Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of Prime Stock on Thursday 11th March 2021. Forward were 309 Cattle, 1527 Sheep and 9 Pigs.
124 Prime Bulls sold to 258ppk or £2026
54 Prime Steers sold to 260ppk or £1625
123 Prime Heifers sold to 279ppk or £1651
8 Cast Cows sold to 200ppk or £1827
1140 Prime Hoggs sold to 333ppk or £160
387 Cast Sheep sold to £181
9 Prime Pigs sold to 112ppk or £88
Prime Bulls (124) – Another very good day for the bull vendors, marginally easier than last weeks wonder trade but non the less an average over 213 pence per kilo is right up there as one of the best in Britain. Following the announcement yesterday of our forthcoming Limousin spectacular it was the popular red breed which today claimed the top slots, a sensational homebred pure from W I Suddes & Son, South Farm, Cornsay climbed all the way to 258 pence per kilo whilst a handsome heavyweight from K & A Harker, Worsall Grove Farm became the latest in the £2000 plus club here at DFAM. Four bulls from four separate vendors today sold the top side of 250ppk and a further 21 over 240ppk; an amazing fourteen bulls today sold over £1800, see below for the top contenders which include regular some most familiar and raiders and also a welcome return for L W Aconley & Sons, Cropton with half a dozen absolute superstars. Native breed bulls today were again well represented peaking at 226ppk and £1582 for a well fleshed Aberdeen Angus shown by A S & S M Kemp, Sherburn. Of the 28 Holstein Friesian’s over the bull bridge today half a dozen sold beyond £1300 with the pick of them a perfectly fed sort from J M & S Walton, Barton at £1432, the top dairy bull per kilo was a Friesian from one of our regular supporters off the East Coast T F Bothroyd & Son, Loftus at an impressive 208ppk.
W I Suddes & Son, Cornsay sold 3 Bulls to average 251ppk and £1525
L W Aconley & Sons, Cropton sold 6 Bulls to average 246ppk and £1805
A C Simpson & Son, Witton-le-Wear sold 3 Bulls to average 251ppk and £1923
J A & M Boyes Ltd, Winston sold 7 Bulls to average 236ppk and £1745
Continental Bulls – Top prices ppk 258 248×2 WI Suddes & Son. 254 245 244 242 231 225 220 AG Watson & Sons. 253 247 246 245 244 243 LW Aconley & Sons. 250 246 245 244 AS&SM Kemp. 249 A&D Proctor. 248 EW Grieves. 245 242 240 239 231 230 225 JA&M Boyes Ltd. 244 231 230 JW Holmes & Son. 244 231 JM Ramsay & Son. 242 225 R Ormston. 242 237 236 AC Simpson & Son. 239 224 LS Staley. 237 P Cairns. 228 JK&CE Farming.
Lead Grossing Continental Bulls £2026 K&A Harker. £1965 £1905 £1899 AC Simpson & Son. £1942 A&D Proctor. £1892 £1847 £1744 £1720 £1705 JA&M Boyes Ltd. £1877 £1803 £1759 £1674 £1652 JW Holmes & Son. £1842 £1835 £1805 £1798 £1778 £1773 LW Aconley & Sons. £1818 LS Staley. £1800 £1693 AG Watson & Sons. £1781 R Ormston. £1762 £1661 JM Ramsay & Son. £1737 £1675 AS&SM Kemp. £1720 P Cairns. £1652 R Hall & Son.
Friesian Bulls – Top prices ppk 209 JM&S Walton. 208 TF Bothroyd & Son. 197 188×2 J&JH Musgrave. 196 194 188×2 187 186×2 185 183 182 179 172 JM&S Walton. 192 R Hall & Son. 191 174 R Ormston. 180 170 GW Dobson & Son. 176 167 161 160 D Walker.
Lead Grossing Friesian Bulls £1432 £1392 £1320 £1303 £1227 £1201 £1200 £1191 £1150 £1149 £1114 £1084 JM&S Walton. £1388 £1080 R Ormston. £1320 TF Bothroyd. £1267 £1137 GW Dobson. £1198 R Hall & Son. £1138 £1037 £1028 J&JH Musgrave.
Native Breed Bulls – Top prices ppk 226 211 210 203 201×2 198 190 189 AS&SM Kemp. 217 216 SN Bird & Sons. 205 JT Layfield & Sons. 188 187 MJ Hutchinson. 185 JA&A Herbert.
Lead Grossing Native Breed Bulls £1582 £1569 £1504 £1499 £1465 £1352 £1323 £1285 AS&SM Kemp. £1529 JT Layfield & Sons. £1303 £1321 £1184 SN Bird & Sons. £1099 £1080 MJ Hutchinson.
Clean Cattle (178) – Another really healthy and competitive trade, buyers weren’t in overdrive as we witnessed last week however the returns remain more than healthy; dozens of cattle comfortably up and over 250 pence per kilo and £1500 plus is never in doubt for the best bred and best fed amongst them. Top price this week was an absolute peach of a Limousin heifer from J B Luck, Milestone House, Bowes, weighing 592kg she sold for a terrific 279ppk and £1651, a further 3 heifers sold beyond £1600 as a pair from J W Holmes & Son, Nottingham sat just adrift of the best from the good pen of W A Armstrong, Coxhoe. Todays battle for steer supremacy was a fierce one which culminated in two Northern feeders at the forefront, top price per kilo 260 pence from M F Hall, Ponteland with a 553kg Limousin whilst a homebred British Blue from W J Scott Ltd, West Woodburn took the top gross value at £1625. Some super cattle from far and wide again lit up the ring, from Northumberland and Newcastle down to Nottinghamshire and Northamptonshire not of course forgetting to mention the Yorkshire, Cleveland and Durham faithful’s once again produced the best of British beef; as usual some of the top contenders have their name in lights below.
J B Luck, Bowes sold 4 Heifers to average 264ppk and £1499
B Walker, Dalton-on-Tees sold 3 Heifers to average 257ppk and £1320
M F Hall, Ponteland sold 7 (5 Heifers, 2 Steers) to average 254ppk and £1412
P & J H Davison, Morley sold 4 (2 Heifers, 2 Steers) to average 251ppk and £1421
P J & M P Gilhespy, Ponteland sold 6 Heifers to average 251ppk and £1415
J W Holmes & Son, Notts sold 5 Heifers to average 248ppk and £1526
Renton Highlaws, Morpeth sold 2 Heifers to average 245ppk and £1482
W J Scott Ltd, Hexham sold 9 (4 Heifers, 5 Steers) to average 245ppk and £1477
A Crowder, Butsfield sold 3 Heifers to average 245ppk and £1428
Continental Steers – Top prices ppk 260 228 MF Hall. 258 243 242 228 222 WJ Scott Ltd. 246 245 P&JH Davison. 245 238 232 221 216 WA Armstrong. 243 230 225 217 DK Barker. 238 226 DL&D Lovegreen. 237 207 204 201197 196 JR Raine & Sons. 230 228 221 207 195 PR&V Barlow & Son. 218 216 200 B Nichols. 206 GW&L Marsay.
Lead Grossing Continental Steers £1625 £1552 £1477 £1454 WJ Scott Ltd. £1558 £1469 £1442 £1359 £1306 JR Raine & Sons. £1536 £1520 £1478 £1455 £1415 £1399 PR&V Barlow & Son. £1535 £1511 £1467 £1456 DK Barker. £1484 £1359 £1330 £1304 WA Armstrong. £1472 £1437 MF Hall. £1443 £1372 P&JH Davison. £1313 £1258 DL&D Lovegreen. £1282 £1266 B Nichols.
Friesian Steers – Top prices ppk 175 169 B Nichols. 173 172 166×2 165 Berryfield Farms Ltd.
Lead Grossing Friesian Steers £1078 £1065 B Nichols. £917 £908×2 £902 £868 £866 Berryfields Farms Ltd.
Heifers – Top prices ppk 279 264 257 255 JB Luck. 275×2 255 252 244 MF Hall. 274 266 B Walker. 268 258 250 249 246 PJ&MP Gilhespy. 267 253 252 249 WJ Scott Ltd. 266 249 P&JH Davison. 266 248 245×2 WA Armstrong. 264 251 WF Hustwit. 260 259 246 244 JW Holmes & Son. 257 Renton Highlaws Ltd. 251 246 A Crowder. 250 WJ&AS Bowes & Sons. 249 248 246 JV&JA Hodgson. 248 247 J Layfield. 247 244 JR&B Anderson. 243 M&J Cheesbrough & Sons. 243 Cheesbrough & Son Ltd.
Lead Grossing Heifers £1651 £1515 JB Luck. £1612 £1455 WA Armstrong. £1610 £1601 £1549 £1452 £1416 JW Holmes & Son. £1565 Renton Highlaws Ltd. £1523 MF Hall. £1513 £1495 £1488 £1481 £1466 £1448 £1446 £1419 JV&JA Hodgson. £1498 A Crowder. £1493 £1433 £1415 M&J Cheesbrough & Son. £1492 £1424 £1416 PJ&MP Gilhespy. £1485 £1472 WJ&AS Bowes & Sons. £1484 P&JH Davison. £1484 £1464 £1436 £1429 WJ Scott Ltd. £1449 WF Hustwit. £1448 J Layfield. £1442 JR&B Anderson & Son.
Cast Cattle (8) – Both the Renton’s of Morpeth and the Bowes’s of Great Stainton may well have left home this morning with high hopes of topping the sale with their heavyweight cows, both on a normal week would have proved worthy winners however a gigantic 942kg 5 year old Limousin steer (199ppk) from D Briggs of Stubbin Head Farm made his way across the Pennines and added up to a fantastic £1827. Top price per kilo by a whisker went to the prolific A S & S M Kemp of Sherburn with a smart 4 year old Limousin.
Cast Cows & OTM – Top prices ppk 200 190 AS&SM Kemp. 199 194 D Briggs. 192 WJ&AS Bowes & Sons. 180 167 JW Holmes & Son. 173 Renton Highlaws Ltd.
Lead Grossing Cast Cows & OTM £1827 31548 D Briggs. £1622 Renton Highlaws Ltd. £1614 WJ&AS Bowes & Sons. £1233 £1176 AS&SM Kemp. £1227 £1101 JW Holmes & Son.
Prime Hoggs (1140) – On rolls the sheep juggernaut, a nice show today with some tremendous fed hoggs beginning to appear from the root crop consignors, thus said some vendors are also emptying shed’s for the imminent 2021 crop and not all those forward were picturesque to look at. An average today of 276ppk and £128 with an SQQ of 281ppk, to the top slots in a moment but mention must go to the less likely hero’s on display as we this week saw Mule’s sell to £130, Cheviots to £134, Leicester’s to £130 and the pick of the 100 Swaledale’s offered at £110. Leading the pence per kilo were a lovely pair of Beltex from J D Brannen, Red Barns at 333ppk whilst our top gross value was awarded once again to A C Simpson, McNeil Farm at £160, this week’s run of heavy hoggs from McNeil Farm averaged an impressive £153.42. A great run of hoggs from Wytherstone Farms, Skiplam were a credit to the breeding and feeding expertise of long serving shepherd Steve Hugill and averaged a wonderful £147.58.
Hoggs – Top prices ppk 333 325 291 JD Brannen. 320 313 305 292 WE Frank & Son. 317 280 C&M Atkinson & Sons. 314 296 291 A&EJ Dobinson. 314 308 WA Wardman Ltd. 314 295 TH Richradson & Son. 306 301 300 296×3 CS Robinson. 306 K&MM Henderson. 297 291 TW Clark & Son. 296 Wytherstone Farm. 296 290 W Jackson. 296 RE&L Frank. 293 JC Johnson. 292 291 W Wearmouth & Son. 291 JC Smith. 290 AC Simpson & Son.290 W Walker & Sons.
Lead Grossing Hoggs £160 £158.50 £155×2 £151.50 £150 AC Simpson & Son. £158.50 £154 £149.50 £146.50 £145.50×2 £138.50 Wytherstone Farm. £152 W Wearmouth & Son. £152 £148 £144×2 £143 £142.50 £141 J Hicks. £152 £141 TW Clark & Son. £151 £148×2 £145.50 W Jackson. £149.50 £147.50 TM Darling & Son. £147.50 £140.50 K&M Elders & Son. £144 JC Johnson. £144 £142 £140 JC Smith. £142.50 £140.50 CS Robinson. £140 JD Brannen. £140 £139.50 £139 WA Wardman Ltd.
Cast Ewes – Infinitely dearer as the ewe balloon looks to be inflating at some pace now, todays topper a fabulous Texel from J C Johnson, Beanley Carr Farm, Trimdon at £181 whilst the big Mule ewes are now all comfortably £100-£120. Hill Cheviot ewes today often in the £90-£95 bracket and the horned ewes carrying the most flesh £80 to £90. All in a well below average show of quality levelled up at £84.
Lead Grossing Cast Sheep £181 £118×2 £117 JC Johnson. £152 W Wearmouth & Son. £152 LG Laws & Sons. £145 £139 £131 £117 £109 £102 CS&V Whitfield. £125 LD Laws. £137 M&G Hodgson. £124 £119 JD Brannen. £123×2 £119 £113 W Jackson. £122 S&D Ferrie. £112 GC&JC Pullen. £112 DW Dresser. £107 £106 C Harle & Sons. £105 WA Wardman Ltd.
Pigs – Top prices ppk 112 110×2 100 J Mitchell & Son.
Lead Grossing Pigs £88×2 £85 £74 J Mitchell & Son
