Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of Primestock on Thursday 29th April 2021. Forward were 236 Cattle, 965 Sheep and 17 Pigs.
120 Prime Bulls sold to 268ppk or £2320
28 Prime Steers sold to 276ppk or £1705
86 Prime Heifers sold to 296ppk or £1663
2 Cast Cows sold to 218ppk or £1569
56 New Season Lambs sold to 286ppk or £171.50
408 Prime Hoggs sold to 337ppk or £188
501 Cast Sheep sold to £160
Prime Bulls (120) – A sharp trade throughout, a great average of 219 pence per kilo which was made all the more impressive knowing that some 30% of those forward this week were Holstein Friesian’s. Three bulls today broke the 260 pence barrier, the trio on the podium included one from J A & M Boyes Ltd and a pair from A G Watson & Sons, Rushyford; in the gold medal position was a sensational 680kg Limousin from the Watson’s selling for 268ppk. The doors were well and truly open to the £2k plus club today as an awesome foursome gained membership, twice D Richardson & Co, Melsonby joined with a well fed run whilst the top two places were filled by some individual superstars, a fantastic five year old British Blue from J B Thompson of Stainby House Grantham reached an incredible £2157 yet fell short of the awesome £2320 achieved by a whopping 959kg Limousin from S Wilde of Spite Winter House, Sheffield. The native breeds as usual are very worthy of mention, the pick of them came from regular raiders J W Holmes & Son, Nottingham with a well fleshed Aberdeen Angus at 230 pence per kilo and £1644. The black and whites were out in force, the better fed in particular were a nice trade and sold to a top of 210ppk from J A Birkbeck, Thirsk; leading grossed value Friesian came from Darlington debutant J M Stuart & Son, Preston, Lancashire with a run of 15 topping at £1438 and an average of a pleasing £1292. Below are some of the stand out bull performers;
J A & M Boyes, Cleatlam sold 5 Bulls to average 252ppk and £1683
S & J Dent & Son, Great Burdon sold 5 Bulls to average 248ppk and £1500
A G Watson & Sons, Rushyford sold 6 Bulls to average 245ppk and £1718
I R Appleton, Elwick sold 2 Bulls to average 245ppk and £1611
S Luck & Son, Bowes sold 2 Bulls to average 243ppk and £1886
L S Staley, Marwood sold 2 Bulls to average 243ppk and £1758
D Richardson & Co, Melsonby sold 5 Bulls to average 234ppk and £1893
J E Suddes & Son, Cornsay sold 4 Bulls to average 237ppk and £1830
Continental Bulls – Top prices ppk 268 264 244 242 AG Watson & Sons. 262 256 250×2 242 JA&M Boyes Ltd. 258 247×2 SH Watson & Sons. 254 249×2 248 242 S&J Dent & Son. 251 247 GH Farms Ltd. 250×2 242 240×2 AS&SM Kemp. 250 248 JE Suddes & Son. 248 247 239 232 LR Welsh & Co. 246 242 LS Staley. 246 245 IR Appleton. 244 241 JW Holmes & Son. 244 239×2 D Richardson & Co Ltd. 243 S Luck. 242 S Wilde.
Lead Grossing Continental Bulls £2320 S Wilde. £2157 JB Thompson. £2056 £2041 £1915 £1843 D Richardson & Co Ltd. £1960 LS Staley. £1926 £1846 S Luck. £1925 £1862 £JW Holmes & Son. £1891 £1742 JA&M Boyes Ltd. £1879 £1870 £1822 £1751 JE Suddes & Son. £1862 £1830 LR Welsh & Co. £1822×2 £1747 £1706 AG Watson & Sons. £1812 £1742 AS&SM Kemp. £1780 J&A&DA Horn. £1745 K&TK Atkinson. £1728 SH Watson & Sons.
Friesian Bulls – Top prices ppk 210 209 182 178 J&A Birkbeck. 199 R Ormston. 198 190 189 187 186×2 183×3 180 179 176 JM Stuart & Son. 197 190 186 178 J&JH Musgrave. 190×2 189 R Hall & Son. 189 183 182 181 177 176 152 D Walker. 170 151 R Carter & Son.
Lead Grossing Friesian Bulls £1438 £1376 £1371 £1323 £1320 £1302 £1263 £1259 £1218 £1205 £1166 £1112 JM Stuart & Son. £1383 R Ormston. £1331 £1311 £1267 R Hall & Son. £1243 £1040 £1002 JA Birkbeck. £1080 £1077 £1030 £1021 £1015 D Walker. £1059 £1033 £971 £924 J&JH Musgrave. £1026 R Carter & Son.
Clean Cattle (114) – A very varied show, a good trade for all classes with premiums still very apparent for the professionally finished, lean cattle the hardest to sell as the loin continues to demand the buyers attention. Topping the sale today was a beautiful 510kg Limousin heifer from R Hirst of Neasham Grange, Darlington when she sold for an impressive 296ppk, several others chased her home beyond 280ppk with a plethora of the better bred and better fed selling 270ppk to 280ppk. Top grossed valued heifer today came from regular vendors W Swinbank & Sons, Greystones when their 605kg British Blonde heifer which sold for £1663. Some very good steers today at the business end, the top half of steers on offer averaged over 253ppk with the best of them a beautiful 618kg Limousin from P R & V Barlow & Son, Nottinghamshire selling for 276ppk and £1705. Listed below are some of the top contenders, congratulations must go to the expert feeding mentioned.
R Hirst, Neasham sold 4 Heifers to average 275ppk and £1476
C G & J C Pullan sold 2 Heifers to average 264ppk and £1457
P R & V Barlow & Son, Notts sold 3 Heifers / 1 Steer to average 264ppk and £1609
B Walker, Dalton sold 3 Heifers to average 262ppk and £1499
J V & J A Hodgson, Summerhouse sold 10 Heifers to average 260ppk and £1531
T N Callender, Whinney Hill sold 3 Heifers to average 259ppk and £1491
W Swinbank & Sons, Caldwell sold 4 Heifers / 1 Steer to average 258ppk and £1585
J W Holmes & Son, Notts sold 5 Steers to average 251ppk and £1502
Steers – Top prices ppk 276 PR&V Barlow & Son. 271 268 258 238 228 207 JW Watson. 260 258 244 242 JL Marks. 258 W Swinbank & Sons. 247 G Beadle. 246 TF Bothroyd. 244 Cheesbrough & Son Ltd. 233 227 214 RW&R Henry. 224 Askwiths. 207 206 203 JW Watson. 206 TN Hodgson. 200 RG Richardson.
Lead Grossing Steers £1705 PR&V Barlow & Son. £1608 £1517 £1498 £1482 JW Holmes & Son. £1437 £1420 £1244 JW Watson. £1590 £1546 £1501 £1323 JL Marks. £1586 W Swinbank & Sons. £1577 £1540 £1369 RW&R Henry. £1527 Askwiths. £1479 £1413 TN Hodgson & Sons. £1478 Cheesbrough & Son. £1424 R Ormston. £1356 G Beadle. £1372 RG Richardson.
Heifers – Top prices ppk 296 283 267 256 R Hirst. 284 PR&V Barlow & Son. 280 275 274 266 265 257 256 JV&JA Hodgson. 276 B Walker. 275 265 263 W Swinbank & Sons. 274 TN Callender. 273 272 263 261 P Cairns. 268 266 262 261 257 WF Hustwit. 267 GC&JC Pullen. 267 JR Tiplady. 267 253 Askwiths. 264 TN Callender. 264 B Walker. 261 GC&JC Pullen. 258 JR Tiplady. 255 Cheesbrough & Son. 252 J Pallister & Sons.
Lead Grossing Heifers £1663 £1624 £1591 W Swinbank & Sons. £1647 £1631 PR&V Barlow & Son. £1619 RW&R Henry. £1610 £1596 P Cairns. £1605 £1509 B Walker. £1598 £1596 £1591 £1559 £1549 £1518 £1510 JV&JA Hodgson. £1593 GC&JC Pullen. £1578 £1577 £1505 £1496 Askwiths. £1551 TW Clark & Son. £1527 Cheesbrough & Son. £1511 £1509 R Hirst. £1507 £1499 £1468 TN Callender. £1503 £1473 WF Hustwit.
New Season Lambs (56) – Slowly the early lambs in this part of the world begin to appear, the cold weather certainly hasn’t aided their progress however the vendors look set to be well rewarded for the peril and patience, todays average of 360ppk is some 80ppk better than the same week last year. Top of the sale today a healthy £171.50 from P Tindale, Shadforth whilst the leading price per kilo of 386 pence came from A S & G Donaldson, Little Langton Grange.
Spring Lambs – Top prices ppk 386×3 368 365 358 SM Donaldson. 359 354 346 JC Johnson. 355 352 333 Anna Herbert. 353 350 320 M Radford. 350 PJ Tindale. 335 331 320 PK&HC Dowson. 273 D Chapman.
Lead Grossing Spring Lambs £171.50 PJ Tindale. £157.50 £140 £139×4 SM Donaldson. £156×2 £151 JC Johnson. £145 D Chapman. £142 £141 £130 Anna Herbert. £141 £138 £133 M Radford. £141×2 £139 PK&HC Dowson.
Prime Hoggs (408) – A light show yet a massive trade, all told averages of 290ppk and £141.56 with an SQQ of 303ppk only tell half the story. Not all heroes have white faces, some remarkable top end prices in a moment however mention must as always go to all creeds and colours; Scotch Blackface hoggs today to a top of £148 and Swaledale hoggs to a top of £138. Top of the sale today was a marvellous 64kg Texel from M W Cook & Son, Park Farm, Kildale selling for £188, needless to say right behind this came the insanely consistent A C Simpson & Son, McNeil Farm, Witton-le-Wear who’s offering of 77 superb heavyweights today peaked at £186 and averaged a mighty £176. When looking for smart hoggs in late April we need only look to the previous year’s calendar, on our calendar we so often see written the word Callender, the father and sons team of T N Callender, Whinney Hill who’s run today didn’t disappoint peaking at 337ppk and averaging 317ppk. A fine day was completed for P R & V Barlow & Son, Nottinghamshire when they followed their cattle success in to the hogg sale and averaged 322ppk and £156.
Hoggs – Top prices ppk 337 331 320 315 312 302×3 TN Callender. 332 326 324 PR&V Barlow & Son. 325 324 320 309 307×2 300 J Hicks. 314 307 W&M Knaggs & Son. 311 306 302 SA Braithwaite. 311 310 308×3 303 300 298 AC Simpson & Son. 310 297 P Turnbull. 307×2 L Fowler. 307 298 JR Knox & Son. 307 W Robson. 304 P Schellhorne. 300 Bowes House Farm. 297 Emma Watson. 297 S Thompson & Son. 293 MW Cook & Son.
Lead Grossing Hoggs £188 £170 £148 MW Cook & Son. £186 £185 £184×2 £183 £181×2 £179 £177 £176×2 £173×2 £172 £170 £168×2 £167 £161 AC Simpson & Son. £173 JD Seymour. £170 £166×2 £148 W&M Knaggs & Son. £167 £148 J Hicks. £166 £155 £146 JR Knox & Son. £163 £159 Emma Watson. £160 £159 £156 £153 PR&V Barlow & Son. £156 N&A Hunter. £156 H Foster. £150 SA Braithwaite. £150 P&H Bainbridge. £149 TN Callender. £147 S Thompson & Son.
Cast Sheep (501) – Outstanding, the leaner they are the dearer they are, a sale average over £106 with the hill ewes in staggering demand. Topping the sale were the heavy continental’s of W & M Knaggs & Son, Sadberge with rams to £160 and ewes to £156 however the real story lies behind them, Mule ewes regularly £120 to £130 and Cheviots £110-£120, as for the horned ewes….. today Swaledale’s sold beyond £100 on five occasions, staggering.
Lead Grossing Cast Sheep £160 £156 £150 £139 £138 W&M Knaggs & Son. £155 £145 £137 £135 Jack Henshaw. £154 CW Cutler. £149 I Spedding. £147 £145 £139 PR&V Barlow & Son. £147 £140 F&JS Gargett. £146 £138 DC Dent. £139 JR Knox & Son. £139 S Coote. £138 MJ Hutchinson. £138 £136 GS&SE Wilson. £138 £134 MW Cook & Son. £138 W Love Ltd. £136 S Sanderson. £135 A&B Herworth. £132 DA Gill. £131 J Brown. £130 £129×3 RA Patterson.
Pigs (17) – Just weeks ago the falling pig prices looked to be huffing and puffing and blowing the house down, the good news is that the big bad wolf seems to have left the building and the persevering porkers continue to rally.
Pigs – Top prices ppk 117 116 110 R Wood & Son. 110×2 105×2 J Mitchell & Son.
Lead Grossing Pigs £120 £114 £99 R Wood & Son. £93 £92 £89×2 J Mitchell & Son.
