Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of prime stock on Thursday 18th September 2025. Forward were 145 cattle and 2193 sheep.
63 Prime Bulls sold to 423ppk or £3452
18 Prime Steers sold to 450ppk or £3131
64 Prime Heifers sold to 495ppk or £3114
2066 Prime Lambs sold to 380ppk or £190
127 Cast Ewes/Rams sold to £266
Prime Bulls (63) – Bulls in general appeared to be up some 8-10ppk on the week, even with numbers tight fifteen broke the 400 pence barrier and the top ten sold over £3000. The whole sale with varying quality and much less weight than offered seven days ago averaged 373ppk and £2630. Taking the three top spots on the pence per kilo podium was a super run of homebred bulls from the Renton’s of High Highlaws, Morpeth. A 690kg Limousin claimed the gold medal at 423ppk with British Blue’s from the same home taking silver and bronze at 420ppk and 419ppk. Mike Eddon of White Thorn Farm, Cropton making his maiden voyage to DfAM as a vendor landed the top gross value with a thumping 883kg Limousin which totted up to £3452, the remarkable Renton bulls followed at £3236 and third place went to SH Watson & Son, Low Fields Farm at £3177. Leading the native breed brigade were a run of pure Hereford bulls from W & R Kemp, Wigdon Walls Farm when they sold to tops of 351ppk and £2484 whilst the Friesian fellowship this week peaked at £324ppk from D Lupton, Baden Cottage Farm or £2056 from JM & S Walton, Brettanby Farm.
Top Bull PPK Averages-
Renton Highlaws LTD sold 6 (738kg) Average 413ppk
LR Welsh & Co sold 4 (742kg) Average 397ppk
PJ&ES Rogerson sold 3 (713kg) Average 386ppk
N White sold 9 (714kg) Average 385ppk
Top Bull Gross Averages-
Renton Highlaws LTD sold 6 (738kg) Average £3053
SH Watson & Son sold 3 (855kg) Average £3016
WJ&AS Bowes & Sons sold 4 (798kg) Average £2985
LR Welsh & Co sold 4 (742kg) Average £2951
Continental Bulls – Top prices ppk 423 420 419 415 404 403 Renton Highlaws Ltd. 415 408×2 385 382 377 N White. 410 372 DW Humphrey. 410 JK&CE Farming. 409 408 402 LR Welsh & Co. 409 374 368 WJ&AS Bowes & Sons. 399 384 375 PJ&ES Rogerson. 391 M&A Eddon. 387 C Binks & Son. 387 SH Watson & Son. 385 380 JA&A Herbert. 380 375 J Murray. 377 Williamson.
Lead Grossing Continental Bulls £3452 M&A Eddon. £3236 £3166 £3159 £2954 £2918 £2882 Renton Highlaws Ltd. £3177 £3161 £2709 SH Watson & Son. £3087 £2978 £2890 £2850 LR Welsh & Co. £3064 £2860 £2851 £2808 £2775 N White. £3047 £3020 £2939 £2936 WJ&AS Bowes & Sons. £2972 £2700 DW Humphrey. £2876 £2737 PJ&ES Rogerson. £2862 £2765 GT&E Atkinson.
Friesian Bulls – Top prices ppk 324 D Lupton. 307 JM&S Walton.
Lead Grossing Friesian Bulls £2056 JM&S Walton. £1730 D Lupton.
Native Bulls – Top prices ppk 351 347 340 330 W&R Kemp & Son. 346 JA&A Herbert.
Lead Grossing Native Bulls £2484 £2228 £2067 £2026 W&R Kemp & Son. £2203 Williamson. £2020 JA&A Herbert.
Clean Cattle (82) – Arguably a plainer show of quality, the best beasts fitting the butchers shop specification sold to sensational levels, the commercial processing bodies remained a more than solid trade throughout. All included the heifers averaged 422ppk and £2580 with a varied offering of steers coming in at 387ppk and £2504. Top per kilo was a wonderful 570kg red Limousin heifer from W Ramsay & Sons, Blakeley Hill Farm which sold for 495 pence to H Taylor & Sons Butchers, Darlington. Following the leader were four wonderful heifers from the high-flying Hirst’s of Neasham Grange; consistency and quality as the classy quartet weighing 543kg to 602kg all sold between 485ppk and 493ppk. Trade for the best steers proved to be noticeably sharper, top per kilo at 450 pence was an excellent 605kg Limousin from Ian Tulip, Bilton Farm, Northumberland. Following at 439ppk was a smart sort from Taylor Bros, Belle Isle with JR & B Anderson & Son, Abbey Farm close behind at 435ppk. Gross values in the clean cattle, a second mention today for debutants M & A Eddon as the Cropton finishers led the pack with a hefty 851kg Charolais steer which added up to £3131. From Cropton to Cumbria as our three leading heifers all came from the expert feeding of James Crichton, Loughrigg Farm, Egremont; the stunning trio made the journey East very worthwhile with two Limousin’s at £3098 only to be beaten by their British Blue companion at 726kg and £3114.
The beef trade continues in a very strong fashion, this time last year we were describing the trade as phenomenal and sit higher today by 70-80ppk and around £500 per head.
Top Clean PPK Averages-
R Hirst sold 10 (574kg) Average 465ppk
W Ramsay & Sons sold 5 (614kg) Average 450ppk
JV&JA Hodgson sold 8 (594kg) Average 448ppk
Taylor Bros LTD sold 4 (556kg) Average 444ppk
NE Dyson sold 3 (637kg) Average 432ppk
Top Clean Gross Averages-
JJ Crichton sold 3 (724kg) Average £3103
M&A Eddon sold 2 (847kg) Average £2992
TW Dinning sold 3 (683kg) Average £2780
W Ramsay & Sons sold 5 (614kg) Average £2767
L Bosomworth & Co sold 2 (737kg) Average £2720
Steers – Top prices ppk 450 432 390 I Tulip. 447 446 445 439 Taylor Bros. 435 418 JR&B Anderson & Son. 419 328 M Corner T/A L Bosomworth & Co. 386 WF Hustwit. 368 338 M&A Eddon.
Lead Grossing Steers £3131 £2852 M&A Eddon. £2855 £2796 £2722 I Tulip. £2773 £2666 M Corner T/A L Bosomworth & Co. £2582 WF Hustwit. £2544 £2516 JR&B Anderson & Son. £2493 £2487 £2457 £2454 Taylor Bros.
Heifers – Top prices ppk 495 456 450 448 W Ramsay & Sons. 493 486 485 481 469 460 454 447 442 434 R Hirst. 472 469 455 448×2 432 JV&JA Hodgson. 449 443 I Tulip. 447 442 440×2 WF Hustwit. 446 427 424 NE Dyson. 441 JR&B Anderson & Son. 431 429 425 JJ Crichton. 426 420 417×2 FW Hodgson. 422 GK KN & GJ Hird. 420 415 N White. 408 407 TW Dinning.
Lead Grossing Heifers £3114 £3098 £3098 JJ Crichton. £2925 £2869 £2815 £2664 £2655 £2633 £2612 R Hirst. £2888 £2887 I Tulip. £2880 £2821 £2808 £2772 W Ramsay & Sons. £2855 £2804 £2752 £2728 £2688 £2602 JV&JA Hodgson. £2790 £2786 £2763 TW Dinning. £2777 £2766 £2711 NE Dyson. £2760 £2531 £2507 FW Hodgson & Son. £2739 TN Callender. £2616 £2523 £2512 WE&CA Anderson.
Prime Lambs (2066) – More numbers forward, quality lambs in shorter supply and a lot of lean grass-fed lambs included. Trade on paper very similar however in real terms for the goods on offer they are likely even better than the fast pace of last week. The whole kit and caboodle, weighed straight, this week averaged 325ppk and £148.17 with an SQQ of 332ppk. Solid loins were absolutely key to success with an influx of leaner meat slightly harder to place, our two vendors who topped the sale with 50kg Texel lambs were excellent examples of feeding. A cracking pair of Texel’s from I Marshall & Sons, Hope House Farm and half a dozen super sorts from AWSM Farms were the sale leaders at £190 per head and 380ppk. Plenty of the best bred and best fed sheep continued last week’s momentum and sold regularly between 350ppk and 380ppk whilst the medium weight lambs out of Mules in the middle of the pack would be dearer by some margin at 330-350ppk.
A few of today’s lead grossing averages:
T Lawson & Son sold 21 (54kg) @ 321.14ppk & £176.48
A Hall & Son sold 37 (51kg) @ 322.32ppk & £165.51
I Marshall & Sons sold 124 (51kg) @ 319.97ppk & £163.81
AWSM Farms sold 82 (46kg) @ 348.76ppk & £163.20
R Atkinson sold 114 (45kg) @ 348.83ppk & £160.25
Lambs- Top Prices PPK 380 371 360 353 x2 345 341 AWSM Farms. 380 I Marshall & Sons. 378 375 357 340 JV&JA Hodgson. £375 346 P&CM Graham. 373 364 353 HT Davies & Partners. 370 Georgia Willis. 369 361 352 351 343 342 341 R Atkinson. 368 C&V Harrison. 365 S&S Davies. 365 340 A&PA Jopling. 363 362 WR Thompson. 361 348 347 DG&PD Ayre. 360 346 341 JA&A Herbert. 357 x2 PJ Tindale. 355 344 JE Suddes & Son. 355 R Lawson & Son. 353 345 341 N&LL Brown & Son. 351 342 Dickinson. 351 342 Anthony Tindale. 348 346 WM Allison & Son LTD. 347 RW Dalton. 345 344 D Barron. 344 x2 340 JM&S Walton. 340 x2 PM Hill. 340 Elemore Hall.
Lead Grossing Lambs- £190 £188 £171 £170 £162 £159 AWSM Farms. £190 £173 £164 £162 x2 £160 I Marshall & Sons. £186 D Chapman. £181 £178 £170 £160 T Lawson & Son. £179 £178 £176 £174 £162 x2 £161 WR Thompson. £178 £160 JV&JA Hodgson. £174 £173 £170 £160 JE Suddes & Son. £174 GF Whitfield. £174 £172 £168 £166 £165 £164 £160 A Hall & Son. £174 R Lawson & Son. £170 £161 PM Hill. £170 M Johnson & Son. £170 JM&S Walton. £169 Anthony Tindale. £166 TW Dinning. £166 I Newton & Son. £165 x2 £164 £162 R Atkinson. £164 £160 G Thompson & Sons. £164 £161 x3 JJ Horn. £164 Georgia Willis. £161 A&PA Jopling. £160 D&G Spry. £160 JA Walton.
Cast Ewes & Rams (127) – Following another massive entry of over 400 feeding ewes on Monday the numbers were tight today. The sale averaged a massive £136.06 today. Top price of £266 went to a smart pair of Texel ewes from N & MJ Parkin, Elm Grange, following at £254 were another Texel duo from P Dawson, Park Head with the purring Parkin pen next with two more at £245. Fifty-four Mule ewes averaged a pleasing £125 with a top of £174 going to eleven from A Layfield Farms Ltd, Milkup Bank Farm.
Lead Grossing Cast Sheep £266 £245 £172 £170 N&MJ Parkin. £254 £172 P Dawson. £175 £120 G Thompson & Sons. £174 £120 A Layfield Farms Ltd. £174 £150 C Dawson. £170 RD&D Elders. £170 £150×3 £120 £110 TN Callender. £160 C Hall. £150×2 £135 JJ Horn. £140 £132 I Marshall & Sons. £130 L&S Barker. £110 JA&A Herbert. £100 J Scheer.
