Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of Prime Stock on Thursday 4th August 2022. Forward were 143 Cattle and 1675 Sheep.
72 Prime Bulls sold to 289ppk or £2459
20 Prime Steers sold to 294ppk or £1966
51 Prime Heifers sold to 323ppk or £1878
1141 Prime Lambs sold to 331ppk or £156
534 Cast Ewes & Rams sold to £200
Prime Bulls (72) – Some magnificent bulls at the top end this week were certainly rewarded with the trade they deserved resulting in a stunning sale average of £1723 and 247 pence per kilo. An incredible 21 bulls sold for at least 270ppk, of these our terrific top ten all reached at least 280ppk; a superb run from first time vendor Allan Campbell, Strawfrank Farm, Lanark led the way with a high-quality run of Limousin’s and twice this good pen sold to 289 pence per kilo. Some superb Scottish stablemates were also in the running along with local producer Neil Brown and some quality from Rochester and Murray, Butsfield. The Lanark bulls naturally featured highly on the gross value list however the powerful feeding we so often see from A C Simpson & Son, McNeil Farm led the way with an extraordinary 888kg Limousin selling for £2459; this superstar was in fact just one of an amazing trio from McNeil which sold beyond £2400 along with one of the cross-border raiders, nine other bulls this week soared beyond £2000 as the quality cattle paid handsomely. Native breeds were well represented, a brilliant pair of Aberdeen Angus from J Layfield, Willington deserve mention as they topped at 265ppk and £1984. Final mention as usual goes to the Friesian’s which also enjoyed themselves today, pick of the bunch came from the ridiculously consistent R Hall & Son, Brotton who reached 229ppk and £1600. As always some of the stand out performers are listed below.
Rochester & Murray, Butsfield sold 2 Bulls to average 285ppk and £2070
Allan Campbell, Lanark sold 7 Bulls to average 282ppk and £2032
J H & M & N W Brown, Darlington sold 3 Bulls to average 278ppk and £1922
A C Simpson & Son, Witton-le-Wear sold 4 Bulls to average 276ppk and £2409
D W Humphrey, Upleatham sold 4 Bulls to average 272ppk and £1766
L S Staley, Marwood sold 2 Bulls to average 262ppk and £2090
Continental Bulls – Top prices ppk 289×2 286 285 280 277 269 A Campbell. 288 278 271 JH&M&NW Brown. 286 284 Rochester & Murray. 281 278 272 260 DW Humphrey. 280 277 274×2 AC Simpson & Son. 278 270 248 227 LR Welsh & Co. 274 TF Bothroyd. 267 259 LS Staley. 255 250 JK&CE Farming. 263 255 249 J Layfield. 254 DH Lawson. 250 247 WJ&AS Bowes & Sons. 246 239 JE&B Morgan & Sons. 246 JC Thwaite. 245 IR Appleton. 242 S&A Greaves.
Lead Grossing Continental Bulls £2459 £2433 £2402 £2340 AC Simpson & Son. £2433 £2381 £2273 £1923 £1847 £1750 A Campbell. £2133 £2007 Rochester & Murray. £2108 £2071 LS Staley. £2047 £1997 WJ&AS Bowes & Sons. £2021 £1797 DH Lawson. £1982 JC Thwaite. £1948 £1918 £1901 JH&M&NW Brown. £1934 £1756 £1705 J Layfield. £1913 £1812 £1689 £1651 DW Humphrey. £1818 £1660 JK&CE Farming. £1815 LR Welsh & Co. £1780 JR Tiplady.
Friesian Bulls – Top prices ppk 229 219 R Hall & Son. 218 JK&CE Farming. 208×2 JA&A Herbert. 195 171 GW Dobson & Son.
Lead Grossing Friesian Bulls £1600 £1368 R Hall & Son. £1432 JK&CE Farming. £1349 £1297 JA&A Herbert. £1349 £1161 GW Dobson & Son.
Native Breed Bulls – Top prices ppk 265 245 J Layfield. 225 211×2 207 W&R Kemp & Son.
Lead Grossing Native Breed Bulls £1984 £1772 J Layfield. £1606 £1401 £1351 £1295 W&R Kemp & Son.
Clean Cattle (71) – A light show in a busy harvest week but my goodness did those off the combine seat reap the rewards, an absolute flyer for the clean beef. The heifers averaged a stunning 286 pence per kilo whilst the steers which were 50% native bred levelled up at 255ppk. Top of our commonwealth medal table today were undoubtedly Robin and Imogen Hirst of Neasham when they sold a staggering 7 of our top 10 heifers per kilo including the topper a 542kg Limousin which headed to H Taylor & Sons Butchers, Darlington at 323 pence; a sensational day for the vendors which witnessed a miraculous 41% of the heifers offered sell for at least 300 pence. Top steer per kilo also went to regular DFAM vendors as the Askwith’s of Crook produced a beautiful 615kg Limousin which reached 294 pence, top gross valued steer not for the first time came from W L Robinson & Partners, Bolam with a thick fleshed 690kg Limousin at £1966. Final mention this week goes to our top gross valued heifer and another frequent visitor Wayne Armstrong of Coxhoe, a super 616kg sort reached an impressive £1878, several other heifers joined her beyond £1800 on the day. Below are just some of the days leading consignments.
Heifers
R Hirst, Neasham sold 10 to average 310ppk and £1708
W A Armstrong, Coxhoe sold 8 to average 303ppk and £1775
B Walker, Dalton-on-Tees sold 3 to average 302ppk and £1661
W Swinbank & Sons, Caldwell sold 4 to average 295ppk and £1639
D W Humphrey, Upleatham sold 4 to average 294ppk and £1623
J E Suddes & Son, Cornsay sold 5 to average 292ppk and £1513
Continental Steers – Top prices ppk 294 290 289 Askwiths. 289 244 JR&B Anderson & Son. 288 DW Humphrey. 285 268 WL Robinson & Partners. 224 219 A&C Stanwix.
Lead Grossing Continental Steers £1966 £1884 WL Robinson & Partners. £1905 £1849 JR&B Anderson & Son. £1905 £1875 £1808 Askwiths. £1702 £1449 A&CA Stanwix. £1687 DW Humphrey.
Lead Grossing Native Breed Steers £1366 £1363 £1335 £1322 £1289 £1267 £1236 £1155 Thoresby Livestock. £1314 RD Musgrave.
Native Breed Steers – Top prices ppk 253 249 247 242 241 240×2 224 222 Thoresby Livestock. 239 RD Musgrave.
Heifers – Top prices ppk 323 319 316×2 314×2 313 308 300 R Hirst. 316 309 308 305×2 299 295 292 WA Armstrong. 315 310 283 B Walker. 315 295 291 280 W Swinbank & Sons. 313 Askwiths. 313 304 285 278 DW Humphrey. 305 299 293 284 283 JE Suddes & Son. 289 288 273 269 266 261 JR Tiplady. 271 RD Musgrave. 254 JB Bell & Son.
Lead Grossing Heifers £1878 £1862 £1795 £1770 £1745 £1743 £1732 £1674 WA Armstrong. £1830 £1767 £1750 £1723 £1721 £1706 £1700 £1674 R Hirst. £1779 £1672 £1652 W Swinbank & Sons. £1708 £1691 £1584 B Walker. £1702 £1672 £1607 £1512 DW Humphrey. £1661 £1617 £1612 £1526 JR Tiplady. £1643 £1634 £1477 JE Suddes. £1581 £1437 JB Bell & Son. £1457 £1430 RD Musgrave.
Prime Lambs (1141) – Marvellous lambs bounce back with a bang! Weighed straight and sold great as the lamb trade this week rocketed in some style, todays average of £116.36 and 272ppk (SQQ 274ppk) is not only a solid £19 per head and 42ppk improvement on last week but puts us back well ahead of the corresponding week last year which lagged at £96 and 229ppk. Chris Wright of A.Wright & Son of Boston, Lincolnshire returned to the fold as a buyer this week and placed the bid which secured the top priced lambs per kilo, a pair of superb 44kg Beltex from G Thompson & Sons, Softley Farm sold at 331 pence. On the Starship Enterprise with the top price per head today were a fabulous quintet of 49kg Texel lambs from Nottinghamshire’s Ian Kirk, Woodside Farm when they were knocked down to Roots Farm Shop, East Rounton, Northallerton at £156. Plenty of lambs today sold beyond £140 and it was great to see that 300 pence per kilo was achieved by many on what could be one of the best sheep trades August has ever seen.
Lambs – Top prices ppk 331 302 295 G Thompson & Sons. 326 307 S&D Ferrie. 324 291 M Radford. 318 311 297 295 294 292 291 288×2 I Kirk. 305 301 300 297×2 J&A Moralee. 304 288 287 I Burn & Sons. 302×2 300 297 288 285 PJ&MP Gilhespy. 302×2 R Valks. 302 TN Callender. 297 292 P Tindale. 297 William Tindale. 293 287 JA&A Herbert. 293 W.K M.M Lamb. 293 284 KJ&SS Bell. 290 K&PM Lough. 289 PD Shepherd Farm. 289 P&CM Graham. 287 JE Stobbs & Son. 287 M&A Gaskin.
Lead Grossing Lambs £156 £140 £137.50 £134×2 £132.50×2 £127 I Kirk. £150.50 £137 £127.50 D Chapman. £146 £130 G Thompson & Sons. £142 £131 £130×2 £129 PJ&MP Gilhespy. £140 £136 £135 M&A Gaskin. £140 P Cockburn. £140 R Tookey & Son. £139 £136 R Valks. £136 TN Callender. £136 PD Shephers Farms. £136 £128 JT Wilson. £135 S Straughan. £134 S Coote. £133 M Radford. £132 R Olley. £131.50 £126.50 J Pallister & Sons. £131.50 D&PH Brown. £131 £126×2 KJ&SS Bell. £129 J Gilson.
Cast Ewes & Rams (534) – Trade slightly more unpredictable this week, some of the better ewes appear a faster trade as do some leaner hill types yet the buyers certainly craved value for money whenever at all possible, a sale average of £93 for ewes and £100 for the tups is certainly still very good for the time of year. Top of the sale were a magical pair of pure Texel ewes from Phil Dawson, Nunstainton which reached the heights of £200; a plainer offering of Mule ewes sold to £120 and averaged £82 whilst the Swaledales averaged £49 throughout.
Lead Grossing Cast Sheep £200 £186 £150 P Dawson. £184 £162 £131 FR&AL Lyth. £180 £140×2 £128×3 C Dawson. £170 £160 £140 £135 £120 F Ward. £160 £140 £130 PR&V Barlow & Son. £160 £128×2 JW&J Collin. £150×2 £140 £134 D Chapman. £140 MW&M Skidmore. £140 TM Darling & Son. £130 SM Donaldson. £130 £124 D&PH Brown. £129 J Pallister & Sons. £128 £124 TN Callender. £124 M&A Gaskin.
Prime Pigs (12) – A show of pigs so diverse that even the BBC would be proud of us, trade appears to be similar. As the pig report is so popular, we would like to (shamelessly) take this opportunity to ask for your vote in the Marts the Heart Awards; if you could possibly find the time to do this, DFAM assure you that we would be eternally grateful to all three of you.
Pigs – Top prices ppk 120 90 60 C Weightman. 100 80 M&A Gaskin.
Lead Grossing Pigs £96 £81 £45 C Weightman. £92 £86 M&A Gaskin.
