Thursday Prime Stock

21st July 2022

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Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of Prime Stock on Thursday 21st July 2022. Forward were 177 Cattle, 2540 Sheep and 8 Pigs.

57 Prime Bulls sold to 304ppk or £2685
25 Prime Steers sold to 301ppk or £2018
95 Prime Heifers sold to 328ppk or £2099
2096 Prime Lambs sold to 319ppk or £161
444 Cast Ewes & Rams sold to £180

Prime Bulls (57) – Bull trade hotter than the weather of Tuesday gone, a stunning sale average of 252ppk and £1786 with the top ten all at least 280 pence per kilo and eight over £2200 plus a further nine beyond £2000. Out in front per kilo was a fabulous 797kg British Blue from A S & S M Kemp, Sherburn when he reached a staggering 304 pence; in hot pursuit were a barrage of Limousin’s including more from the Kemp consignment plus some superstars from W J & A S Bowes & Sons and the familiar good feeding and breeding of A C Simpson & Son. Top of the gross values were indeed the remarkable homebred Limousin’s of A C Simpson & Son, McNeil Farm with three beyond £2500 and the topper a 959kg brut which almost beggared belief at £2685. Our faithful fraternity of Friesian feeders also enjoyed a successful day with top prices of 223ppk for R Hall & Son, Brotton and a pleasing £1523 for regular seller D Walker, High Woodifield Farm East. Below are some superb averages, deadweight sellers take note we have no weight, farm assurance or age discrimination in the live ring.

A C Simpson & Son, Witton-le-Wear sold 4 Bulls to average 282ppk and £2533
W J & A S Bowes & Sons, Stainton sold 3 Bulls to average 281ppk and £2267
J E Jordon & Son, Morpeth sold 2 Bulls to average 273ppk and £1581
A S & S M Kemp, Sherburn sold 8 Bulls to average 269ppk and £2153
J H & M & N W Brown sold 4 Bulls to average 268ppk and £1823

Continental Bulls – Top prices ppk 304 290 286 280 277 250 AS&SM Kemp. 292 286 265 WJ&AS Bowes & Sons. 290×2 280 271 AC Simpson & Son. 285261 JE Jordon & Son. 275 274 269 257 JH&M&NW Brown. 273 C Harle & Sons. 270 JK&CE Farming. 267 264 261 LW Martin. 250 DL&D Lovegreen. 248 246 245 240 239 Dromonby Bridge Farm Ltd. 247 240 J Richmond. 246×2 JE&B Morgan & Sons.

Lead Grossing Continental Bulls £2685 £2586 £2520 £2343 AC Simpson & Son. £2422 £2218 £2186 £2175 £2132 £2099 £2010 AS&SM Kemp. £2397 £2282 £2122 WJ&AS Bowes & Sons. £2096 C Harle & Sons. £2063 £2024 £1922 £1862 Dromonby Bridge Farm Ltd. £1913 IR Appleton. £1912 £1848 £1831 £1703 JH&M&NW Brown. £1857 JK&CE Farming. £1783 £1643 JE&B Morgan & Sons. £1770 £1739 £1727 LW Martin. £1706 J Richmond.

Friesian Bulls – Top prices ppk 223 218 R Hall & Son. 211 210 202 187 D Walker. 196 GW Dobson & Son.

Lead Grossing Friesian Bulls £1523 £1415 £1181 £992 D Walker. £1460 GW Dobson & Son. £1425 £1413 R Hall & Son.

Native Breed Bulls – Top prices ppk 249 AS&SM Kemp.

Lead Grossing Native Breed Bulls £1979 AS&SM Kemp.

Clean Cattle (120) – As with the bulls our clean beef trade this week was absolutely flying, mesmerising returns see heifers average 284ppk and steers 267ppk; no less than 35 cattle sold for at least 300 pence per kilo, several over £2000 and the whole shooting match averaged an excellent £1644. Two vendors shared top place at 328 pence per kilo as Marrick based N White, Barf House joined regular sellers R Hirst, Neasham Grange in the winner’s enclosure, a further pair from the Marrick maestro sold at 324ppk ahead of a stunner from the consistent J V & J A Hodgson at 320ppk. Topping the steers per kilo was A Crowder of Butsfield Burn with a fleshy homebred Limousin selling for 301 pence. On the fabulous trade this week some excellent gross values were naturally recorded, in third place a brilliantly fed Limousin heifer from J E Suddes & Son, Cornsay Colliery reached £2005; second this week was our top steer, a magnificent homebred British Blue from the superb yard of W J Scott Ltd, West Woodburn at £2018 however nobody could catch a sensational 30 month old Limousin heifer from B J Baker, Olives Farm which travelled all the way from East Sussex and duly headed back South with a rewarding gross value of £2099. Those listed below will surely remember the cattle trade and not the heatwave from this week.

Steers
W J Scott Ltd, West Woodburn sold 5 to average 284ppk and £1855
J H & M & N W Brown, Darlington sold 2 to average 282ppk and £1727
Askwiths, Crook sold 3 to average 279ppk and £1849
W J Smith & Partners, Richmond sold 4 to average 279ppk and £1617

Heifers
B Walker, Dalton-on-Tees sold 3 to average 314ppk and £1567
N White, Marrick sold 6 to average 306ppk and £1746
R Hirst, Neasham sold 9 to average 304ppk and £1698
W A Armstrong, Coxhoe sold 10 to average 301ppk and £1752
P J & M P Gilhespy, Ponteland sold 5 to average 299ppk and £1683
J E Suddes & Son, Cornsay Colliery sold 5 to average 293ppk and £1905
D H Lawson, Leyburn sold 3 to average 293ppk and £1657
J V & J A Hodgson, Summerhouse sold 12 to average 289ppk and £1738
B J Baker, East Sussex sold 2 to average 276ppk and £2041

Steers – Top prices ppk 301 A Crowder. 294 PJ&MP Gilhespy. 293 290 288 279 272 WJ Scott Ltd. 288 277 JH&M&NW Brown. 286 282 272 Askwiths. 286×2 276 272 WJ Smith & Partners. 279 DL&D Lovegreen. 274 P&JH Davison. 238 237 230 JC&P Tallentire. 234 M Ord & Sons.

Lead Grossing Steers £2018 £1895 £1807 £1780 £1776 WJ Scott Ltd. £1899 A Crowder. £1867 £1861 £1819 Askwiths. £1841 P&JH Davison. £1775 £1679 JH&M&NW Brown. £1716 £1645 £1633 WJ Smith & Partners. £1675 PJ&MP Gilhespy. £1668 DL&D Lovegreen. £1563 M Ord & Sons. £1490 £1464 £1454 JC&P Tallentire.

Heifers – Top prices ppk 328 324×2 308 305 N White. 328 318 312×2 308 304 300 R Hirst. 320 318 304 298 290 287 JV&JA Hodgson. 319 304 302 WF Hustwit. 318 303 293 JE Suddes & Son. 318 313 310 307 305×2 300 295 290 WA Armstrong. 316×2 310 B Walker. 314 301 300 297 286 PJ&MP Gilhespy. 300 Askwiths. 298 288 WJ Scott Ltd. 296×2 290 DH Lawson. 292 BJ Baker. 290 P&JH Davison. 289 A Crowder.

Lead Grossing Heifers £2099 £1883 BJ Baker. £2005 £1971 £1876 £1866 £1806 JE Suddes & Son. £1960 WJ Scott Ltd. £1931 £1814 £1726 £1714 N White. £1899 £1798 JE Jordan. £1888 £1857 £1847 £1846 £1753 £1760 £1758 £1750 JV&JA Hodgson. £1878 £1848 £1820 £1815 £1814 £1765 £1737 WA Armstrong. £1860 £1794 £1790 £1758 £1750 R Hirst. £1808 WF Hustwit. £1779 £1736 PJ&MP Gilhespy. £1743 Askwiths. £1713 A Crowder.

Prime Lambs (2096) – The usual July trade dip is upon us, after a terrific Spring the buyers accelerator was certainly relaxed somewhat with a weighed straight sale average of 265 pence per kilo and £111.91 per head; for the first time this season we drop behind last year’s levels, all be it by just 99 pence per head on the corresponding week (500 more forward today). Top price per kilo went to a cracking single 42kg Beltex lamb from J D Brannen, Red Barns Farm which sold for 319 pence and £134. Heavy weighted lambs are by far the easiest to sell and little surprise that our top gross values were all of considerable stature, top of the day were a quintet of 55kg Texel lambs from M & A Gaskin, Holdsworth Farm which sold for £161 apiece.

Lambs- Top prices ppk 319 311 308 JD Brannen. 314 308 297 295 289 287 285 JV&JA Hodgson. 310 F Kearton. 304 GF Whitfield. 302×2 300×2 290 287 W&M Knaggs & Son. 302 298 292 M&A Gaskin. 301 294 292 PR Weaver. 297 295 289 W.K M.M Lamb. 294 291 JA&A Herbert. 290 288 MW&M Skidmore. 290 P Foster. 289 T Lawson & Son. 286 C Binks & Son. 286 D&PH Brown. 286 DR Smith. 285 I Burn & Sons. 285 Anna Herbert.

Lead Grossing Lambs £161 £140.50 £136 M&A Gaskin. £159 £142.50 £133 T Lawson & Son. £153 Gilson Agriculture. £148 Dromonby Bridge. £145 £135 £133 £132 £131 £130 JV&JA Hodgson. £145 £131 W.K M.M Lamb. £143 F Kearton. £143 £130 DR Smith. £140 SM Donaldson. £139 £134 JD Brannen. £138.50 PR Weaver. £138 £136 JJ Horn. £137 AJ Gibson Farming. £136 GW Maw. £135 C&V Harrison. £134.50 D&PH Brown. £132 MC&M Sparke.

Cast Ewes & Rams (444) – A plainer show of ewes however trade better, remarkable in fact for July. P Stott, Croxdale took the lead this week with 3 Texel ewes at a cracking £180 which were purchased by Yorkshire Halal Meat Ltd; nearby followed K & PM Lough, Wolsingham at £159 with 3 Texel ewes. Strong Mule ewes sold regularly between £110 and £120 with Swaledale’s often the top side of £70.

Cast Sheep- £180 P Stott. £159 £146 £140 K & PM Lough. £146 £134 £124 JA & A Herbert. £146 DA Gill. £145 £122 JL Gill & Son. £144 £130 £120 £114 £109 MW Reed. £140 £136 £130 JG Atkinson. £136 £130 £129 T & AE Miller. £135 £116 D & PH Brown. £132 £130 £120 C J & J Simpson. £131 £116 M W & M Skidmore. £131 £117 J Murray. £130 £110 K Hall. £130 £126 £110 £109 C Harle & Sons. £130 £114 KO Stones. £128 AJ Gibson Farming. £120 (x2) £116 £110 Thoresby Livestock. £116 Charlotte Newton. £115 J Millbank & Sons. £114 JS Wiper. £112 RA Patterson. £111 (x2) Gray. £110 JR & J Crowe.

Prime Pigs (8) – Despite the uncertainty surrounding which pig will run the country next our trade seems relatively unaffected.

Pigs – Top prices ppk 110×2 C Weightman.
Lead Grossing Pigs £79 £77 C Weightman.