Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of Prime Stock on Thursday 14th April. Forward were
1 New Season Lamb sold for 324ppk and £129.50
715 Prime Hoggs sold to 325ppk or £180
254 Cast Ewes & Rams sold to £280
Prime Sheep (716) – Dearer again with particular interest in the export weights, the sale averaged a weighed 100% straight 256ppk with an SQQ average of 279ppk. Top price per kilo went to a super smart quintet of Beltex hoggs from Ponteland based P J & M P Gilhespy; weighing 43kg they sold for 325ppk (£140). Top gross value was a mighty Texel from W M Reed & Sons, Weardale which tipped the scales to 86kg and sold for an impressive £180. As usual a fair proportion of hill and Mule lambs were in attendance today, Scottish Blackface sold to £123, Cheviots topped at £125 and a pair of monster Mule’s led their section at £130.
Hoggs – Top prices ppk 325 323 302 291 286 273 PJ&MP Gilhespy. 313 289×2 283 281 270 268 263 256 JH&D Wise. 305 295 288×2 280278 2077 272 T White & Sons. 294 JL Gill & Son. 294 293 292SC Brown. 293 282×2 272×2 H 263 Haywood & Son Ltd. 287 JD Seymour. 275 L&S Barker. 271 P Stewart. 268 265 LW Martin. 263 TW Clark & Son. 263 W Wearmouth & Son. 263 L&S Barker. 263 AC Simpson & Son.
Lead Grossing Hoggs £180 WM Reed & Sons. £150 £145 £140 £138 £137 £136×3 £135×2 £130×3 AC Simpson & Son. £140 £132.50 £130 £126 £125.50 PJ&MP Gilhespy. £140 £139 £130 T White & Sons. £140 EW Grieves. £140 TW Clark & Son. £137 £129.50 £127.50 £127×2 £126 £125×2 RH Thompson & Son. £135 £126.50 H Haywood & Son. £130 JR Knox & Son. £130 JR&J Crowe. £130 £123.50 JD Seymour.
Cast Ewes & Rams (254) – The ewe train stays on the tracks and travelling at quite some speed indeed. This week’s pick were a pair of brilliant Texel’s from Nottinghamshire’s Ian Kirk when they sold for £280, top Suffolk came from the same good home at £250 whilst Mule ewes topped at £140 and horned ewes hit £100. At these prices the lambing casualties are not the disaster they once were, the smart move is to get them away now.
Lead Grossing Cast £280 £260 3250 £192 £180×2 £170 £150 Ian Kirk. £270 H Thompson. £260 EW Grieves. £210 R Thompson. £190 I Spedding. £185 £140 Anthony Tindale. £175 William Tindale. £170 AWSM Farms. £168 J Thompson. £160 £150×2 £136×2 JV Hodgson & Son. £160 MJ Hutchinson. £150 £142 JL Gill & Son. £150 £145 £137 £136 £133 B&SM Rutherford & Son. £150 HM Hutchinson. £150 £130×2 A Wilson. £145 £140 I&A Holmes. £140 £138 PJ&MP Gilhespy. £138 G Thompson & Sons. 3134 JR Knox. £132 P Stewart.
