Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of Prime Stock on Thursday 12th August 2021. Forward were 155 Cattle, 2182 Sheep and 14 Pigs.
83 Prime Bulls sold to 266ppk or £2217
21 Prime Steers sold to 298ppk or £1874
51 Prime Heifers sold to 310ppk or £1923
1593 Prime Lambs sold to 310ppk or £138.50
589 Cast Ewes & Rams sold to £198
14 Prime Pigs sold to 110ppk or £96
Prime Bulls (83) – A brilliant trade as the bull beef averaged 225 pence per kilo with some absolutely magnificent returns along the way. Top of the shop this week were the Morpeth based Renton Family of High Highlaws Farm when they sold 10 outstanding bulls, the best 7 of these all reached 260ppk or more with their number one a beautiful 17 month old Limousin at 266 pence. More success for the Limousin breed was not far away as the prolific A C Simpson and Son of McNeil Farm topped £2100 on no less than 3 occasions with the best a heavyweight 22 month old at a mighty £2217, behind the Simpson sensations came a further quality quintet of bulls all the top side of £2000. Fabulous Friesian feeders R Hall & Son of Kilton Hall, Brotton were again at the forefront of the dairy bulls as they twice sold beyond £1300 with the best a 678kg full of meat reaching £1383 and 204ppk. Below are just some of the stand out performances in the bull ring today.
Renton Highlaws Ltd, Morpeth sold 10 Bulls to average 259ppk and £1867
W J & A S Bowes & Sons, Stainton sold 2 Bulls to average 253ppk and £1943
R W & R Henry, Worsall sold 2 Bulls to average 253ppk and £1719
J J Kemp & Son, Stillington sold 3 Bulls to average 252ppk and £1928
L S Staley, Marwood sold 2 Bulls to average 249ppk and £1979
A C Simpson & Son, Witton-le-Wear sold 4 Bulls to average 244ppk and £2109
J Layfield, Willington sold 6 Bulls to average 243ppk and £1803
Continental Bulls – Top prices ppk 266 265×2 264 261 260×2 259×2 Renton Highlaws Ltd. 259 255 244 JJ Kemp & Son. 259 248 WJ&AS Bowes & Sons. 257 250 RW&R Henry. 257 243 LS Staley. 255 230 JJ Horn. 254 244×2 240 N White. 250×2 225 J&A&DA Horn. 250 246 244 240 AC Simpson & Son. 249×2 248 242 237 236 J Layfield. 247 235 JA&M Boyes. 236 JK Gregory. 231 G Carins & Partners. 228 JA&A Herbert.
Lead Grossing Continental Bulls £2217 £2157 £2135 £1927 AC Simpson & Son. £2121 G Carins & Partners. £2056 £2002 £1939 £1874 £1872 £1866 £1822 £1802 Renton Highlaws Ltd. £2007 £1879 WJ&AS Bowes & Sons. £2004 £1934 LS Staley. £2001 £1934 £1849 JJ Kemp & Son. £1912 J&A&DA Horn. £1894 £1832 J Layfield. £1887 JJ Horn. £1882 £1783 N White. £1832 RW&R Henry. £1829 JA&M Boyes. £1812 £1802 J Layfield.
Friesian Bulls – Top prices ppk 204 199 179 R Hall & Son. 195 184 175 164 J&JH Musgrave. 180 D Lupton. 177 176 JA&A Herbert. 172 171 GW Dobson & Son.
Lead Grossing Friesian Bulls £1383 £1333 £1047 R Hall & Son. £1214 £1171 GW Dobson & Son. £1001 £989 D Lupton. £1099 £982 £957 J&JH Musgrave. £943 £934 JA&A Herbert
Prime Clean Cattle (72) – Absolutely electric, the steers today averaged a massive 259ppk and the heifers an unprecedented 288ppk. Ladies first, an unbelievable 14 of the 51 heifers sold at 300 pence or more, 17 others sold 290ppk to 299ppk as amazingly 98% of the heifers offered today reached at least 250 pence per kilo. The top price of 310ppk went to regular sellers J V & J A Hodgson of The Grange, Summerhouse with a beautiful 585kg Limousin, six superstars all fell just a penny short of her, three more from Summerhouse plus a pair from J L Marks, Bishopton and one from M Robinson & Sons, Staindrop. Naturally with the massive trade some extreme gross values were achieved, 9 heifers sold £1700-£1800 whilst 8 sold £1800-£1900, the top two heifers broke £1900 and both hailed from Staindrop as a 649kg Charollais from M Robinson & Sons at £1908 was edged out by a brilliant 668kg Limousin from F W Hodgson & Son, Burton House which sold for £1923. On to the steers and a staggering top of 298 pence per kilo from J L Marks, Gilly Flatts, Bishopton with their homebred 14 month old Limousin, pushing hard were a tasty trio from the exceptional High Highlaws outfit and also another Northumbrian raider I & A Hamilton, Claywalls, Capheaton. Four steers sold over £1800 with 9 others £1700-£1800, the top gross valued steer accolade went to the Hamilton’s of Capheaton with a perfectly finished 672kg Limousin reaching £1874. The wall of fame below is ‘red hot’ this week.
J L Marks, Bishopton sold 2 Heifers & 1 Steer to average 305ppk and £1452
J V & J A Hodgson, Summerhouse sold 10 Heifers to average 300ppk and £1740
R Hirst, Neasham sold 12 Heifers to average 297ppk and £1632
M Robinson & Sons, Staindrop sold 4 Heifers to average 296ppk and £1724
Renton Highlaws, Morpeth sold 3 Steers to average 293ppk and £1704
F W Hodgson & Son, Staindrop sold 3 Heifers to average 290ppk and £1853
W F Hustwit, Sedgefield sold 7 Heifers to average 284ppk and £1509
I R Appleton, Elwick sold 2 Heifers to average 271ppk and £1798
Steers – Top prices ppk 298 JL Marks. 295×2 289 Renton Highlaws Ltd. 280 279 273 270×2 267 259 256 239 I&A Hamilton. 265 248 JH&M&NW Brown. 263 256 TN Callender. 239 228 A Crowder.
Lead Grossing Steers £1874 £1850 ££1779 £1757 ££1745 £1738 £1713 £1599 £1555 I&A Hamilton. £1835 £1735 TN Callender. £1802 £1564 JH&M&NW Brown. £1728 £1702 £1681 Renton Highlaws Ltd. £1716 £1525 A Crowder. £1475 JL Marks.
Heifers – Top prices ppk 310 309×3 308 307 304 298 295 250 JV&JA Hodgson. 309×2 JL Marks. 309 297 294 286 M Robinson & Sons. 307 306 301 300 299×2 298 297 296 295 294 R Hirst. 296 288×2 FW Hodgson & Son. 296 191×2 290×2 268 264 WF Hustwit. 279 JH&M&NW Brown. 279 264 IR Appleton. 279 271 268 267 266 260 I&A Hamilton. 269 259 254 248 JB Bell & Son.
Lead Grossing Heifers £1923 £1843 £1793 FW Hodgson & Son. £1908 £1790 M Robinson & Sons. £1857 £1836 £1826 £1820 £1816 £1813 £1740 £1728 £1643 JV&JA Hodgson. £1824 £1771 IR Appleton. £1728 £1719 £1707 £1688 £1668 £1638 £1618 £1611 £1609 £1598 R Hirst. £1727 JH&M&NW Brown. £1658 £1577 £1539 £1534 £1512 WF Hustwit. £1654 £1540 £1528 £1526 £1490 I&A Hamilton. £1618 £1578 M Robinson. £1541 £1522 JB Bell & Son.
Prime Lambs (1593) – Again the lamb trade firms, the heavy weights and the very best export lambs are extremely easy to sell, the creep fed lambs are certainly creating a gulf between themselves and the grass fed lighter weights at the moment. A good day for the pure Texel lambs of Dromanby Bridge Farm as they led both the pence per kilo and pounds per head selling on separate occasions to £138.50 and 310 pence per kilo. Some exceptional runs of lambs today were a credit to the producers and despite the two tier show on offer a sale average of over £100 was achieved. As has become customary with the cattle, this week the lambs leading runs are listed, congratulations to the top performers.
M Hutchinson, Evenwood Gate sold 38 Lambs to average £131.18
C & E Gaskin, Marwood sold 32 Lambs to average £127.42
W B Mitchell & Sons, Morpeth sold 54 Lambs to average £120.97
J Hird, Norton sold 26 Lambs to average £119.92
I Burn & Sons, Stamfordham sold 20 Lambs to average £119.00
Lambs – Top prices ppk 310 300 269 Dromonby Bridge. 294 A&EJ Dobinson. 293 263 262 261 253 AWSM Farms. 287 268 254 G Thompson & Sons. 284 273 269 266 265 264 262 261 260×2 WB Mitchell & Sons. 272×2 263 C&E Gaskin. 269 255 MW&M Skidmore. 264 JM&S Walton. 261 257 256 PJ&MP Gilhespy. 260 256 D&PH Brown. 258 I Burn & Sons. 258 RA Patterson & Son. 257 T Lawson & Son. 256 Charlotte Newton. 256 K&PM Lough. 255 OS Laws. 252 M Radford. 252 P Langstaff.
Lead Grossing Lambs £138.50 £130.50 £126.50 £120 Dromonby Bridge. £138 £129 £128.50 M Hutchinson. £137.50 £121.50 I Burn & Sons. £136 £127 £121.50 D&PH Brown. £135 £128×2 £127.50 £124×2 £123 £122 £120×2 WB Mitchell & Sons. £130 J Hird. £129 AWSM Farms. £128 £125.50 C&E Gaskin. £126.50 A&EJ Dobinson. £125.50 J Gray. £123.50×2 G Thompson & Sons. £122.50 MW&M Skidmore. £122.50 FP&IM Jefferson. £120 J Hird. £119 JM&S Walton. £119 GD Danby. £118.50 £118 T Lawson & Son.
Lead Grossing Cast sheep £198 £170 Dromonby Bridge. £145 I Curry. £144 D Garvey. £142 £134 £130 £123 £120 £119 £117 WB Mitchell & Sons. £140 A&R Thompson. £133 D&PH Brown. £128 C Bedi. £122 IR Appleton. £122 JE Cruddas. £122 M Radford. £121 WH&KL Wilson. £121 J&A Moralee. £120 S&D Ferrie. £119 TN Callender. £119 JK&CE Farming. £118 K&PM Lough. £116 K Hall. £113 A&EJ Dobinson.
Cast Sheep (589) – The old ladies continue in exceptional form, this weeks average of £89 included a plethora of moor dwellers which were balanced by some magnificent continental ewes. Eight score and ten was the official number of ewes today which sold for at least £100, the best end were tremendous however, in truth none came close to a wonderful pair of pure Texels from Dromonby Bridge Farm which duly took the top spot at a brilliant £198. Mule ewes are still very capable of joining the three figure brigade whilst the best of the hill gathered Swaledale’s can sell over £80.
Pigs (14) – Pigs today seemed to be £90 or thereabouts, as the weight goes up the price per kilo comes down.
Pigs – Top prices ppk 110×2 105 100 J Mitchell & Son. 85 75 R Olley.
Lead Grossing Pigs £96 £94 £90 £84 J Mitchell & Son. £95 £93 R Olley.
