Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of Prime Stock on Thursday 14th October 2021. Forward were 212 Cattle, 2616 Sheep and 5 Pigs.
86 Prime Bulls sold to 270ppk or £2035
34 Prime Steers sold to 306ppk or £2021
90 Prime Heifers sold to 332ppk or £2318
2 Cast Cows sold to 160ppk or £1094
2091 Prime Lambs sold to 302ppk or £146
525 Cast Ewes & Rams sold to £122
5 Prime Pigs sold to 115ppk or £96
Prime Bulls (86) – Undoubtedly an improved trade today as bull numbers appear to have tightened this week everywhere, a whopping sale average of 228ppk is all the more impressive knowing that the show included 25 black and white bulls and 10 native breeds. Twice we reached the dizzy heights of 270 pence per kilo as luscious Limousin’s from both A G Watson & Sons, Rushyford and Leicestershire’s M & G Chantrell Ltd set the furious pace, half a dozen other bulls sold at 260ppk or beyond and amazingly 18 more sold between 250 and 259ppk. Five terrific bulls this week joined the £2000 plus club, the pick of them by a whisker came from Durham’s T W Clark & Son, Frankland Farm at £2035; chasing hard were a pair from the prolific A G Watson & Sons plus a delightful duo of pure Limousin’s from welcome first time vendors, St Boswells based T D Wight & Sons, Whitrighill. As is currently the case, thick meat is at the top of all the shopping lists and that was certainly apparent with our top native breed bull from J A & M Boyes Ltd, Cleatlam who’s Hereford bull sold for 227ppk and £1733. Mention again goes to the Boyes pen as they produced the top dairy breed, a Fleckveih which sold for 225ppk and £1651; the Friesian vendors also impressed when F S Sturrock & Sons, Elwick reached a massive £1438 and the dependable R Hall & Son, Brotton topped at 203 pence per kilo. Listed below are half a dozen of today’s bull ring heroes.
M & G Chantrell Ltd, Leicestershire sold 8 Bulls to average 259ppk and £1632
A G Watson & Sons, Rushyford sold 9 Bulls to average 256ppk and £1880
N White, Marrick sold 8 Bulls to average 256ppk and £1711
T Wight & Sons, St Boswells sold 4 Bulls to average 247ppk and £1997
W J & A S Bowes & Sons, Stainton sold 2 Bulls to average 241ppk and £1907
T W Clark & Son, Durham sold 4 Bulls to average 240ppk and £1876
Continental Bulls – Top prices ppk 270 269 266 261 259 258 248 246 AG Watson & Sons. 270 264 259 258 257 256×2 254 M&G Chantrell Ltd. 260 259 258×3 257 254 247 N White. 260 247 TW Clark & Son. 257 254 247 244×2 237 235 D Richardson & Co Ltd. 256 249 244 240 TD Wight & Sons. 253 230 WJ&AS Bowes & Sons. 249×2 JJ Horn. 230 JK&CE Farming.
Lead Grossing Continental Bulls £2035 £1915 £1892 TW Clark & Son. £2027 £2002 £1970 £1941 £1894 £1891 £1867 £1800 AG Watson & Sons. £2016 £2013 £1994 £1966 TD Wight & Sons. £1970 £1844 WJ&AS Bowes & Sons. £1931 £1910 £1889 £1851 £1842 £1784 £1781 £1749 D Richardson & Co Ltd. £1878 £1842 N White. £1862 £1735 JJ Horn. £1702 £1701 M&G Chantrell Ltd.
Friesian Bulls – Top prices ppk 203 R Hall & Son. 197 JK&CE Farming. 190 184 180 177 FS Sturrock. 184 180 JE&B Morgan & Sons. 181 179 JA&A Herbert. 180 178 170 C&M Atkinson & Sons. 170×2 167 166 C&M Atkinson & Sons.
Lead Grossing Friesian Bulls £1438 £1213 £1106 £1076 FS Sturrock & Sons. £1226 R Hall & Sons. £1185 JK&CE Farming. £1009 £984 JE&B Morgan & Sons. £986 £959 £936 C&M Atkinson & Sons. £955 £945 £890 D Walker.
Native Breed Bulls – Top prices ppk 227 222 220 218 JA&M Boyes Ltd. 225 210 FS Sturrock & Sons. 195 194 R Hall & Sons.
Lead Grossing Native Breed Bulls £1733 £1713 £1704 £1645 JA&M Boyes Ltd. £1678 £1411 FS Sturrock & Sons. £1306 £1175 R Hall & Son.
Clean Cattle (124) – A spectacular trade this week, quality beast from all corners fuelled the DFAM ring once again with a particularly good show; the regular parliament of faithful wholesalers and butchers then charged forward leaving the averages high as heifers levelled at a wonderful 286ppk and the steers 260ppk. It is then a monumental achievement just to gain mention in this week’s report as some superstar cattle were on display. Heifers first, top spot went to one of the Border Reivers at 332 pence per kilo when W M Flemming of Moss Tower, Kelso narrowly fought off his compatriot Robert Neill & Partners, Jedburgh by a single penny. On a day which saw 10 heifers at 320ppk or more plus another 15 sell 320ppk to 329ppk the top end trade was truly electric, great challenges to the leaders came from numerous consignors, so many could easily have taken the top spot. Three H’s off our doorstep must be mentioned as the Hirst’s, Hodgson’s and Heslop’s produced the goods, as indeed did Cumbrian challenger James Chrichton; both quality and weight from both Barker Farming, Scorton and the ‘Mighty Quinn’ of Cornsay impressed also and we can by no means forget a good heifer or two from today’s representative of Amanda Staveley’s black and white army, P J & M P Gilhespy, Ponteland. An amazing six times today heifers sold over £2000, a round of applause then is in order for both J V & J A Hodgson, Summerhose and J E Suddes & Son, Cornsay but the feeding credentials of Barker Farming Partnership, Scorton always take some matching and todays star turn was an exceptional 843kg Charolais which left with a phenomenal gross value of £2318. On to the steers, up from the Midlands and pillaging the podium places were a fabulous run from M & G Chantrell Ltd, Leicestershire which sold to a top of 306 pence per kilo. Some 14 of the 34 steers today sold at 290ppk or more including our top gross valued bullock a fleshy 683kg Limousin from R A & B A Ridley & Son, Dipton Foot, Hexham. Some super scores on the leader board below.
W M Fleming, Kelso sold 8 Heifers to average 318ppk and £1852
J J Crichton, Egremont sold 4 Heifers to average 308ppk and £1836
R Hirst, Neasham sold 10 Heifers to average 308ppk and £1748
J V & J A Hodgson, Summerhouse sold 12 Heifers to average 307ppk and £1784
R Neill & Partners, Jedburgh sold 4 Heifers, 3 Steers to average 292ppk and £1813
M & G Chantrell Ltd, Leicestershire sold 12 Steers to average 289ppk and £1723
J E Suddes & Son, Cornsay Colliery sold 5 Heifers to average 280ppk and £2005
Barker Farming Partnership, Scorton sold 6 Heifers to average 249ppk and £2031
Steers – Top prices ppk 306 305 298×2 297 294 293 290×2274 269 266 M&G Chantrell Ltd. 297 296 Robert Neil & Partners. 296 280 257×2 242 240 238 RA&BA Ridley & Son Ltd. 293×2 284 JL Marks. 239 A Crowder. 233 213 JM&MAC Wise. 220 TN Callender. 202 A Stanwix. 201 P Metcalfe.
Lead Grossing Steers £2021 £1885 £1883 £1864 £1732 £1577 £1548 £1476 RA&BA Ridley & Son Ltd. £1975 £1909 £1766 Robert Neil & Partners. £1788 £1780 £1766 £1764 £1751 £1738 £1737 £1716 £1705 £1692 £1681 M&G Chantrell Ltd. £1617 JL Marks. £1597 TN Callender. £1543 A Crowder. £1543 £1483 A&CA Stanwix. £1488 £1484 JM&M&C Wise. £1473 P Metcalfe.
Heifers – Top prices ppk 332 327 325 324 315 313 311 299 WM Fleming. 331 294 Robert Neil & Partners. 328×2 315 313×2 308 306 300×2 JV&JA Hodgson. 322 321 320 315 311 306 302 R Hirst. 318 317 314 PJ&MP Gilhespy. 311 293 JE Suddes & Son. 311 310 308 306 JJ Crichton. 310 307 K&J Heslop. 300 299 P&JH Davison. 294×2 PJ&ES Rogerson.
Lead Grossing Heifers £2318 £2116 £2033 £1963 £1913 £1801 Barker Farming Partnership. £2191 £2139 £1969 £1884 £1842 JE Suddes & Son. £2003 £1934 £1890 £1879 £1874 £1794 £1734 JV&JA Hodgson. £1982 £1749 £1722 Robert Neil & Partners. £1980 £1915 £1836 JJ Crichton. £1969 £1908 £1906 £1863 £1845 £1805 £1769 £1750 WM Fleming. £1932 £1824 £1759 £1751 £1731 £1722×2 R Hirst. £1848 K&J Heslop. £1822 £1748 PJ&MP Gilhespy. £1716 PJ&ES Rogerson.
Prime Lambs (2091) – The jolly sheep trade marches on relentlessly through October, with every kilo called straight on the bridge another 2000 lamb day left us with an impressive sale average of 231ppk and £102, production costs are up however we remain pleasingly some 24 pence per kilo and £12 per head up on the same week last year. A real two tier show on offer today, the better bred and better fed are in huge demand whereas some of the leaner types would perhaps benefit from a hopper in the field or indeed selling through the thriving store ring. No doubt at all that the top 10% of our lambs today were some of the best we have seen and at least a dozen vendors could rightly have expected to see their name on top of the pile this week. As with the cattle the winning margins were slim but the winner by a single penny per kilo were Messrs Askwith of Crook selling for 302ppk. Four vendors today managed to reach at least £140, the leaders at a healthy £146 were a pair of beautiful 55kg Beltex crossed lambs from C S & V Whitfield, High Castledene.
Lambs – Top prices ppk 302 300 291 262 Askwiths. 301 273 W&C Iceton. 300 283 268 265 CS&V Whitfield. 295 280 278 277 276 274 273 P Tindale. 295 268 F Hare & Sons. 292 273 263 J&A Moralee. 280 267 K&PM Lough. 279 275 MW&M Skidmore. 275 Tallentire. 272 257 D&M Lowes. 271 IM Maughan. 268 D&HM Hodgson. 260 J Hird. 260 W Ramsay & Sons. 254 TH Richardson & Son. 254 JM Shotton.
Lead Grossing Lambs £146 £138 £134 £130 CS&V Whitfield. £143 £142 £135 £134 Askwiths. £143 £140 £130×2 W Ramsay & Sons. £140 £134 £131 £129 £127 P Tindale. 3135.50 W&C Iceton. £134 £129 £127 £126 RO Gilson. £133 IM Maughan. £131.50 MW&M Skidmore. £130×2 TH Richardson & Son. £130 G Williamson. £129 F Hare & Sons. £129 D&HM Hodgson. £129 J&A Moralee. £127.50 WE Frank & Son. £126 D&PH Brown. £125 TB Hunter.
Cast Ewes & Rams (525) – Lean meat continues to sell nicely, over fat ewes were however plentiful today and certainly harder work to sell than we have seen lately. Top price went to a trio of great Texel’s from W A Wardman Ltd, Yearby at £122 however three figures this week was a fairly elusive club to be in. The top end of the Mule ewes have slid down into the £80’s .
Lead Grossing Cast Sheep £122 £104 £93 WA Wardman Ltd. £116 £98 £89 RG&G Rutter. £116 £99 £96 D&M Lowes. £110 A Hughes. £104 W Ramsay & Sons. £98 TW Brown. £94 D&G Spry. £94 WA Dinsdale & Son. £94 WR Thompson. £91 JJ Horn. £91 PRE Marwood. £89 J Norman. £87 PD&J Adamski. £86 Skelton Farming Ltd.
Prime Pigs (5) – The pig industry seems to be in a tragic place at the moment, quite how then it transpires that the price has lifted is mystifying to say the least; none the less after what feels like a hundred weeks of the same monotonous prices we are seeing a lift, strange times indeed.
Pigs – Top prices ppk 115 110 J Mitchell & Son.
Lead Grossing Pigs £96 £94 J Mitchell & Son.
