Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of prime stock on Thursday 9th February 2023. Forward were 215 Cattle and 2093 Sheep.
86 Prime Bulls sold to 328ppk or £2802
29 Prime Steers sold to 335ppk or £2536
100 Prime Heifers sold to 346ppk or £2452
1827 Prime Hoggs sold to 335ppk or £158
266 Cast Ewes & Rams sold to £134
Prime Bulls (86) – A few more forward as our regular faithful were joined by a float full of marauding Scottish bulls. A stunning trade throughout, by no means a posh show averaged a brilliant 267 pence per kilo. A fantastic fifteen times bidding passed 300 pence per kilo, top of the tree at a wonderful 328ppk were regular selling brothers Cliff and Terry Watson of Nunstainton Grange, Rushyford with a superb 723kg Limousin. Closest rival to the Watson wonder bull proved to be a brilliant British Blue from the Renton Highlaws team at 320ppk which placed just ahead of a great Limousin from W J & A S Bowes & Sons at 319ppk. On to the gross values, a memorable day on which an almost ridiculous 35 bulls sold over £2000, the top seven all passed £2500 and included a great Charolais from E Scott, Linross alongside the Bowes beauty already mentioned; special praise goes to four fine Limousin’s from A C Simpson & Son, McNeil Farm selling between £2583 and £2650 however the sale leader hailed from North of the border as an unbelievable 973kg Limousin from R M Adam & Son, Newhouse of Glamis reached a staggering £2802. Friesian trade was frantic and the dearest witnessed even during this current boom, the excellent feeding of R Hall & Son, Kilton Hall, Brotton saw them reach 240ppk whilst a topper from S H Watson & Son, Station Farm, Winston impressed at £1645. Below are some of the days leading averages.
Renton Highlaws sold 2 to average 310ppk and £2280
A C Simpson & Son, Witton-le-Wear sold 4 to average 307ppk and £2620
A G Watson & Sons, Rushyford sold 7 to average 303ppk and £2109
D Richardson & Co, Melsonby sold 7 to average 293ppk and £2168
Foxton Livestock, Egglestone sold 3 to average 292ppk and £2101
R M Adam & Son, Glamis sold 2 to average 285ppk and £2275
Continental Bulls Leading PPK – 328 305(x2) 299 295(x2) 294 A G Watson & Sons. 320 301 Renton Highlaws Ltd. 319 W J & A S Bowes & Sons. 314 310 308 300 A C Simpson & Son. 312 301 298 289(x2) 287 276 D Richardson & Co. 308 W J Scott Ltd. 305 304 Foxton Livestock. 294 R W & R Henry. 292 281 E Scott. 290 284 276 G Younger. 289 J K & C E Farming. 288 282 R M Adam & Son. 276 G & A Christie. 276 C A & J Kipling.
Friesian Bulls Leading PPK – 240 233 R Hall & Son. 239 234 229 228 J M & S Walton. 230 J K & C E Farming. 227 220 219 R Stewart & Co. 223 215 S H Watson & Son.
Continental Bulls Leading Gross – £2802 R M Adam & Son. £2650 £2627 £2618 £2586 A C Simpson & Son. £2583 W J & A S Bowes & Sons. £2549 £2408 £2102 £2079 E Scott. £2405 W J Scott Ltd. £2371 £2269 £2188 £2122 A G Watson & Sons. £2357 G & A Christie. £2308 £2252 Renton Highlaws Ltd. £2307 £2150 Foxton Livestock. £2302 £2277 £2215 £2175 £2118 £2086 £2006 D Richardson & Co. £2262 £2220 £2188 £2049 G & A Taylor. £2222 £2018 R W & R Henry. £2034 J K & C E Farming. £2034 C A & J Kipling.
Friesian Bulls Leading Gross – £1645 £1599 S H Wastson & Son. £1577 £1516 £1513 £1472 J M & S Walton. £1543 £1500 R Hall & Son. £1449 J K & C E Farming. £1389 £1379 £1375 R Stewart & Co.
Clean Cattle (129) – We need a Sherpa, surely the summit is near? Without doubt the dearest trade ever seen, credit to the vendors on a lovely show of cattle which saw averages of heifers 298ppk and steers a stunning 299ppk, the whole caboodle levelled up very close to £1800 per head. A staggering 70 beast sold over 300 pence, the top three couldn’t be split as a pair of excellent Limousin heifers from regular sellers J V & J A Hodgson, The Grange, Summerhouse joined a brilliant British Blue heifer from W J Scott Ltd, Low Leam Farm, West Woodburn at a memorable 346 pence per kilo. Another superstar from the on-song Hodgson’s followed at 343ppk just ahead of a terrific trio from team Renton at High Highlaws between 337 and 340ppk. A further ten terrific cattle sold in the 330’s which included our top two steers, the first a great sort from Barker Farming Partnership, Scorton however out in front was Ponteland based M F Hall, Woodhill Farm with a sublime handy weight Limousin reaching 335ppk. With an astonishing 17 of the 29 steers offered selling in the 300’s and 11 over £2000 the gross values look enough to make any regular deadweight sellers weep; the brilliant Barker Farming Partnership run included our top three gross valued steers all over £2300 with their best a fabulous 783kg Limousin realising a massive £2536. On to the smoking hot heifers, some absolute heroics from Bishopton’s Heather Marks put her at the top this week with a genuine world beater, a stunning home bred 804kg Limousin added up to a mighty £2452, her stable mate scaled beyond £2200 with the notable Barker Farming, Gerard Quinn, Renton’s, Scott’s and Hodgson’s all gathered closely in a high-flying chasing pack. Well done to all listed below as the beef trade is seemingly the gift that keeps on giving.
Steers
Barker Farming, Scorton sold 8 to average 320ppk and £2185
M F Hall, Ponteland sold 2 to average 316ppk and £1753
W J Scott Ltd, West Woodburn sold 3 to average 314ppk and £2098
Renton Highlaws, Morpeth sold 3 to average 311ppk and £1729
Heifers
Renton Highlaws, Morpeth sold 5 to average 332ppk and £1898
Barker Farming, Scorton sold 2 to average 329ppk and £2128
J V & J A Hodgson, Summerhouse sold 12 to average 327ppk and £1941
J L Marks, Bishopton sold 3 to average 322ppk and £2188
W J Smith & Partners, Richmond sold 4 to average 319ppk and £1680
P Weightman & Sons, Easington sold 2 to average 318ppk and £1837
J E Suddes & Son, Cornsay Colliery sold 5 to average 317ppk and £1920
S & J Dent & Son, Darlington sold 2 to average 312ppk and £1800
W J Scott Ltd, West Woodburn sold 7 to average 311ppk and £1953
Steers Leading PPK – 335 299 M F Hall. 330 326 325 324(x3) 311 305 Barker Farming Partnership. 327 319 300 W J Scott Ltd. 326 J L Marks. 318 315 300 Renton Highlaws Ltd. 315 T N Callender. 288(x2) P & J H Davison. 284 L R Welsh & Co. 281 K & J Heslop.
Heifers Leading PPK – 346 335 329 324 W J Scott Ltd. 346(x2) 343 336 332 330 327 326 321 J V & J A Hodgson. 340 339 337 329 316 Renton Highlaws. 336 332 J L Marks. 335 324 322 J E Suddes & Son. 330 329 Barker Farming Partnership. 327 P Weightman & Sons. 326 322 316 314 W J Smith & Partners. 326 318 R Hirst. 323 M F Hall. 321 B Walker. 318 T N Callender. 318 K & J Heslop. 314 S & J Dent & Son. 314 W F Hustwit.
Steers Leading Gross – £2536 £2326 £2305 £2219 £2135 £2004 £1993 £1963 Barker Farming Partnership. £2269 £2170 £1978 L R Welsh & Co. £2150 £2088 £2056 W J Scott Ltd. £1946 £1920 £1840 P & J H Davison. £1895 £1820 Renton Highlaws Ltd. £1884 J L Marks. £1852 T N Callender. £1835 M F Hall.
Heifers Leading Gross – £2452 £2201 £1911 J L Marks. £2158 £2099 Barker Farming Partnership. £2112 £1948 £1899 £1824 J E Suddes & Son. £2091 £1931 £1861 £1860 Renton Highlaws Ltd. £2072 £2031 £2013 £1944 £1913 £1882 W J Scott Ltd. £2065 £2044 £2013 £1974 £1965 £1955 £1942 £1898 £1862 £1861(x2) £1850 J V & J A Hodgson. £1906 £1890 £1853 £1827 R Hirst. £1904 J A Gilson. £1881 £1875 B Walker. £1876 P Weightman & Sons. £1834 M F Hall. £1818 S & J Dent & Son.
Prime Hoggs (1827) – The hoggs lifted £6 to £10 apiece this week as buyers all came out fighting, as always in DfAM every hogg was weighed straight and the sale averaged a healthy 242ppk; with the export sheep in most demand an excellent SQQ average of 248ppk was achieved. Top price per kilo at 335 pence was a super single 44kg Beltex hogg from C & N Waters, Little Ayton; plenty of other hoggs joined them in the 300 pence plus club. Bidding reached at least £150 on six occasions, top of them all was an excellent trio of 50kg Beltex hoggs from R E & L Frank, Carlton-in-Cleveland when they sold for £158; some magic from the Midlands fell just £1 adrift of the top from P R Weaver, Knapthorpe. Mule hoggs sold to a top of £109, Cheviots to £111 and an increased entry of light weight horned hoggs proved much easier to move and traded regularly £60 to £70.
Hoggs- Top prices ppk 335 C&N Waters. 316 RE&L Frank. 315 303 284 W Ramsay & Sons. 310 305 287 280 274 WA Wardman LTD. 306 276 M&A Gaskin. 304 290 B Layfield. 300 278 277 D&PH Brown. 294 271 PJ Tindale. 290 285 PR Weaver. 289 280 JD Brannen. 297 278 278 276 273 AS Whitfield. 283 IM Maughan. 282 279 J Pallister & Sons. 281 x2 271 GW Whittington Livestock. 279 DA Burn. 277 J&A Layfield. 277 G Simpson. 276 RO Gilson. 271 B Watson. 271 PR&V Barlow & Son.
Lead Grossing Hoggs- £158 RE&L Frank. £157 £140 PR Weaver. £151 £138 AS Whitfield. £150 £150 £146 D&PH Brown. £150 £140 £140 £139 £137 £136.50 £135 B Layfield. £147.50 C&N Waters. £147 R Wood & Son. £144 £141 M&A Gaskin. £142 £141 £140 x2 £139.50 £135 x2 £134 x4 AC Simpson & Son. £141 £137 J Pallister & Sons. £141 £140 x2 WA Wardman LTD. £136 J&A Layfield. £135 134.50 £134 GW Whittington Livestock. £133.50 W Ramsay & Sons.
Cast Ewes & Rams (266) – A pretty ordinary show of ewes on the whole looked a firmer trade than in previous weeks, heavy ewes most sought after and topping at £134 for a trio of Texels from C & N Waters rounding off a good day for the Little Ayton based firm. Mule ewes climbed back beyond £100 this week whilst the hottest of the horned sheep were Swaledales selling for £60.
Lead Grossing Cast Sheep- £134 £107 C&N Waters. £130 x2 D&PH Brown. £130 £100 I Spedding. £120 W Kirk & Sons. £120 x2 William Tindale. £120 £110 AWSM Farms. £117 £102 RO Gilson. £115 £114 JC Scurr. £115 PD Shepherd Farm. £114 Wendy Suddes. £112 £110 £103 JC&A Hutchinson. £110 E Scott. £110 JM&S Walton. £109 M&A Gaskin. £108 £100 Ivanhoe Livestock Partnership. £107 £100 JV Hodgson & Son. £103 G Scott. £102 I Marshall & Sons. £101 D&P Heppell.
