardson. £191 £186 £183 JG Hall. £191 FP&IM Jefferson. £190 L Walton. £189 JE Suddes & Son. £188 DJ Summers & Son. £188 £185 £183 DJ Summers & Son. £186 M Pickering. £185 J Atkinson. £183 IR Appleton. £183 £182 J Hird.
Top Lamb Averages-
Cole Hill Farms, sold 48 (49kg) Average £193 or 391ppk
L Walton sold 3 (45kg) Average £190 or 422ppk
RG Richardson sold 36 (45kg) Average £185 or 406ppk
JG Hall, sold 18 (47kg) Average £184 or 391ppk.
JC Simpson & Son, sold 84 (44kg) Average £183 or 415ppk
JR Knox & Son, sold 21 (46kg) Average £183 or 393ppk
D&PH Brown, sold 13 (48kg) Average £182 or 379ppk
Prime Hoggs (124) – Still the hoggs roll in to town and demand remains strong for those with flesh on them; tops again went to the heavy sorts from R H Thompson & Son, Whins Farm with a trio at 50kg top per kilo at 296 pence and then three at a remarkable 87kg top per head at £194. The Thompson run of fifty this week averaged £166.58 with their nearest challengers a handful of quality Rouge hoggs from I E & A C Teasdale, High Farm which sold to highs of 283ppk and £184.
Hoggs – Top prices ppk 296 280×2 271 250 244×2 228 225 223 RH Thompson & Son. 283×2 240 234 I Teasdale. 263 Tallentire. 240 TM&A Bellas & Son. 232 198 H Thompson. 228 161 M Madrell. 226 N Medd & Son. 225 W Kirk & Sons. 222 IR Appleton. 210 200×2 FM Martindale. 200 J Musgrave.
Lead Grossing Hoggs £194 £176 £171×2 £167 £160×4 £148 RH Thompson & Son. £184 £162 £156×2 I Teasdale. £175 £163 H Thompson. £153 Tallentire. £140 W Kirk & Sons. £130 TM&A Bellas & Son. £130 £100 M Madrell. £120 N Medd & Son. £118 FM Martindale. £111 IR Appleton.
Cast Ewes & Rams (466) – A lot more forward and a lot less meat amongst them saw the sale average £121.56. Heavy ewes remain in high demand, top of the day were two vendors as four enormous Suffolk cross ewes from William Simpson, Hill Top East joined half a dozen of the same description from M & J Smith, Common Farm, York at £210. Mule ewes still averaged nicely in to three figures and sold to a top of £173 from N Medd & Son, West Whorley Hill and the same good home also topped the horned ewe trade with some fit Blackface ewes at £136.
Lead Grossing Cast Sheep £210 £170 W Simpson. £210 M&J Smith. £194 JC Simpson. £187 £170 £141 AWSM Farms. £185 S&D Ferrie. £184 £171 £160 £140×2 JA&A Herbert. £181 £171 £149 GF Whitfield. £180 W&M Knaggs & Son. TM&A Bellas & Son. £173 N Medd & Son. £172 £142 D&PH Brown. £170 £154 BR&RI Routledge. £170×2 Tallentire. £170 M Madrell. £163 £156 PR&V Barlow & Son. £157 £149 FP&IM Jefferson. £153 W Hanson.
