Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held a special show and sale of forward store cattle in conjunction with their weekly sale of fodder, cast cattle, store and breeding stock on Monday 28th October 2024. Forward were 439 cattle, 1764 sheep and 7 pigs.
107 Cast Cattle/OTM sold to 286ppk or £2371
1 Cow & Calf sold for £2200
12 Young Bulls sold to £1360
155 Store Steers sold to £1910
163 Store Heifers sold to £1830
1543 Store Lambs sold to £146
221 Feeding Ewes sold to £150
7 Store Pigs sold to £150
100 Bales of Silage sold to £27
Show of Store Cattle
Huge thanks go to William Swinbank, East Greystones, Caldwell for expertly undertaking the judging duties this morning, a tidy offering assembled before him. Winning both the championship and the reserve were a pair of smart 18-month-old Limousin heifers from the renowned herd of the late George Dent, The Bungalow, Gordon House Farm, Cockfield; the smart pair were both secured in the sale by J C White & Son, Tanyard Farm, Dodsworth Green, Barnsley at a cost of £1680 and £1670 respectively.
Sale of Store Cattle – With the calves done and dusted for October at last week’s gathering it was full steam ahead for the buyers of over-year cattle today as along came a noticeable opportunity to fill finishing yards which created a ferocious trade throughout. The supersonic steers averaged £1256 (+£82) whilst a huge heifer trade saw them level at £1142 (+£137) on a day which remarkably saw the top forty cattle sell at £1600 or more. Top of the pack were a superb trio of 20-month-old Aberdeen Angus steers from B & B Kitching & Son, Elstob Hill Cottage Farm when they sold for a tremendous £1910; others flying high with steers in the £1800’s proved to be the Kitching’s Angus again plus Limousin’s from both A Thompson, White House Farm and Cumbrian raiders T W West, Picket Howe Farm, Egremont. Top of the heifer prices was another success story for the visiting West’s from Egremont; it might be nearer to Douglas than Darlington as the crow flies but it proved to be well worth the trip across as their stunning 19-month-old Limousin sold for £1830. Just a handful of young bulls today sold well to a top of £1360 for a smart Charollais from C S Thompson, Gnipehowe Farm, Hawsker whilst the only cow and calf in the mart impressed as a 4-year-old Limousin with her bull calf at foot from J R & A R Wall, Raygill Farm sold for £2200. Below are some of the day’s marvellous top pen averages.
Steers
B & B Kitching & Son, Stockton sold 6 to average £1858
A Thompson, Crook sold 3 to average £1773
T W West, Egremont sold 17 to average £1702
Rose A Farms, Tow Law sold 2 to average £1660
J S Foster & Son, Bowes sold 4 to average £1560
R W Ridley, Richmond sold 3 to average £1523
F Ward, Frosterley sold 11 to average £1481
Heifers
T W West, Egremont sold 5 to average £1712
S G Dent, Cockfield sold 3 to average £1670
R W Ridley, Richmond sold 4 to average £1615
J S Wiper, Toft Hill sold 3 to average £1493
A E Barker, Appleby sold 2 to average £1460
F Ward, Frosterley sold 4 to average £1445
J F Harland, Staindrop sold 4 to average £1440
Cows & Calves £2200 JR&AR Wall.
Store Bulls- £1360 CS Thompson. £1200 £1190 £1170 £1160 £1120 x2 JK Gregory. £900 £725 x2 FJ Forrest.
Store Steers – £1910×3 £1850 £1830 £1740 B&B Kitching & Son. £1810 £1760 £1750 A Thompson. £1800×2 £1770 £1760×2 £1750 £1700 £1670×5 £1660×2 £1650 £1640×2 TW West. £1660×2 Rose A Farms Ltd. £1650 £1560×2 £1470 JS Foster & Son. £1590 £1570×2 £1350×3 Messrs Shepherd. £1580×4£1560 £1500×2 £1490×2 F Ward. £1570 £1530 £1470 RW Ridley. £1480 £1440 £1390 £1360 K Metcalfe. £1460 MH Hodgson. £1440 JV Hodgson. £1390 J Davis. £1390 JE Holiday & Son. £1370 Messrs Bousfield.
Store Heifers £1830 £1730 £1700 £1650×2 TW West. £1760 £1720 £1590 £1390 RW Ridley. £1680 £1670 £1660 SG Dent. £1600 £1570 JS Wiper. £1580 F Crawford. £1520 W Love Ltd. £1490×2 £1400×2 F Ward. £1490×2 £1460 IR Appleton. £1480 £1380 £1340 W Wearmouth & Son. £1470 £1450 AE Barker. £1440×4 JF Harland. £1400 A Tindale. £1370 £1350×3 Wilkinson & Son. £1350 £1320×3 E Parsons. £1340 £1310 Forster Hall & Sons. £1330 R Errington & Son.
Cast Cattle – A whopping sale average this week of 179ppk and £1105 per head as youth was on the side of a fair proportion of those forward, trade was in reality up a touch however not the 25ppk that the numbers suggest and somewhat hard to read with over 30 native breeds and also over 30 dairy breeds. Top per kilo at 286 pence was a smart Hereford steer from B Cave, Whitehall Farm, four other OTM’s followed in the 280’s as another two from Whitehall were joined by an Aberdeen Angus from F Crawford, Park Farm and a British Blue from GH & RG Stobbs, High Wiserley. The top gross values never looked like a contest once three wonderful pure Limousin cows from J E Jordon & Son, Longhirst arrived; the pick of the magic trio tipped the scales to 1088kg and sold for a wonderful £2371 and the trio averaged £2163. With no less than 33 pure dairy breeds included this week the milk producers were both well represented and well rewarded; top was a cracking 38-month-old Montbeliarde from J E Holliday & Son, Woodland House Farm at 216ppk and £1434 whereas Freisians sold to 208ppk for an OTM from Cowclose Farm or £1303 from A R & C Booth, Village Farm.
Cast Cows & OTM- Top Prices PPK 286 280 x2 274 x2 272 270 266 x2 260 254 250 244 232 B Cave. 282 266 F Crawford. 280 242 GH&RG Stobbs. 276 266 EA&N Thompson & Son. £266 250 216 GH Farms. 244 216 x2 JE Holliday & Son. 228 J Dixon. 222 218 x2 JE Jordan & Son. 216 RW Ridley. 212 x2 A&D Heyes. 210 186 x2 WA Wardman LTD. 208 Cowclose Farm LTD. 198 192 JD&IW Sayer & Tallantire. 198 B Watson. 194 J Norman. 194 LW Martin. 190 C&N Waters. 188 J Bennison. 188 A&D Heyes.
Cast Bulls- Top Prices PPK 180 TA&J Swinbank.
Lead Grossing Cast Cows & OTM- £2371 £2122 £1996 JE Jordon & Son. £1915 £1838 £1810 £1703 £1614 £1567 £1540 £1531 £1482 £1460 £1430 £1398 £1330 B Cave. £1727 £1702 EA&N Thompson & Son. £1714 £1609 F Crawford. £1694 GH&RG Stobbs. £1451 £1447 £1186 GH Farms LTD. £1434 £1319 JE Holliday & Son. £1426 C&N Waters. £1423 £1252 £1220 £1169 WA Wardman LTD. £1334 RW Ridley. £1314 £1195 A&D Heyes. £1303 AR&C Booth. £1288 J Dixon. £1272 LW Martin. £1253 B Watson. £1249 P Turnbull. £1211 JD&IW Sayer & Tallantire. £1183 Allison Devereux Farms.
Lead Grossing Cast Bulls- £1920 TA&J Swinbank.
Store Sheep – Trade firmer again with yet more fresh buyers dipping their toe tentatively in to the flying sheep trade. The sale average this week of £88 tells only some of the story as over 200 Mule lambs and 150 horned lambs are included in that figure; the stronger continental and Suffolk lambs remain well over £110 with plenty £120 to £140 to a top of £146 for a superb pair of Beltex lambs from C A & J Kipling, Stone Close Farm. Suffolk lambs sold to a high of £119 from J R & J Crowe, Bishops Close whilst a pen of 30 Blackie bred Mule’s from N Medd & Son, West Whorley Hill led that breed at £99.50. The larger show of Swaledale lambs were welcomed and averaged £41.96 reaching a top of £58 for 35 good sorts from T E Dobson, Unthank Farm with a pen of 22 from R B Watson, Strand Foot next in line at £51. Feeding ewe trade remains in fine form seeing Suffolk crosses to £150, Texel’s to £136, Mules to £103, Masham to £96, Herdwick to £58 and Swaledale to £55.
Store Lambs-
Beltex- £146 CA&J Kipling. £120.50 MR Cass. £106 C&M Burnett. £105 JR Mann.
Continental- £130 £108.50 GS Dixon. £127 £122 £121 £119.50 £115 P Foster. £126.50 £123 £122 £120 CA&J Kipling. £114 £101.50 £100 B&J Bainbridge. £113 W Coatsworth. £112.50 £106 JR&J Crowe. £109.50 J&S Thompson. £109 TE Dobson. £107 £101 x2 RA Patterson & Son. £103 WH Brown. £101 C&M Burnett. £99 TT Hall & Son.
Texel- £128 GS Dixon. £124 D Rutter. £119 MR Cass. £112 x2 M Hogg. £111.50 £106 x2 £101.50 A&R Thompson. £110 £107.50 £106.50 T Walton. £109 £93 WH Brown. £104 CE Smith. £103.50 £95 LF&HC Wood. £103 S Coote. £103 £100.50 LD Laws. £100.50 JR Mann. £98.50 WB Rutter & Sons. £97 D Alderson. £96 W&C Iceton. £96 D Rutter. £94 RA Patterson & Son.
Suffolk- £119 JR&J Crowe. £108 RA Patterson & Son. £100 D Alderson. £96.50 £75 E Anderson. £87 K Buckle.
Mule- £99.50 N Medd & Son. £93 D Alderson. £91 D Rutter. £90 MW Bainbridge & Sons. £86 M Whorlton. £85 WH Brown. £84 W Coatsworth. £81 C&M Burnett. £78 E Anderson.
Cheviot- £96 GS Dixon.
Charollais- £92.50 x2 RRC Andrew.
Swale- £58 £40 TE Dobson. £51 £37 RB Watson. £26 K Sayer.
Feeding Ewes- £150 CE Smith. £144 S Straughan. £136 £70 WB Rutter & Sons. £130 M Hogg. £126 £120 £88 MR Cass. £120 RA Patterson & Son. £111 T&HA Barrass. £106 £94 £84 A Forrest. £104 B&J Bainbridge. £103 £98 £78 GH Lister. £96 J&S Thompson. £90 LD Laws. £86 C Redshaw. £86 £79 C Dawson. £85 JA&UM Fawcett. £76 C Harle & Sons. £72 S Coote.
Store Pigs – Now it all makes sense, Erik ten Hag was directly to blame for our pig drought of late, the minute he’s gone and we are back up and running; surely that’s not just a coincidence.
Prices – £150 £140 £130 C Weightman.
Fodder – One hundred four string Heston bales of this year’s silage went under the hammer today and sold for £27 per bale. Next sale of fodder is in two weeks’ time, all enquiries to Megan on 07471 823606.
