Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of Prime Stock on Thursday 7th October 2021. Forward were 184 Cattle, 2864 Sheep and 12 Pigs.
81 Prime Bulls sold to 265ppk or £2162
17 Prime Steers sold to 281ppk or £1711
86 Prime Heifers sold to 315ppk or £1911
2091 Prime Lambs sold to 300ppk or £140
773 Cast Ewes & Rams sold to £140
12 Prime Pigs sold to 110ppk or £94.50
Prime Bulls (81) – The bull trade stays strong, some fine quality displayed this week left an impressive sale average of 222ppk with some exceptional returns unearthed along the way. An outstanding 816kg Limousin from Rochester & Murray of Glebe Farm, West Butsfield quite rightly set the pace when he sold for 265 pence per kilo and £2162, none could catch him however two others joined the £2k plus club as regular vendors A G Watson & Sons and D Richardson & Co displayed some superb feeding as always. The Glebe Farm team produced two of the 7 bulls this week at 260ppk or more, joining them were one apiece for the aforementioned Watson and Richardson pens plus a pair from S & J Dent, Great Burdon and one from regular Cumbrian challengers P J & E S Rogerson, Great Asby. Not so many indigenous breeds this week however of the natives in attendance a smart Hereford from J K & C E Farming, Piercebridge reached 233ppk and with a hefty Aberdeen Angus reaching a massive £1906 it was again A G Watson & Sons with their name in lights. When it comes to feeding Friesians we seldom see better than the bulls hailing from Kilton Hall, Brotton and the good home of R Hall & Son, despite a valiant challenge this week from G W Dobson & Son, Wingate it was the Kilton yard which took the honors selling to 201ppk and £1292. Below are some of the hot pens of the week.
Rochester & Murray, West Butsfield sold 2 Bulls to average 263ppk and £2008
S & J Dent, Great Burdon sold 3 Bulls to average 259ppk and £1435
P J & E S Rogerson, Great Asby sold 3 Bulls to average 255ppk and £1693
A G Watson & Sons, Rushyford sold 6 Bulls to average 248ppk and £1890
J Layfield, Willington sold 5 Bulls to average 243ppk and £1737
D Richardson & Co, Melsonby sold 10 Bulls to average 239ppk and £1887
Continental Bulls – Top prices ppk 265 262 Rochester & Murray. 260 259 255 246 245 AG Watson & Sons. 260 257 251 PJ&ES Rogerson. 260 251×2 250 247 244 232 D Richardson & Co Ltd. 260×2 259 S&J Dent & Son. 257 254 243 233 J Layfield. 250 247 232 WJ&AS Bowes & Sons. 246 LW Martin. 244 234 232 LR Welsh & Co. 238 JK Gregory. 233 JK&CE Farming. 230 M&J Hayhurst. 230 TW Clark & Son.
Lead Grossing Continental Bulls £2162 £1854 Rochester & Murray. £2095 £1962 £1947 £1934 £1901 £1867 £1835 £1810 £1795 £1726 D Richardson & Co Ltd. £2095 £1960 £1906 £1881 £1835 £1718 AG Watson & Sons. £1894 £1875 WJ&AS Bowes & Sons. £1892 £1819 £1788 TW Clark & Son. £1813 RT&NR Hindmarsh. £1799 £1778 £1750 £1732 J Layfield. £1783 £1757 £1740 LR Welsh Co. £1775 M Allinson. £1766 JK&CE Farming.
Friesian Bulls – Top prices ppk 201 180 177 R Hall & Son. 191 185 GW Dobson & Son. 189 JK&CE Farming. 185 177 174 165 J&JH Musgrave. 188 JA&A Herbert. 168 154 N Howard.
Lead Grossing Friesian Bulls £1292 £1178 £1128 R Hall & Son. £1256 £1249 GW Dobson & Son. £1163 £1129 £955 £853 J&JH Musgrave. £1101 JA&A Herbert. £1073 JK&CE Farming. £847 £816 N Howard.
Clean Cattle (103) – Yet another scorching trade, one would think it is looking impossible for the beef finishers to stay ‘Sober for October’ as surely a celebratory tipple on a Thursday evening is appropriate during the current purple patch. A remarkable day on which more than one quarter of the heifers sold at 300ppk or beyond; fierce competition to top the sale eventually settled at 315ppk with a lovely British Blue heifer which came from regular seller R Hirst, Neasham Grange. A superb run from more regular sellers J V & J A Hodgson, The Grange helped them take the silver and bronze medals at 313ppk and 312ppk as between them the Hirst’s and the Hodgson’s amazingly produced 15 of the top 20 prices per kilo. Leading gross values are common place for the uber consistent Barker Farming Partnership, Scorton and it was they who twice topped £1900 with heifers this week, just ahead of J E Suddes & Son, Cornsay who’s trio above £1880 all warrant mention. Top of the steers this week was A Crowder of Butsfield Burn Farm at 281ppk and £1711. Some big returns are listed below.
J V & J A Hodgson, Summerhouse sold 12 Heifers to average 305ppk and £1772
R Hirst, Neasham sold 10 Heifers to average 303ppk and £1704
B Walker, Dalton-on-Tees sold 3 Heifers to average 301ppk and £1714
J E Suddes & Son, Cornsay sold 5 Heifers to average 297ppk and £1826
J H & M & N W Brown, Darlington sold 3 Heifers to average 291ppk and £1690
A Crowder, Butsfield sold 1 Heifer, 1 Steer to average 290ppk and £1614
Steers – Top prices ppk 281 A Crowder. 274 271 JL Marks. 266 261 250 245 WA Armstrong. 234×2 224 220 G Bird & Sons. 231 Barker Farming Partnership. 230 220 K&J Heslop. 227 GW&L Marsay.
Lead Grossing Steers £1711 A Crowder. £1691 £1657 JL Marks. £1646 £1592 £1582 £1579 WA Armstrong. £1553 £1419 K&J Heslop. £1518 £1502 £1481 £1355 G Bird & Son. £1388 Barker Farming Partnership. £1280 GW&L Marsay.
Heifers – Top prices ppk 315 310×2 309×2 302 297×2 294 289 R Hirst. 313 312 311 310×2 307 304×2 302 300 296×2 JV&JA Hodgson. 311 301 299 292 284 JE Suddes JV&JA Hodgson. 310 297 TW Clark & Son. 308 307 290 B Walker. 303 A Crowder. 302 JL Marks. 299 FW Hodgson & Son. 299 298 284 282 WA Armstrong. 298 292 285 JH&M&NW Brown. 280 WB Mitchell & Sons. 279 DL&D Lovegreen.
Lead Grossing Heifers £1911 £1900 £1828 £1811 Barker Farming Partnership. £1892 £1881×2 £1749 £1729 JE Suddes & Son. £1860 £1786 £1746 £1729 £1688 £1676 £1633 £1625 R Hirst. £1857 £1852 £1846 £1811 £1801 £1798 £1794 £1787 £1766 JV&JA Hodgson. £1823×2 FW Hodgson. £1779 £1690 £1603 JH&M&NW Brown. £1751 JL Marks. £1740 £1708 £1694 B Walker. £1626 £1623 WB Mitchell & Sons.
Prime Lambs (2091) – Another 2000 plus day in the lamb ring and a good solid trade throughout; weighed straight and played straight a sale average of 238ppk and £106.98 is absolutely superb for October. Few vendors sell more lambs with us than G Thompson & Sons, Softley Farm, Butterknowle and today after several weeks knocking on the door they deservedly led the trade at 300 pence per kilo, close behind came R Errington & Son, Lily Hill just ahead of a sensational pen of 7 Beltex from W Ramsay & Sons, Blakeley Hill. Top of the gross values this week went to D K Barker, Little Ketton Farm with a fabulous heavyweight Texel lamb at £140 followed not twice but thrice by the terrific Blakely Hill consignment.
Lambs – Top prices ppk 300 264 261 255 G Thompson & Sons. 298 271 R Errington & Son. 277 268 W Ramsay & Sons. 276 257 256 Askwiths. 268 M Barley. 261 258 252 PJ&MP Gilhespy. 260 JM Shotton. 259 I Burn & Sons. 259 253 JJ Horn. 257 252 JA&A Herbert. 256 David Dawson. 256 255 250×4 AWSM Farms. 255 CJM Hedley. 254 IM Maughan. 252 M Smith. 252 W Robson. 252 M Navazi. 251 M&A Gaskin. 250×2 CK&D Muir Ltd.
Lead Grossing Lambs £140 £130 £127.50 £124.50 £124 DK Barker. £137×2 £133 £130 W Ramsay & Sons. £133 £125 WA Dinsdale & Son. £130 W Denham. £129.50 Askwiths. £128 JH Craggs. £128 R Wade & Son. £127.50 £123.50 JM Shotton. £126 JA&A Herbert. £126 AWSM Farms. £125×2 £124.50 MW&M Skidmore. £125 DW&A Appleton. £124.50 M&A Gaskin. £124 HT Davies & Partners. £124 C&E Gaskin. £123.50 M Navazi. £123×2 TT Hall & Son.
Cast Ewes & Rams (773) – With close to 6000 sheep sold in Darlington during this week we are well placed to judge the state of the trade, the short answer to that question is….. things are good in all departments and the cast ewes are absolutely no exception. Topping the sale today was the first ewe to arrive this morning as a brilliant pure Texel from J Dawson, Tow Law sold for £140, heavy Mule’s usually sold £80 to £90 with the pick of the horned sheep carrying the most flesh £45 to £60.
Lead Grossing Cast Sheep £140 £102 J Dawson. £129 £117 £98×3 RG&G Rutter. £125 D Dawson. £125 P Turnbull. £123 JV Hodgson & Son. £113 WR Barron. £112 £99 WR Thompson. £109 W Denham. £109 AJ&KM Foster & Son. £107 AWSM Farms. £106 W.K M.M Lamb. £106 M Navazi. £105 Askwiths. £105 £104 W Denham. £104 EW Holmes. £100 C Harle & Sons. £100 T Bowes & Son. £99 W R Thompson. £98 R G & G Rutter.
Prime Pigs (12) – After last weeks sensational show and ground breaking average we landed back to earth this week, thus said the better pigs traded at identical levels, it seems to so often be the case.
Leading PPK – 110 105 J Mitchell & Son.
Leading Gross – £94 £90
