Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of prime stock on Thursday 11th January 2024. Forward were 205 cattle, 1999 sheep and 10 pigs.
53 Prime Bulls sold to 326ppk or £2703
21 Prime Steers sold to 325ppk or £2171
131 Prime Heifers sold to 349ppk or £2306
1637 Prime Hoggs sold to 357ppk or £170
362 Cast Ewes/Rams sold to £170
10 Prime Pigs sold to 180ppk or £138
Prime Bulls (53) – A few less on offer and trade just a touch easier but still some impressive returns up at the top end with noticeably fewer of those best quality bulls in attendance, the sale still averaged 273ppk and £1860 per head. The top nine sold over 300 pence per kilo, right at the very summit this week reaching 326 pence was an excellently finished 775kg British Blonde from A G Watson & Sons, Nunstainton Grange; the same good home claimed second spot also with a 680kg Limousin at 316ppk with Durham’s T W Clark & Son in third spot at 312ppk with a 724kg Limousin. A third of the bulls this week surpassed £2000, the top three over £2500 included the aforementioned brilliant Blonde at £2526 however out in front were two powerful homebred Limousin’s from A C Simpson & Son, McNeil Farm weighing 856kg and 901kg and selling for £2645 and £2703 respectively. R Hall & Son, Kilton Hall Farm were once again king of the dairy bull ring with this week’s topper selling for 260ppk and £1718 whilst an unusual pick on the native breed list today saw Galloway’s from A Layfield Farms, Milkup Bank selling to a high of £1708 and 258ppk. Below are some of the day’s top pen averages.
A C Simpson & Son, Witton-le-Wear sold 4 to average 304ppk and £2518
A G Watson & Sons, Rushyford sold 5 to average 298ppk and £2102
D Richardson & Co, Melsonby sold 5 to average 291ppk and £2277
T W Clark & Son, Durham sold 3 to average 288ppk and £2129
Continental Bulls – Top prices ppk 326 316 308 280 264 AG Watson & Sons. 312 286 266 TW Clark & Son. 309 308 300×2 AC Simpson & Son. 304 288 284 282×2 ER&GI Younger. 299 298 295 287 280 D Richardson & Co Ltd. 287 281 260 TF Bothroyd & Son. 279 277 266 259 JA&A Herbert. 278 273 271 JM Ramsay & Son. 265 GW Dobson & Son.
Lead Grossing Continental Bulls £2703 £2645 £2393 £2334 AC Simpson & Son. £2526 £2148 £2144 £1987 AG Watson & Sons. £2336 £2317 £2298 £2258 £2178 D Richardson & Co Ltd. £2258 £2233 £1896 TW Clark & Son. £2228 £2060 GW Dobson & Son. £2092 £2011 TF Bothroyd & Son. £1869 £1841 £1748 £1743 ER&GI Younger. £1846 £1825 £1799 JA&A Herbert.
Friesian Bulls – Top prices ppk 260 246 238 R Hall & Son. 250 247 JK&CE Farming. 237 222 N White. 233×2 JM&S Walton.
Lead Grossing Friesian Bulls £1718 £1586 £1516 R Hall & Son. £1635 £1607 JK&CE Farming. £1459 £1369 N White. £1586 £1474 JM&S Walton.
Native Bulls – Top prices ppk 258 250 248 240 A Layfield Farms Ltd.
Lead Grossing Native Bulls £1708 £1707 £1587 £1512 A Layfield Farms Ltd.
Clean Cattle (152) – Trade perhaps back tuppence or thruppence as a plainer show offered look hard to compare with last week, things do still look good however as steers levelled at 296ppk and heifers 304ppk. Young Aaron Armstrong led the trade per kilo with an excellent handy weighted British Blue selling to H Taylor & Sons, Darlington for 349 pence; snapping at his heels and in the 340’s was both J V & J A Hodgson, The Grange and also W J Scott Ltd, Low Leam. The team from Low Leam then topped the steers per kilo and per head with an excellent homebred 668kg British Blonde at 325 pence and £2171, the Askwith’s of Crook followed closest with a tidy Limousin steer at 321ppk with J E Suddes & Son, Rowley Farm second on the gross valued steer list with a Charolais at £2132. On to the gross valued heifers, top of them all was a sublime 701kg Limousin from A C Simpson & Son, McNeil Farm when she reached an impressive £2306; close behind at £2226 were L R Welsh & Co, Green Lane Farm with another from McNeil at £2171 ahead of a British Blonde from F & J S Gargett, Westwick Farm at £2105. Below are some of the day’s top averages.
Steers
Askwiths, Crook sold 3 to average 313ppk and £2087
W J Scott Ltd, West Woodburn sold 5 to average 304ppk and £2023
J E Suddes & Son, Cornsay Colliery sold 2 to average 302ppk and £2083
Heifers
J R & B Anderson, Manfield sold 2 to average 330ppk and £1805
T W Clark & Son, Durham sold 2 to average 329ppk and £1880
W J Scott Ltd, West Woodburn sold 5 to average 328ppk and £1914
Askwiths, Crook sold 2 to average 327ppk and £1844
A C Simpson & Son, Witton-le-Wear sold 4 to average 325ppk and £1997
Steers – Top prices ppk 325 315 306 291 285 WJ Scott Ltd. 321 316 305 Askwiths. 310 G&JY Marshall. 302×2 JE Suddes & Son. 300 299 284 WJ Smith & Partners. 297 A Swinbank & Son. 290×2 288 MF Hall. 275 M Ord & Sons.
Lead Grossing Steers £2171 £2097 £2059 £1949 £1839 WJ Scott Ltd. £2132 £2035 JE Suddes & Son. £2123 £2092 £2047 Askwiths. £1928 G&JY Marshall. £1918 £1902 MF Hall. £1790 M Ord & Sons. £1782 £1550 WJ Smith & Partners.
Heifers – Top prices ppk 349 Aaron Armstrong. 345 337 334 330 328 323 JV&JA Hodgson. 340 330 329 321 WJ Scott Ltd. 339 335×2 331 330 WA Armstrong. 338 328 327 325 321 320 R Hirst. 337 336 326 WJ Smith & Partners. 337 324 JR&B Anderson. 332 324 Askwiths. 331 327 TW Clark & Son. 330 324 318 P&JH Davison. 329×2 323 AC Simpson & Son. 328×2 326 N White. 327 323 321 TN Callender. 325 F&JS Gargett. 321 JE Suddes & Son. 319 316 PJ&ES Rogerson. 316 MF Hall. 316 G&JY Marshall.
Lead Grossing Heifers £2306 £2171 £1918 AC Simpson & Son. £2226 £1903 LR Welsh & Co. £2105 £2005 F&JS Gargett. £2086 £2067 £1993 £1976 £1964 £1944 £1925 JV&JA Hodgson. £2046 £1960 WJ Scott Ltd. £2040 £1976 £1962 £1926 WA Armstrong. £2005 F&JS Gargett. £1984 £1921 £1906 R Hirst. £1965 EA Martin & Son. £1956 TW Clark & Son. £1940 AJ Marr & Son. £1938 JE Suddes & Son. £1929 Aaron Armstrong. £1923 £1902 G&JY Marshall.
Prime Hoggs (1637) – A two tier show, the best bred and best fed were once again very easy to place however the lean grass-fed hoggs are still proving harder work and with store sheep on fire some would undoubtedly benefit more through Monday’s sale ring; all in and weighed straight todays average was 278ppk with an SQQ of 283ppk. Top per kilo at 357 pence were a superb pair of Beltex hoggs from W A Wardman Ltd, Thrushwood Farm, Yearby weighing 47kg and selling for £168 apiece. T Lawson & Son, Sedgefield followed at 346ppk also with 47kg Beltex ahead of three super sorts from R Atkinson, Scorton at 345ppk. Top gross value went to a thumping 61kg Texel from J R Knox & Son, Heighington with the Wardman wonder hoggs next in line at £168 ahead of regular selling AWSM Farms at £166. Heaps of the bigger well fleshed hoggs still traded £140 to £160 with the run of the day most definitely coming from the Wardman’s whose 132 averaged an excellent £149.29.
Hoggs – Top prices ppk 357 331 325 322 319 316 315 302×2 WA Wardman Ltd. 346 320 T Lawson & Son. 345 330 309 306 302 R Atkinson. 338 324 313 W.K M.M Lamb. 329 325 K&MM Henderson. 325 302 J&A Layfield. 323×2 315 JC Simpson. 320 314 302 300 CK&D Muir Ltd. 317 303 C Dawson. 313 I Kirk. 308 IM Maughan. 306 300 297 AWSM Farms. 302×2 JD Brannen. 302 297 D&PH Brown. 298 JJ Horn. 297 FW Hodgson & Son. 297 RI Jones. 297 SW&TA Milner.
Lead Grossing Hoggs £170 JR Knox & Son. £168 £161 £160 £158×3 £155×3 £153×2 £151×2 £150 £149 £148 £145×2 WA Wardman Ltd. £166 £144×2 AWSM Farms. £163 T Lawson & Son. £161 £149×2 JC Simpson. £161 JK&CE Farming. £160 £148 IM Maughan. £160 D&PH Brown. £159 £149 W.K M.M Lamb. £158 £153 £149×2 £148 £145 £144×3 J&A Layfield. £153 £145 K&MM Henderson. £151 IR Appleton. £148 CM Cameron. £147 £145 R Wood & Son. £147 W Tindale. £146 WR Thompson. £145 R Atkinson.
Cast Ewes & Rams (362) – A very similar story as the ewe trade ticks along nicely without breaking any records, an average of £91 today; pure Texel ewes dominated the top slots today as I Spedding of Wolsingham led the way at £170, £165 and £160 with J P Floyd of Whitby in close attendance also reaching £160. R W Dalton from Romaldkirk topped the Mule ewe trade with a fine pen at £101 whilst Swaledale ewes sold to a best of £70. Tup trade tanks along with this week’s best a Hampshire from K O Stones reaching £150 with Herdwick’s to £95 and Blackface to £89.
Lead Grossing Cast Sheep £170 £165 £160×2 £150×2 I Spedding. £160 £156 £140 JP Floyd. £159 £146 £144 £135×2 £111 RW Dalton. £150 KO Stones. £145 D&C Greensit. £137 D&PH Brown. £137 A&PA Jopling. £136 HT Davies & Partners. £130 K&MM Henderson. £130 WR Thompson. £130 TT Hall & Son. £129 £128 JV&JA Hodgson. £127 £111 W.K M.M Lamb. £126 £120 I&A Holmes. £124 Messrs Bell. £120 £110 £109 JL Gill & Son. £120 £119 AWSM Farms.
Prime Pigs (10) – Not for the first time the pig report has nothing to do with pigs, stick with me this is mind blowing.
Did you know……… In theory if you could fold a piece of paper in half forty-two times it would reach the moon, honestly that’s a fact.
Pigs – Top prices ppk 180 155 J Mitchell & Son.
Lead Grossing Pigs £138 £119 J Mitchell & Son.
