Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of Prime Stock on Thursday 13th January 2022. Forward were 289 Cattle, 1613 Sheep and 6 Pigs.
105 Prime Bulls sold to 279ppk or £2379
55 Prime Steers sold to 276ppk or £1795
122 Prime Heifers sold to 315ppk or £1915
7 Cast Cattle sold to 207ppk or £1544
1286 Prime Hoggets sold to 323ppk or £164
327 Cast Ewes & Rams sold to £160
6 Prime Pigs sold to 100ppk or £85
Prime Bulls (105) – A super sale average of 227 pence per kilo and £1625.45 as another sharp bull trade ensued in the DFAM ring. The top dozen per kilo were all Limousin’s this week as the popular breed shone brightest on the day, of this delightful dozen half sold over 260 pence per kilo; three of the super six came from W M Dick & Sons, Mains of Thorsk with others from A & D Proctor, Swarland and the prolific A G Watson & Sons, Nunstainton however the top slot went to a wonderful 809kg example from Rochester & Murray, West Butsfield at an impressive 279 pence. Ten superstars joined the £2000 plus club as eight Limousin’s were joined twice by hefty Charolais from R W Welford & Sons, Roxby and D M Lyle, Dunblane who both did their upmost to prevent total Limousin domination. In the £2k Limousin club were regular patrons L S Staley, Marwood and J J Kemp & Son, Stillington along with the West Butsfield bull already mentioned, incredibly the remaining five high flyers all came from the Mains of Thorsk which included 3 of the top 4 with a best at 888kg realising £2379. Leading the native breeds was the slightly unusual Lincoln Red breed as A S & S M Kemp, Whitwell Farm, Sherburn made a welcome return to the DFAM live ring to top at 219ppk and £1701. Finally, to the Friesian bull trade and success this week for J K & C E Farming, Piercebridge who sold to a top of 196ppk, leading gross valued black and white went to the uber consistent R Hall & Son, Brotton at a healthy £1327.
A & D Proctor, Morpeth sold 2 Bulls to average 261ppk and £1635
W M Dick & Sons, Stirling sold 9 Bulls to average 256ppk and £2057
J J Horn, Richmond sold 2 Bulls to average 250ppk and £1740
A G Watson & Sons, Rushyford sold 8 Bulls to average 247ppk and £1865
J Burnett & Sons, Stirling sold 2 Bulls to average 245ppk and £1984
L R Welsh & Co, Spennymoor sold 4 Bulls to average 243ppk and £1786
Prime Bulls Leading PPK – 279 Rochester & Murray. 268 264 260 259 257 253 251 250 W M Dick & Sons. 265 258 A & D Proctor. 262 259 257 254 250 A G Watson & Sons. 257 A S & S M Kemp. 255 250 D Richardson & Co. 254 250 J J Kemp & Son. 252 J H & M & N W Brown. 252 249 J J Horn. 251 249 L R Welsh & Co. 251 249 J A & M Boyes Ltd. 250 L S Staley. 250 249 J M Ramsay & Son. 249 T W Clark & Son. 249 John Burnett & Sons.
Prime Bulls Leading Gross – £2379 £2356 £2143 £2027 £2007 £1982 £1960 £1874 W M Dick & Sons. £2257 Rochester & Murray. £2107 £1906 L S Staley. £2037 D M Lyle. £2020 £1950 J J Kemp & Son. £2017 R W Welford & Sons. £1996 A S & S M Kemp. £1987 £1984 £1932 £1859 A G Watson & Sons. £1987 £1982 John Burnett & Sons. £1962 W J Scott Ltd. £1953 £1881 £1877 D Richardson & Co Ltd. £1940 L R Welsh & Co. £1927 J M Ramsay & Son.
Friesian Bulls Leading PPK – 196 J K & C E Farming. 191 190 189 R Hall & Son. 191 179 J E & B Morgan & Sons. 178 T F Bothroyd & Son. 159 G S Dowson.
Friesian Bulls Leading Gross – £1327 £1286 £1168 R Hall & Son. £1292 T F Bothroyd & Son. £1215 J K & C E Farming. £1157 £1068 J E & B Morgan & Sons. £1001 G S Dowson.
Clean Cattle (177) – More forward with much more weight on offer and a smaller percentage of the ‘high end’ butchers beast than on some occasions, averages duly reflect and are less on the week with heifers levelling at 257ppk and steers 228ppk. Nine heifers this week at £3 and beyond as 7 separate vendors joined the 300 plus club; top price went to a smart 520kg Limousin from M F Hall, Woodhill Farm, Ponteland when she sold for 315 pence and narrowly edged in to second place the pick of a super run from J V & J A Hodgson, Summerhouse. Top steer per kilo also came from the Ponteland based feeder with another Limousin weighing 575kg and selling for 276 pence, closest challenging steer per kilo hailed from Rescobie, Angus and the good yard of Gordon A Mackie. Five heifers this week the top side of £1800, a heavy Limousin from A C Simpson & Son, Witton-le-Wear joined two peaches from W J Scott Ltd, Low Leam, West Woodburn and a pair of cracking Charolais from J & J P Sim, Kincraig, Brechin; the leading lady on the day transpired to be one of the Brechin beauties when she sold for £1915. The gross value steer race was certainly close run as the top five were separated by less than £40, three of the famous five came from the superb Scott’s of Low Leam whilst the top two were both raiders from the North; S & J E Andrew, Loch of Lowes and J & J P Sim, Brechin reached £1790 and £1795 respectively as the successful Sim’s narrowly claimed another gold medal. As usual below are the leading averages, all five selected are regular visitors to our wall of fame.
B Walker, Dalton-on-Tees sold 3 Heifers to average 292ppk and £1708
P J & E S Rogerson, Great Asby sold 4 Heifers to average 291ppk and £1653
R Hirst, Neasham sold 10 Heifers to average 287ppk and £1699
M F Hall, Ponteland sold 4 Heifers & 2 Steers to average 287ppk and £1609
W A Armstrong, Coxhoe sold 7 Heifers to average 281ppk and £1655
Steers – Top prices ppk 276 269 MF Hall. 267 244 235 226 224 GA Mackie. 260 240 238 227 WR Thompson. 256 250 248 241 240 239 WJ Scott Ltd. 255×2 240 J&JP Sim. 255 245 S&JE Andrew. 246 227 JJ Kemp & Son. 245 244 242×2 241 240 239 237 I&A Hamilton. 239 K&J Heslop. 238 230 P&JH Davison. 224 G Beadle.
Lead Grossing Steers £1795 £1718 £1552 J&JP Sim. £1790 £1734 S&JE Andrew. £1778 £1765 £1756 £1626 £1622 £1570 WJ Scott Ltd. £1683 £1624 £1517 W&A Henderson. £1668 £1638 £1626 £1610 £1602 £1507 I&A Hamilton. £1668 P&JH Davison. £1621 31561 JJ Kemp & Son. £1620 £1539 Doune Farms. £1600 £1556 £1514 GA Mackie. £1587 £1476 MF Hall. £1555 K&J Heslop.
Heifers – Top prices ppk 315 301 293 MF Hall. 314 300 298 289 JV&JA Hodgson. 309 P&JH Davison. 309 302 284 WJ Scott Ltd. 306 294 290 PJ&ES Rogerson. 305 287 286 B Walker. 300 297 296×2 290 288 285 R Hirst. 296 294 292 290×2 WA Armstrong. 294 K&J Heslop. 290 JJ Kemp & Son. 287 RW Sowerby & Sons. 284 K&J Heslop. 281 RO Gilson. 281 GA Mackie.
Lead Grossing Heifers £1915 £1805 £1771 £1760×2 J&JP Sim. £1869 £1751 £1725 £1722 AC Simpson & Son. £1850 £1805 £1738 WJ Scott Ltd. £1783 £1775 £1764 £1754 £1710 JV&JA Hodgson. £1768 £S&JE Andrew. £1761 £1758 £1755 £1751 £1740 R Hirst. £1737 £1725 £1713 £1705 £1699 WA Armstrong. £1735 £1722 B Walker. £1713 £1707 PJ&ES Rogerson. £1699 K&J Heslop. £1694 MF Hall.
Cast Cattle – Top prices ppk 207 110 GS&SE Wilson. 170 160 106 WM Dick & Sons. 150 132 S Allardyce.
Lead Grossing Cast Cattle £1544 £779 GS&SE Wilson. £1490 £1278 £1001 WM Dick & Sons. £1206 £1070 S Allardyce.
Prime Hoggs (1286) – The hogg trade has just slightly dragged its feet this week across the nation, in particular the heavyweights are less money; our weighed straight average of £116.11 and 260 pence per kilo is back £4 per head on last week. For the second week in a row, it was superb Beltex from W A Wardman, Thrushwood Farm, Yearby which led the price per kilo race at a pleasing 323 pence. Top gross value went to R E & L Frank of Crabtree Farm, Carlton-in-Cleveland with a wonderful trio of 55kg hoggs selling for £164 per head to new customer Turknaz Restaurant, Whitley Bay.
Hoggs – Top prices ppk 323 311 298 287 275×2 WA Wardman Ltd. 309 302 297 287 281 AS&G Donaldson. 308 306 298 290 RE&L Frank. 297 294 289 271 TH Richardson & Son. 302 296 282 JC Simpson. 297 EW Grieves. 294 284 Askwiths. 288 J Norman. 287 279 278 273 MF Hall. 286 A Graham. 285 281 PJ Tindale. 284 272 W.K M.M Lamb. 284 W Robson. 282 Melissa Donaldson. 282 277 K&PM Lough. 279 WR Thompson. 278 K&MM Henderson. 276 D Chapman.
Lead Grossing Hoggs £164 £139 £138 RE&L Frank. £150 £145 £138.50 £131 Askwiths. £145.50 £145×2 £138.50 JC Simpson. £142 £142 £135.50 £135 TH Richardson & Son. £139 £135.50 £131 WA Wardman Ltd. £139 £130 D&PH Brown. £138 £129 £128 J&A Layfield. £137.50 A Graham. £133 W Kirk & Sons. £132.50 £130.50 J Norman. £131 W.K M.M Lamb. £131 IM Maughan. £130.50 £129 DK Barker. £130.50 JJ Horn. £130 K&PM Lough. £130 C Moralee & Sons. £129.50 £128 K&MM Henderson.
Cast Ewes & Rams (327) – A big trade again with an average show levelling over £96, Twice bidding reached £160 as a super trio from Askwith’s of Crook matched a sensational single from A Graham, Bishop Auckland. Mule ewes this week peaked at £132 with the biggest often £110 to £120 whilst the best fleshed of the horned ewes sold £65 to £70.
Lead Grossing Cast Sheep £160 £159 3143 Askwiths. £160 A Graham. £152 £128 JG Atkinson. £144 £121 £115×2 £114 WA Wardman Ltd. £138 Charlotte Newton. £135 M Gallon. £135 CJ&J Simpson. £134 DM McClurg. £133 GW Dobson. £132 AS&G Donaldson. £132 J Mitchell & Son. £131 £121 G Thompson & Sons. £131 FD Hall. £130 D&PH Brown. £129 Swalebank Farms. £123 IM Maughan. £119 M Dawson. £117 D Chapman.
Prime Pigs (6) – Today we invited 100 pigs to DFAM and asked them to bring their own booze for a work related socially distanced gathering, alas only six turned up. The remaining 94 have grown wings and are flying over Westminster, indeed it does actually seem that pigs might fly Boris. In the real world, trade very similar.
Pigs – Top prices ppk 100 95 80 C Weightman.
Lead Grossing Pigs £85.50 £82 £81 C Weightman.
