Darlington farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of Prime Stock on Thursday 24th February 2022. Forward were 242 Cattle, 1649 Sheep and 11 Pigs.
83 Prime Bulls sold to 285ppk or £2375
26 Prime Steers sold to 267ppk or £1828
133 Prime Heifers sold to 317ppk or £1880
1397 Prime Hoggs sold to 327ppk or £160
252 Cast Ewes & Rams sold to £210
11 Prime Pigs sold to 90ppk or £76
Prime Bulls (83) – A two tier show with some superb suckler bulls joined by an increased percentage of dairy bred beast, some terrific feeding led to another truly excellent trade for all classes and a sale average of 235 pence per kilo. Top price per kilo went to the outstandingly consistent pure Limousin’s of A C Simpson & Son, McNeil Farm which hit a peak of 285 pence, a further 5 bulls sold over 270ppk including another from McNeil, two from A G Watson & Sons, Rushyford and one apiece for W I Suddes & Son, Cornsay and an absolutely ecstatic C Binks & Son, Walworth. Once again, the £2k plus club proved a busy place with fourteen this week reaching the magic number, top of the tree was a magical home bred British Blonde from F & J S Gargett, Westwick Farm which sold for a huge £2375, behind the Westwick wizardry came a further four beyond £2200 as the McNeil pen were joined by a wonderful trio of Charolais bulls all hailing from North of the border as a Dundee duo and an Aberdeenshire solo passed the impressive £2200 milestone. The Friesian feeders again enjoyed a fine trade, best of the bunch this week the superb feeding of R Hall & Son, Brotton at 210ppk and £1369 whilst the nicest of the natives came from Roxburghshire and first-time vendors Messrs Douglas & Co, Nethertofts, Hawick with Aberdeen Angus selling to 222ppk and £1625. Listed below as usual are some of the stand out performers in the bull ring.
A C Simpson & Son, Witton-le-Wear sold 2 Bulls to average 281ppk and £2198
W I Suddes & Son, Cornsay sold 4 Bulls to average 267ppk and £1654
A G Watson & Sons, Rushyford sold 8 Bulls to average 265ppk and £1954
T N Callender, Whinney Hill sold 2 Bulls to average 262ppk and £1806
C Binks & Son, Walworth sold 2 Bulls to average 260ppk and £1886
F & J S Gargett, Barnard Castle sold 3 Bulls to average 254ppk and £2188
R M Adam & Son, Dundee sold 2 Bulls to average 233ppk and £2302
Continental Bulls – Top prices ppk 285 279 AC Simpson & Son. 279 274 269×2 266 264 251 AG Watson & Sons. 276 268 264 263 WI Suddes & Son. 275 C Binks & Son. 269 262 LR Welsh & Co. 267 259 258 252 TW Clark & Son. 266 248 JR Knox & Son. 265 JJ Horn. 264 255 J Layfield. 262 TN Callender. 261 258 B Layfield. 260 256 249 F&JS Gargett. 250 M Massie. 249 M Hutchinson. 248 A Tunstall.
Lead Grossing Continental Bulls £2375 £2096 £2093 F&JS Gargett. £2313 £2292 RM Adam & Son. £2245 £2151 AC Simpson & Son. £2200 M Massie. £2113 £2059 £2011 £1971 £1944 £1877 £1825 £1812 AG Watson & Sons. £2060 £1957 £1826 LR Welsh & Co. £1917 £1887 JR Knox & Son. £1897 £1874 C Binks & Son. £1885 £1693 TW Clark & Son. £1849 £1763 TN Callender. £1836 £1810 JJ Horn. £1816 JE&B Morgan & Sons.
Friesian Bulls – Top prices ppk 210 193 R Hall & Son. 191 189 187 182 I&RA Watson. 190×2 188×2 183 182 JM&S Walton. 174 164 FS Sturrock & Sons.
Lead Grossing Friesian Bulls £1369 £1188 R Hall & Son. £1292 £1227 £1193 £1161 £1152 £1022 JM&S Walton. £1126 £1063 FS Sturrock & Sons. £979 £964 £940 I&RA Watson.
Native Breed Bulls – Top prices ppk 222 204 M/S Douglas & Co. 208 JK Gregory. 198 R Hall & Son. 194×2 191 FS Sturrock & Sons.
Lead Grossing Native Breed Bulls £1625 £1499 M/S Douglas & Co. £1488 R Hall & Son. £1359 £1216 £1067 FS Sturrock & Sons. £1175 JK Gregory.
Clean Cattle (159) – Marginally easier on what was an exceptional day this time last week, thus said the heifer average of 266ppk and the steers 236ppk is without doubt one of the best in Britain. Five heifers broke 300 pence today with a further 20 between 290 and 299ppk, silver and bronze medals were picked up by R Hirst of Neasham Grange (313 & 306ppk) however top of the podium today at 317 pence per kilo was Coxhoe’s W A Armstrong with an exceptional Limousin; the other two vendors in the 300 club were J H & M & N W Brown, Darlington (304ppk) and J E Suddes & Son, Cornsay Colliery (300ppk). A share of the top price per kilo in the steers this week as Lincolnshire’s M Eagle joined the Askwiths of Crook at 267 pence; the Crook crusaders also picked up top gross valued steer at an impressive £1828. Our top two grossing heifers both checked in beyond £1800 and both hailed from the superbly consistent A C Simpson & Son, McNeil Farm, Witton-le-Wear; nineteen other heifers topped £1700 as our vendors again put on a wonderful show, see below.
J E Suddes & Son, Cornsay Colliery sold 6 Heifers to average 288ppk and £1681
P J & E S Rogerson, Cumbria sold 5 Heifers to average 288ppk and £1569
F & J S Gargett, Barnard Castle sold 4 Heifers to average 286ppk and £1621
R Hirst, Neasham sold 10 Heifers to average 285ppk and £1656
A C Simpson & Son, Witton-le-Wear sold 3 Heifers to average 284ppk and £1822
W A Armstrong, Coxhoe sold 10 Heifers to average 283ppk and £1643
D Robson & Sons, Capheaton sold 4 Heifers to average 283ppk and £1627
T Greetham, Lincolnshire sold 3 Heifers to average 280ppk and £1329
Steers – Top prices ppk 267 M Eagle. 267 265 Askwiths. 256 246 JA Fayers. 251 244 K&J Heslop. 251 246 242 238 236 228 226 GA&VA Adams. 249 RA&BA Ridley & Son Ltd. 243 C Orton. 232 228 IW Cairns. 229 DL&D Lovegreen. 229 T Watson. 225 P&JH Davison.
Lead Grossing Steers £1828 £1624 Askwiths. £1783 C Orton. £1704 £1380 JA Fayers. £1686 £1518 £1516 £1507 £1464 £1463 GA&VA Adams. £1674 £1647 P&JH Davison. £1659 £1622 K&J Heslop. £1572 M Eagle. £1551 £1444 RA&BA Ridley & Son Ltd. £1454 IW Cairns. £1387 T Watson.
Heifers – Top prices ppk 317 297 294 290 289 285 WA Armstrong. 313 306 295 294 290 288 286 R Hirst. 304 JH&M&NW Brown. 300 294 292 285 JE Suddes & Son. 299 AC Simpson & Son. 299 285 T Greetham. 294 D Robson & Sons. 292 285 284×2 PJ&ES Rogerson. 291 K&J Heslop. 291 290 287×2 B Walker. 289 Askwiths. 288 F&JS Gargett. 286 EW Grieves. 285 JV&JA Hodgson. 280 WF Hustwit.
Lead Grossing Heifers £1880 £1816 £1769 AC Simpson & Son. £1792 WJ&AS Bowes & Sons. £1774 £1753 R Hirst. £1773 RA&BA Ridley & Son Ltd. £1761 £1754 £1750 £1740 £1713 £1695 JV&JA Hodgson. £1753 M Eagle. £1730 Askwiths. £1728 £1683 D Robson & Sons. £1723 £1690 £1681 B Walker. £1720 JH&M&NW Brown. £1714 £1698 £1687 £1666 JE Suddes & Son. £1708×2 £1697 £1672 WA Armstrong. £1685 F&JS Gargett.
Prime Hoggs (1397) – Firmer on the week but the vendors with big weights are finding some resistance, the heavy hoggs are certainly trickier to move as the gap between 40kg and 60kg noticeably narrows. A weighed straight sale average of 250ppk with an SQQ of 268ppk. A super run of hoggs from Nottinghamshire and the Executors of G M T Foljambe, Osberton led the pence per kilo when they sold to a top of 327 pence, top of the gross values came much more locally as Stockton-on-Tees based J Hird of Thorney Close Farm produced a beautiful Beltex at £160. Some meat among the Mule’s today saw them peak at £114 with Cheviots to a top of £112, Scottish Blackface selling to a high of £104 and well fed Swaledale’s peaking at £100.
Hoggs – Top prices ppk 326 314 309 306 302 300×2 286 282 Executors of GMT Foljambe. 312 309 294 289 285 275 272×2 270 WA Wardman Ltd. 302 A&EJ Dobinson. 300 RE&L Frank. 295 273 Bowes Bros. 290 271×2 MW Barker & Son. 284 280 276 275×2 273×2 271 CS Robinson. 284 RO Gilson. 282 J Layfield. 281 F Dixon & Sons. 275 J Hird. 275 KA&V Armstrong. 275×2 CH&MC Phalp. 270 P Bisby. 267 P Turnbull.
Lead Grossing Hoggs £160 £127.50 £127 J Hird. £145.50 £130×2 £128 £127 £125 £124.50 £124 WA Wardman Ltd. £139.50 £137×3 £135.50 £135×2 £133.50 £132.50 AC Simpson & Son. £136 K&MM Henderson. £135.50 £134.50 £132 £130 £129 M&CLR Dale. £135 P Bisby. £135 £126.50 RE&L Frank. £135 £129×3 £127.50 Execotors of GMT Foljambe. £130 £127.50 T Duckitt. £130 A&EJ Dobinson. £125×3 MW Barker & Son. £125 R Wood & Son.
Cast Ewes & Rams (252) – A lighter show resulted in a breath-taking trade, superb Beltex ewes from both T N Callender, Whinney Hill and William Tindale, Shadforth broke £200; in the end it was the infamous Shadforth bachelor who went on and claimed the top spot. Mule ewes this week hit a high of £138 whilst the best pen of fleshed Swaledale’s sold for £83.
Lead Grossing Cast Sheep £210 £120 £115 £110×2 William Tindale. £206 £102 £90 TN Callender. £174 £155×2 £140 £120 W&M Knaggs & Son. £160 £120 T Nesbitt & Son. £150 K Tallentire. £150 £112 WB Rutter & Sons. £138 £109 £104 R Tookey & Son. £134 £121 £120 £110 GC&JC Pullan. £128 £118 WA Wardman Ltd. £124 M Dent. £120 £108 JW&DW Laing. £120 £114 RE&L Frank. £106 JR Raine & Sons. £106 J Davis.
Prime Pigs (11) – The pigs remain on special offer, how on earth can a gallon of diesel be worth more than a leg of pork? This time next week the fuel could honestly become so expensive it might well be more cost effective for us to ride a pig to work!
Pigs – Top prices ppk 90×2 J Mitchell & Son. 40 M Dent.
Leda Grossing Pigs £76 £74 J Mitchell & Son. M Dent £48
