Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of Prime Stock on Thursday 28th July 2022. Forward were 128 Cattle and 2153 Sheep.
45 Prime Bulls sold to 293ppk or £2157
27 Prime Steers sold to 288ppk or £1884
54 Prime Heifers sold to 312ppk or £1854
2 Cast Cows sold to 212ppk or £1568
1638 Prime Lambs sold to 285ppk or £134
515 Cast Ewes & Rams sold to £165
Prime Bulls (45) – A very light offering this week, those in attendance were richly rewarded as the trade excelled once again, the best bulls for the second week running were very, very easily sold. Three super sorts from J H & M & N W Brown of Middleton-St-George stole the show when selling between 285 and 293 pence per kilo; the suckler bred bulls sold mostly beyond 250ppk as quality cattle were today in short supply. Three bulls today sold over £2000, the pick of these hailed from Leyburn and the good home of D H Lawson, Brookside Farm as they produced a 779kg Limousin reaching £2157. The finest of our Friesian’s today came from regular sellers J A & A Herbert, Tees Farm which sold for 208ppk whilst a Fleckveih from R Hall & Son, Brotton impressed at 210ppk; top gross Friesian came from J M & S Walton, Barton at £1422. As always listed below are some of the week’s top performers.
J H & M & N W Brown, Middleton-St-George sold 3 to average 289ppk and £1811
D H Lawson, Leyburn sold 2 to average 267ppk and £2049
J J Horn, Richmond sold 2 Bulls to average 264ppk and £1834
T W Clark & Son, Durham sold 3 to average 258ppk and £1908
N White, Marrick sold 3 to average 250ppk and £1835
Continental Bulls Leading PPK – 293 289 285 J H & M & N W Brown. 277 258 D H Lawson. 276 253 N White. 272 J C Johnson. 268 Tallentire. 267 261 J J Horn. 260 250 T W Clark & Son. 259 R Hall & Son. 248 J K & C E Farming. 246 243 P M Bradley & Bros.
Native Bred Bulls Leading PPK – 220 218 215 S N Bird & Sons. 218 A P Taylor. 215 R Hall & Son.
Friesian Bulls Leading PPK – 208 194 J A & A Herbert. 197 192 187 J M & S Walton. 190 183 G W Dobson & Son.
Continental Bulls Leading Gross – £2157 £1940 D H Lawson. £2129 J C Johnson. £2006 £1925 N White. £1974 £1955 £1795 T W Clark & Son. £1925 £1743 J J Horn. £1906 R W Welford & Sons. £1872 £1744 J K & C E Farming. £1869 £1789 £1774 J H & M & N W Brown. £1841 R Hall & Son. £1755 Allison Devereux Farms.
Native Bred Bulls Leading Gross – £1728 £1328 S N Bird & Sons. £1700 A P Taylor. £1474 S N Bird & Sons. £1244 J L Gill & Son. £1225 R Hall & Son.
Friesian Bulls Leading Gross – £1422 £1310 £1276 £1133 J M & S Walton. £1363 £1204 J A & J Herbert. £1244 £1191 G W Dobson & Son.
Cast Cows Leading PPK – 212 G C & J C Pullan. 140 C F & J Welburn.
Cast Cows Leading Gross – £1568 G C & J C Pullan. £1383 C F & J Welburn.
Clean Cattle (81) – As with the bulls a light show, varied quality throughout however the best finished clean beast proved to be a fine trade, some lean meat looked harder to place; the heifers this week averaged a tasty 279ppk with steers 247ppk. A terrific top ten heifers sold in the 300’s today with the best a lovely 523kg British Blue from R Hirst, Neasham reaching 312 pence per kilo; a queue of local quality followed closely behind. Top steer per kilo today came from Coxhoe based W A Armstrong with a delicious 578kg Limousin reaching 288ppk, the better bred and better fed steers sold beyond 270ppk on a regular basis. The consistent Coxhoe producer also chipped in with our leading gross valued heifer today when a 635kg Limousin sold for £1854; top of the steer gross value list was an excellently finished 745kg Limousin from W L Robinson & Partners, Bolam at a pleasing £1884. As is customary some of the top averages are listed below.
Steers
W A Armstrong, Coxhoe sold 4 to average 282ppk and £1680
W J Smith & Partners, Richmond sold 4 to average 273ppk and £1562
Askwiths, Crook sold 2 to average 266ppk and £1807
W L Robinson & Partners, Bolam sold 3 to average 259ppk and £1832
Heifers
K & J Heslop, Fishburn sold 4 to average 294ppk and £1714
J V & J A Hodgson, Summerhouse sold 10 to average 292ppk and £1693
R Hirst, Neasham sold 9 to average 289ppk and £1581
W A Armstrong, Coxhoe sold 8 to average 288ppk and £1686
M F Hall, Ponteland sold 2 to average 287ppk and £1526
Askwiths, Crook sold 2 to average 285ppk and £1567
Steers Leading PPK – 288 286 282 275 W A Armstrong. 286 A Crowder. 278 L W Martin. 277(x2) 271(x2) W J Smith & Partners. 269 258 253 W L Robinson & Partners. 268 265 Askwiths. 245 T F Bothroyd & Son.
Steers Leading Gross – £1884 £1811 £1802 W L Robinson & Partners. £1855 £1760 Askwiths. £1801 £1664 £1664 £1590 W A Armstrong. £1793 A Crowder. £1640 L W Martin. £1614 £1579 £1529 £1525 W J Smith & Partners.
Heifers Leading PPK – 312 305 300 289(x2) R Hirst. 309 298 J B Luck. 308 M F Hall. 308 G C & J C Pullan. 308 292 289(x2) K & J Heslop. 306 303 302 293 292 290 288 287 285 J V & J A Hodgson. 299(x2) 298 292 291 288 W A Armstrong. 286 285 Askwiths.
Heifers Leading Gross – £1854 £1840 £1766 £1725 £1668 £1596 £1584 W A Armstrong. £1843 F & J S Gargett. £1808 £1788 £1730 £1702 £1696 £1664 £1653 £1651 £1649 £1588 J V & J A Hodgson. £1760 £1754 £1707 £1635 K & J Heslop. £1755 £1752 G C & J C Pullan. £1693 £1631 £1617 £1592 R Hirst. £1686 J B Luck. £1655 M F Hall. £1630 L W Martin. £1590 Askwiths.
Prime Lambs (1638) – The lamb sellers have not enjoyed this week much as the freefall continues, today’s sale averaged 230ppk and £97.28, these figures keep us well ahead of the same week in 2020 however £2.14 per head behind the corresponding week last year. On a positive note, there is some good news, a fresh buyer at ringside certainly helped plus our vendors are 100% safe in the knowledge that we again weighed them straight, a dramatic price drop everywhere but a wobbly weigh bridge on top of that must be somewhat soul destroying. Top price per kilo were the Duke and Duchess of Great Smeaton with a fine trio of Texel lambs at 285 pence, excellent sheep from Elwick based I & A Holmes and J C Simpson, Caldwell also sold well and could in the opinion of the report writer consider themselves unlucky not to top the sale. Top of the gross values were some superb Suffolk lambs from Gerrard Quinn of J E Suddes & Son, Cornsay Colliery weighing 50kg and selling for £134.
Prime Lambs Leading PPK – 285 S & D Ferrie. 274 269 265 I & A Holmes. 273 271 265 261 J C Simpson. 269 261 W S I Anderson. 268 262 251 250 J E Suddes & Son. 267 263 C K & D Muir Ltd. 266 261 254 P J & M P Gilhespy. 263 260 258 256(x2) 253 252(x3) W B Mitchell & Sons. 261 258 D & J A Teasdale. 260 S M Donaldson. 259 250 J A & A Herbert. 258 Bridie Fisk. 254(x3) D L & D Lovegreen. 254 253 J E Holliday & Son. 253 F Hare & Sons. 250 J L C Welford.
Prime Lambs Leading Gross – £134 £130 £120 118.50(x2) £115.50 £114 J E Suddes & Son. £130 £115 £114.50 J G Atkinson. £126 £116 W S I Anderson. £120 £119 P Cockburn. £120 £117 P J & M P Gilhespy. £120 £114 S & D Ferrie. £118 J Hird. £118 D & P H Brown. £117 £114 J C Simpson. £117 D L & D Lovegreen. £117 S M Donaldson. £116 M Hutchinson. £116 G F Whitfield. £116 J A & A Herbert. £115 D J & J A Teasdale. £114.50 £114 W B Mitchell & Sons. £114 P K & H C Dowson. £114 N White.
Cast Ewes & Rams (515) – A brilliant trade any auctioneer in the land would be proud to place on their CV. In total contrast to the lambs the old ewes still sell very well with £130, £140 and £150 achieved time and time again. Top of the day were I & A Holmes, Middle Stotfold Farm, Elwick with a superb Beltex selling for £165, Mule ewes peaked at £124 from D & P H Brown, Cordilleras Farm whilst an increased show of Swaledale ewes topped at £70 from N White, Marrick.
Cast Sheep – £165 £140 £130 £122 £108 I & A Holmes. £156 £150 £140 £124 £120 T Nesbitt & Son. £140 JG Atkinson. £140 AW Sanderson. £139 £118 £104 H & AJ Morgan. £138 G Hodgson. £134 £90 W Wearmouth & Son. £131 £116 £115 T Lawson & Son. £130 PD Shepherd. £130 £120 £120 £118 C Harle & Sons. £130 DL & D Lovegreen. £130 East Mellwaters. £130 £114 JV Hodgson. £130 S Sanderson. £130 £124 D & PH Brown. £130 £114 L & S Barker. £130 £114 MJ Hutchinson. £128 £106 AJ Gibson Farming. £120 G Williamson. £120 S & D Ferrie. £120 HS Petch & Sons. £120 R Lawson & Son. £117 B & L Robson. £116 (x2) JW & DW Laing. £115 £111 JA & B Nappey. £114 K & MM Henderson. £110 £104 JL Alderson. £110 C & V Harrison. £120 G Bolton.
