Rural & Farming

In association with

British Blue x heifers-£1190 & £1150 St Oswalds

Blonde x heifers-£1450 & £1330 Houselope Grange

Angus heifers – £1030 & £1010 Woodwell House

Angus x heifers –£1460 Fairley, £1380 New Rift, £1340 Stoop Rigg, £1310 Fairley, £1300 New Houses Cattle 11 – 16 Months Limousin x steers –£1460 Town Farm, £1400 Dykehead, £1380 Quarry House, £1340 Comb Hills, £1330 (x2) & £1320 Town Farm, £1300 Settlingstones

Charolais x steers –£1370 White House, £1250 & £1220 Redsteads

Saler x steers-£1300, £1290 & £1200 Fallowfield

Angus steers –£1190 & £1160 Woodwell House

Angus x steers-£1260 Elilaw, £1220 West Butsfield, £1210 West Butsfield & Redsteads (x2), £1200 Elilaw (x2)

British Blue steers –£1260, £1250 & £1200 Woodhouse

Hereford steers –£1225 Greenfield Hereford x steers-£1145 Buteland Beef Shorthorn steers – £950 Chesterwood

Luing Steers – £920 & £870 Townshields

Limousin x heifers –£1600, £1580, £1470 & £1440 Shitlington Hall

Charolais x heifers –£1300 High Trewhitt, £1230 Grange Farm

Blonde x heifers-£1460 & £1440 Houselope Grange

British Blue heifers-£1340, £1300 & £1290 (x2) Woodhouse

Angus x heifers –£1160 West Butsfield, £1135 Redsteads, £1100 Buteland & Redsteads, £1090 New Rift, £1080 West Butsfield

Cattle 10 months and under Limousin x steers –£1120, £1090 & £1080 Kingswood

Limousin x heifers –£990 Kingswood, £960 Whiteside, £950 Kingswood

Simmental x heifers-£920 Wydon Angus heifers – £840 Byreside Young Bulls

Limousin- £1250 7 £1230 Agars Hill Angus x steers-£1060 & £1040 High Yarridge

Cast Ewes

At the weekly for Cast Ewes & Rams, Hexham and Northern Marts had an entry of 907 head which sold to a steadier trade as more numbers appear nationwide.

Topping the trade was a pair of Texel Ewes from Messrs H Huddleston, Round Meadows which made £231, to regular buyer Jeff Dunn Ponteland. Mules sold to £139 for a pen full from Round Meadows.

Texel-£231 Round Meadows Texel x-£190 Yew Tree & High Fotherley, £189 Yew Tree, £188 Willimoteswick, £178 Middle Dukesfield, £172 Yew Tree, £170 Willimoteswick

Suffolk –£216 Yew Tree

Suffolk x-£176 Old Deanham, £166 Old Deanham & Yew Tree, £164 Steel Hall

Charollais x –£214 Yew Tree Dutch Texel-£168 Snape Farm Beltex x-£159 Nilston Rigg Cheviot –£148 Yew Tree Cheviot Mule –£130 Barrasford Green

Leicester-£153 Yew Tree, £152 Round Meadows

Mule –£139 Round Meadows, £137 Lee Hall, £134 Yew Tree,

£130 Tedcastle, £126 Archway Cottage & Fitches Grange

Zwartbles-£166 Wallridge Cottages

Blackface –£109 Cleughfoot, £107 Redesmouth Farm

Swaledale –£106 Round Meadows, £101 Farneyshield

Kerry Hill-£136 Tedcastle Ryeland-£116 Steel Hall

Cast Tups

Cast Tups topped at £226 for a tremendous Charollais from Yew Tree Farm.

Texel-£190 Yew Tree, £185 North Cocklake Suffolk-£178 Yew Tree Charollais-£226 Yew Tree Beltex-£170 Yew Tree

Dutch Texel-£170 Willimoteswick

Bleu de Maine-£170 & £150 Kingside

Leicester-£165 Yew Tree Blackface-£128 Cleughfoot Swaledale-£102 Todhillwood Cross-£172 Kirkley Hall Store Hoggs A decent show of Hoggs for the time of year sold well throughout to a top of £152 from

Tedcastle, with Glenhill to £140 and Round Meadows £139.

Texel-£152 Tedcastle, £139, £135 & £130 Round Meadows

Suffolk x –£130, £129, £128 & £120 Fitches Grange

Beltex x-£140 Glenhill Farm Dutch Texel-£121 & £118 Willimoteswick

Charollais-£125 & £122 Fitches Grange

Cheviot x-£121 Barrasford Green Leicester-£99 Burnbank Cheviot Mule-£100 Longlea Mule –£102 Redesmouth Farm Blackface-£121 Edges Green Swaledale –£103 Stewartshield, £100 Round Meadows

Hexham and Northern Marts conducted a joint dispersal of excavators and plant machinery on behalf of the two well-known local groundwork firms.

Instructions were received from David Ord, Civil engineering, Holystone and Fosters Landscaping and Plant Hire, Slaley and a super catalogue spread over 600 lots of well maintained, modern machinery were offered for sale to a huge crowd of over 400 buyers.

The star of the show was undoubtably the 2015 Hyundai 145 LCR 9A tracked excavator from Messrs Ord showing only 1034 hours which exceeded expectations to sell for £51,000.00 to a distant buyer from the far North of Scotland.

The 2017 Case Extendahoe wheeled back actress digger from the same home showing 988 hours was cashed at £42,000 and the much sort after JCB TM 220 centre pivot telehandler on a 2014 plate with 2475 hours was taken home by a North Yorkshire based family farm operation at £37,800 after charges.

Mr Ord’s 2012 Hyundai CR 9 6 tonne tracked excavator changed hands at £27,300.00 and the very clean and little used JCB 8085 from Roy Foster and family saw interest from both the construction and agriculture sectors to eventually sell at £25,200.00 to a Hexhamshire based family farm.

The company would like to thank both business owners for their instructions and for their support during the long and sucesseful careers the culmination which was well-attended sale which delighted both vendors and buyers realised a turnover of half a million pounds on the day.

Cattle

Prime Cattle

A plainer show of Prime Cattle this week which still met good returns with heavy Charolais cross heifers from C & C Farming, Flotterton Cottage selling to £1545.60. Mr F T Walton sold Charolais cross heifers to 251.5ppk. Limousin Steers –£1377 Lee Hall 229.5p Lee Hall

Charolais Heifers –£1545.60 Flotterton Cottage, £1534.15 &£1473.00 Flotterton

251.5p & 245.5p Flotterton, 241.5p Flotterton Cottage

Cast Cows & OTM

Another solid trade for the Cast Cattle at Hexham with records broken in the Cast Bulls section. Cast Cows topped at 216.5ppk for a Limousin cross from Messrs J Browell & Son, Quarry House.

Angus cross cows sold to a high of £1777.50 for a well fleshed cow from Messrs J E Baty & Son, North Acomb. Dairy Cows once again in demand at Hexham with Holsteins selling to 174.5ppk and £1238.95 from Peepy Farm Ltd, Cairnhead Farm.

Limousin –£1748.48 & £1724.00 Little Swinburne, £1638.20 Nilston Rigg, £1583.55 Rusheylaw, £1547.98 Quarry House

216.5p Quarry House, 215.5p Little Swinburne, 205.5p Rusheylaw, 204.5p Little Swinburn, 201.5 Nilston Rigg

Angus –£1777.50, £1759.50 & £1519.40 North Acomb

195.5p, 188.5p & 187.5p North Acomb

Angus x-£1708.00 Flotterton 213.5p Flotterton

British Blue –£1652.00 Dukesfield Hall

206.5p Dukesfield Hall Simmental x–£1241.23 Little Swinburne

189.5p Little Swinburne Hereford-£1200.33 North Churchlands

180.5p North Churchlands Hereford x-£1179.75 Church Farm 181.5p Church Farm

Holstein Friesian-£1238.95 & £973.50 Cairnhead Farm

174.5p & 147.5p Cairnhead Farm Ayshire-£925.46 Marley Cote 159.5p Marley Cote

Cast Bulls

A British Blue cross bred Bull from Messrs W & J A Longlands, Rusheylaw sold to 222.5ppk and grossed an eye watering £2547.63. Limousin-£1853.25 Fairspring 176.5p Fairspring

British Blue-£2547.63 Rusheylaw 222.5p Rusheylaw

Prime Sheep

Prime Hoggs

An increased entry of hoggs this week sold at a very similar trade to a top of £144 from Dalton Hill Head. Butsfield Burn sold Texel crosses to 264.6ppk.

Texel x –£141 Old Town, £136 Dalton Hill Head & Cawfields, £133 Dalton Hill Head, £129 Moss Barns & Old Town, £127 Butsfield Burn & BIngfield Combe

264.6p Butsfield Burn, 262.5p BIngfield Combe, 256.8p (x2) Butsfield Burn, 255.6p Moss Barns

Suffolk x –£144, £133.50 & £133 Dalton Hill Head

254.1p Butsfield Burn Cheviot x-£111 Walltown 258.8p & 258.1p Walltown

Mule –£121 Parmontley Hall, £120 Cawfields

228.3p & 227.1p Parmontley Hall Hampshire-£134.50 Dalton Hill Head 231.9p Dalton Hill Head

Prime Lambs

The first spring lambs of the year entered the Prime stock ring and sold well to a top of £134 from Grange House and £129 for 2 pens from Hedchester Law. Grange House sold 39kg to 320.5ppk

Cast Ewes and Rams

Cast Ewes and Rams sold to a top of £162 from Cawfields.

Dutch Texel Ram-£162 Cawfields Texel x –£159 Old Town

Mule –£146 Moss Barns, £136 Parmontley Hall

Swaledale –£94 (x2) Parmontley Hall Open Ewes & Hoggs with Lambs at Foot

Hexham and Northern Marts sold a catalogued entry of 170 Ewes, Gimmers & Hoggs with Lambs at foot at their opening special sale of 2022.

Topping the sale at £111/life was a pen of smart Mule Hoggs with lambs at foot from Messrs T W Oliver, Cawfields selling to local based customer. Aged Ewes & Lambs sold to a very strong trade topping at £92/life from J H Emerson, Haggate.

Gimmers with lambs at foot topped at £108/life for strong Texel x from Mr J D Walton Burnbank.

Aged Ewes & Lambs

Texel x-£92, £90 & £87 Haggate Farm, £86 Nafferton Farm, £85 Haggate Farm

Mule-£82 The Shield & Haggate Farm, £81 The Shield

Gimmers & Lambs

Texel x-£108 Burnbank, £105 White House Farm

Hoggs & Lambs

Texel x-£106 (x2) Tedcastle Mule-£111 Cawfields

ACKLINGTON May 5

Forward at the weekly prime stock sale this week was 25 head of prime cattle and cast cows, 494 prime sheep comprising 28 lambs, 343 hoggs and 123 cast sheep.

17 Prime Cattle

All small show forward due to the six-day rule and busy spring sales.

Leading grossing steer was a Sim x from David Gagie, Ferneybeds realising £1585 to Jewitt Meat Ltd. Lead p per kg steer was a Lim x from Robertson’s of Stamford realising 258p to Bill Howard on behalf of Turnbulls of Alnwick.

Leading grossing heifer was a South Devon x realising £1607 to George Chapman, Carlisle. Lead pence per kg heifer was a South Devon from Robert and Sally Lee, Lumbylaw realising 252p to Bill Howard on behalf Turnbull’s of Alnwick.

Prime Steers per head: Sim x 1585 Ferneybeds, Lim x 1578 Stamford, Sim x 1544 Ferneybeds, Sim x 1506 Ferneybeds, Lim x 1485 Stamford, South Devon 1420 Stamford.

Prime Steers price per kilo: South Devon 258p Stamford, South Devon 244p Stamford, Lim x 230p Stamford, Sim x 224p Ferneybeds, Sim x 220p Ferneybeds.

Prime Heifers prices per head: South Devon 1607 Lumbylaw, Angus 1591 Brotherwick, SD 1549 Lumbylaw, SD 1545 Lumbylaw, Angus 1515

Brotherwick, SD 1501 Stamford, SD 1499 Lim x 1378 Stamford.

Prime Heifers price per kilo: SD 252p Stamford, Lim x 249p Wingates Wholme, Angus 234p Brotherwick, SD 234p Lumbylaw, Angus 231p Brotherwick, SD 229p Lumbylaw, Lim x 229p Stamford.

8 Cast Cows – Cows very dear with many more required for next week.

Leading prices per head: Sim x 1496 Herds House, Sim x 1371 Herds House, Lim x 1342 Wingates Wholme, Lim x 1168 Howick Seahouses, Lim x 1139 Wingates Wholme, Fries 970 Hauxley, Fries 924 Hauxley.

Leading price per Kg: Sim x 205p Herds House, Sim x 197p Herds House, Lim x 186p Howick Seahouses, Lim x 173p, 160p Wingates Wholme, Fries 148p, 138p Hauxley.

28 Lambs SQQ 300.9p

45kg 134 Morwick, 45kg 132 Morwick, 41kg 128 Houndalee, Tex 43kg 128 Houndalee.

333 Prime Sheep SQQ 269.4p Another small show of hoggs forward but still a nice trade. Topping the £’s per head went to some Beltex hoggs from GD Morley, Pigdon realising £150 to Ben Gray on behalf of Andrew Atkinson Livestock Ltd. Topping the pence per kg went to a super smart Beltex hoggs from Gordon Morley, Pigdon realising 293p to Ben Gray on behalf of Yorkshire Halal. Leading Prices:

Hoggs 32.1-39kg: Beltex 126 Morley (Pigdon), Chev 125 Ferneybeds, Beltex 124 Pigdon (Morley), Tex 122 Hemscott Hill.

Hoggs 39.1kg-45.5kg: Tex 134 East Fleetham, Beltex 134 Pigdon (Morley), BDM x 134 East Fleetham, Beltex 134 Pigdon, Tex 134 East Fleetham, Tex 130 Intake, Tex 129 Stamford, Char x 129 Fenrother Lane, Tex 129 Ferneybeds.

Hoggs 45.6kg – 52kg: Beltex 150 Pigdon (Morley), Beltex 146 Brinkburn Newhouses, Char x 137 East Fleetham, Suff 137 Elilaw, Beltex 135 Pigdon, Tex 134 East Fleetham.

118 Cast Sheep & Rams Averaging £111

A small show of ewes on offer with meaty ewes very scarce today. Topping the ewe trade today from Gary Herdman, Edlingham Demesne with some Texel ewes realising £158.

Tex: 158, 150 Edlingham Demesne, 140 Glororum, 138 Stamford, 130 Houndalee, 130 Brinkburn Newhouses, 120 West Lane End, 120 Glororum, 120 Elilaw, 118 Doxford.

HB: 120, 110 Elilaw, 100 Doxford. Suff: 132 Elilaw, 126 Doxford, 120 Fenrother Lane, 120 Glororum.

Mule: 132 Edlingham Demesne, 120 Houndalee, 116 North Rennington, 107 Fenrother lane.

Rams: Texel 138 Intake.

DARLINGTON May 2 and 5

Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held its annual ‘Ladies Day’ Bank Holiday Show & Sale of Ewes & Hoggs with Lambs in conjunction with their weekly sale of Cast Cattle, Store & Breeding Stock. Forward were 359 Cattle and 1130 Sheep.

201 Hoggs & Lambs sold to £340 217 Ewes & Lambs sold to £320 129 Store Hoggs sold to £144 9 Feeding Ewes sold to £99

78 Cast Cows sold to 234ppk or £1945

4 Cast Bulls sold to 256ppk or £2533 24 Breeding Cattle sold to £2100 21 Young Bulls sold to £1390

149 Store Heifers sold to £1680 83 Store Steers sold to £1480 Ewes, Hoggs & Lambs – If it wasn’t already a Bank Holiday it’s possible that the sheep vendors may well have called one anyway as an absolutely phenomenal trade was apparent throughout. The demand this time last year was high, very high in fact for the younger sheep and whilst the hoggs relatively mirrored last year’s flyer the older ewes were up by a staggering margin, the hoggs with lambs averaged a superb £119 per life whilst the ewes, some rather elderly included, levelled at a brilliant £73.90 per life.

A memorable Darlington debut today was made by D Carr & Son of High Wood Farm, Hexham when their superb run of Texel hoggs and lambs scooped the Championship plus the leading price of the day at a superb £340, in total 20 toppers all suckling singles from High Wood averaged a stunning £151 per life.

The familiar quality of Colin and Liz Gaskin, Marwood ensured that the Hexham raiders didn’t have things all their own way as their ongoing dispersal of superb sheep included six of the day’s top eight prices, 2/3 crop continental ewes with twins from the Gaskin’s sold as high as £320 with four pens of the same good homes single suckling hoggs reaching £290. The Mule trade belonged to another debutant Mr David Bainbridge of Cotherstone as twice his pens of excellent hoggs with single Texel sired lambs sold for £270. Mule shearlings with twins peaked at £252 from J D Bousfield, Boldron. Below are the results from the show today which was kindly judged by former DFAM employee the famous Fishburn philanthropist Mr Ian Curry.

Best Pen of 5 Hoggs & Lambs: 1st D Carr & Son, Hexham sold for £340 to J V & J A Hodgson, Summerhouse; 2nd D Carr & Son, Hexham sold for £300 to J V & J A Hodgson, Summerhouse;

3rd David Bainbridge, Cotherstone sold for £270 to R W Dalton, Romaldkirk; 4th R N Kirkby & Son, Northallerton sold for £230 to R D & D Elders & Son, Bradbury

Best Pen of 5 Ewes & Lambs: 1st C & E Gaskin, Marwood sold for £290 to R & K M Teasdale, Helmsley; 2nd I Spedding, Wolsingham sold for £205 to W F Dove & Sons, Bishop Middleham;

3rd T & R Dent, Rosedale sold for £215 to S Coote, Spennymoor; 4th B

Williamson, Butterknowle sold for £245 to R & K M Teasdale, Helmsley

Hoggs & Lambs (Continental) – £340 £300 £285 D Carr & Son. £290(x4) £280 C & E Gaskin. £240(x2) £220 £218 £215 C & R Metcalf. £225 £215 £200 G W Dobson & Son. £225 £220 M W Reed.

Hoggs & Lambs (Mule) – £270(x2) David Bainbridge. £240 £225 £222 £220(x2) M W Reed. £230(x2) R N Kirby & Son. £220 G W Dobson & Son. £205 D Alderson.

Shearlings & Lambs (Mule) – £252 £242 J D Bousfield. £245 £230 B Williamson.

Ewes & Lambs – £320 £290 £265 £240 C & E Gaskin. £240(x2) £225 £205 I Spedding. £220 M Radford. £215(x2) £200 T & R Dent. £208 G Barraclough. £205 £200 P Turnbull. £200 S Beeforth.

Cast Cows & OTM – Goodness gracious the cow trade continues in stupendous fashion; the buyer’s eyes were practically watering at ringside today as the sale averages an amazing 189 pence per kilo and £1247.58. Blimey the bulls are dear and that is where we begin, four forward average 225ppk and £2076, the best of them a fantastic 5-year-old British Blue from Hillside Farms sold for a staggering 256ppk and £2533.

Top three females of the sale today were all clean heifers as a smart Limousin at 234ppk from J Loveridge, Cliffe was chased hard by sublime Simmental OTM’s from A Willey, Chopwell at 232ppk and 228ppk. Brilliant British Blue’s from S & R E

Williamson, Hamsterley were this week’s leading older ladies selling for 226ppk and 224ppk whilst the top native per kilo followed closely as Mayfield Beef Shorthorn’s peaked at 222ppk.

Best of the dairy breeds per kilo came from the aforementioned Willey pen with Montbeliarde’s selling to 190ppk and Friesian’s to 188ppk. Best grossing female this week was a belting British Blonde from S Suddes, Tow Law when she reached £1945, top native was a thick meated Hereford from W & R Kemp & Son, Wigdon Walls Farm which sold for £1629 and the biggest valued dairy cow was a hefty Friesian from Little Newsham Farms when she added up very well to £1612.

Cast Cows & OTM Leading PPK – 234 J Loveridge. 232 228 216 210 190(x3) 188 A Willey. 226 224 S & R E Williamson. 222 C W Jackson. 222 216 212 Mayfield Beef Shorthorns. 220 206 W T Hall. 220 210 J Dixon. 216 D K Barker. 216 196 D Robson & Sons. 214 200 T W & C Emerson. 212 W I Suddes & Son. 208 F Bainbridge. 196 M Metcalfe. 194 A W Sanderson. 192 J R Dalton. 192 G A Willey. 188 R & W Todd. 188 M W Cook & Son. 188 J P & R Ward. 188 J F Harland. 188 J R Dalton. 188 S Suddes.

Cast Bulls Leading PPK – 256 246 Hillside Farms. 202 C Binks & Son. 188 G W Chapman.

Cast Cows & OTM Leading Gross – £1945 S Suddes. £1831 £1596 £1591 £1584 £1545 £1402 £1381 £1349 £1330 £1301 A Willey. £1653 £1304 S & R E Williamson. £1629 W & R Kemp & Son. £1612 Little Newsham Farms. £1585 G A Willey. £1511 W I Suddes & Son. £1505 £1401 D Robson & Sons. £1454 Mayfield Beef Shorthorns. £1429 C W Jackson. £1410

D K Barker. £1405 J R Dalton. £1399 T Harland. £1388 W T Hall. £1358 T W & C Emerson. £1336 M Metcalfe. £1317 J Dixon. £1300 R & W Todd. £1294 J Loveridge.

Cast Bulls Leading Gross – £2533 £2488 Hillside Farms. £1675 G W Chapman. £1611 C Binks & Son.

Breeding & Store Cattle – A mixed medley of breeding cattle began proceedings and sold well in all shapes and sizes before the large crowd which had gathered on the Bank Holiday; leading the way at £2100 was a strong 7-year-old Aberdeen Angus cow with calf at foot from C Leighton, Stockton. The young bulls followed and were once again in high demand, the recent good form of W A Wardman, Yearby once more came to the fore with the top two prices of £1390 and £1380 some way ahead of the pursuing pack.

Moving on to the store cattle and an absolutely sensational run of 2-year-old home bred Limousin heifers from C W Jackson, Woodend Farm, Etherley Bank stole the show, the superstar heifers were sold as having recently run with a bull which only aided the bottom line as they averaged a wonderful £1546 with the pick of them selling for an incredible £1680. Leading steer this week went once again to the wonderful Wardman beast as their 14-month-old Limousin sold for £1480. All things considered the beef trade stays very strong as the fast fat trade keeps the short keep feeders pushing forward and the recent rain could well inject more life in to an already sharp grass beast trade.

Cows & Calves £2100 £1900 C Leighton. £1420 £1220 £1000 J Brown & Sons. £1350 £1250 £1150 T Ripley & T Ramesar.

In Calf Heifers £1200 BJ Magraw. Bulling Heifers £1080 J Brown & Sons. Breeding Bulls – Charolais £1600 £150 G Scott.

Limousin £1390 £1370 OJ Kendall. Hereford £1300 J Elliott.

Store Bulls £1390 £1380 WA Wardman Ltd. £1180 £1040 TT Hall & Son. £1060×5 WO Grix & Partners. £990 £890 K James. £980 £875 £845 £840 £795 £770 C Moffett. £765×3 RW Raper & Sons.

Store Steers £1480 £1430 £1410 £1290 £1250 £1170 £1155 WA Wardman Ltd. £1430 £1400 WO Grix & Partners. £1375 £1295 A Willey. £1415 £1300×2 £1190 £1175 WH Brown. £1285×5 £1200×2 D Blake. £1280 £1190×2 £1060×2 D Robson. £1230 £1150 J&MJ Walton. £1210 G Cant. £1175 JJM Lonsddale. £1170 K James. £1130 W Emerson. £1105 x2 JG Wall & Sons. £1090 GH&RG Stobbs. £1070 C&M Burnett. £1065 JE&AJ Pickford. £1060 DR Smith.

Store Heifers £1680 £1600 £1520 £1500×2 £1480 CW Jackson. £1370 £1360 £1320 £1200 WO Grix & Partners. £1360 £1305×2 £1295×2 £1225 £1105×2 £1100 WA Wardman Ltd. £1300 T James. £1290 £1190 TL Anderson. £1225 WH Brown. £1220 JJM Lonsdale. £1220×2 £1080×2 D Blake. £1160 JP&R Ward. £1135×2 £1120 WC Barker & Son. £1110×2 £1090×2 J Norman. £1105 D Robson & Sons. £1100 E Scott & Sons. £1100 DR Smith. £1080 JJ Horn.

Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held its weekly sale of Primestock. Forward were 246 Cattle, 1261 Sheep and 5 Pigs.

107 Prime Bulls sold to 268ppk or £2734 45 Prime Steers sold to 280ppk or £2141 93 Prime Heifers sold to 313ppk or £1918 1 Cast Cow sold for 234ppk and £1712 105 New Season Lambs sold to 377ppk or £166

860 Prime Hoggs sold to 347ppk or £200 296 Cast Ewes & Rams sold to £245

5 Prime Pigs sold to 110ppk or £91 Prime Bulls (107) – More forward and trade following the trend nationally and easing, thus said a sale average of 234ppk remains very competitive. A photo finish this week as remarkably 15 good bulls all sold between 260ppk and 268ppk, over the line in the lead was a superb Limousin from W I Suddes & Son, Cornsay with a strong representation from both local and travelled bulls hot on their heels.

Some real quality and weight arrived from Scotland this morning and it was they who amazingly landed our top 11 gross values, all of which were over £2000; with the exception of two Dunblane vendors D M Lyle with a 16-month-old Charolais and a terrific 38-month-old British Blue from R & M Patterson the remaining nine top gross values were all Limousin’s fed in Stirlingshire. Four from John Burnett & Sons, Upper Spittalton and three from D & L Graham, Mains of Burbank impressed but were outshone by a mammoth 1032kg bull from Grahams the Family Dairy, Airthrey Kerse when he reached £2734.

In contrast to the continentals the dairy bred bulls lost no ground on last week’s flyer as they remained a superb trade, an excellent Friesian from J E & B Morgan & Sons, Bishop Middleham set the pace at 232ppk and £1642 whilst the pick of the native breeds were Aberdeen Angus from yet another marauding Stirlingshire seller as J Rettie sold to 227ppk and £1806. Below are some of the top bull contenders of the day.

Grahams the Family Dairy, Stirling sold 2

Bulls to average 265ppk and £2575

D & L Graham, Stirling sold 3 Bulls to average 258ppk and £2269

A G Watson & Sons, Rushyford sold 6 Bulls to average 255ppk and £1914

R & R Contracting, Kelso sold 6 Bulls to average 254ppk and £1588

W I Suddes & Son, Cornsay sold 4 Bulls to average 253ppk and £1375

J Burnett & Sons, Stirling sold 4 Bulls to average 252ppk and £2320

Continental Bulls – Top prices ppk 268 260×2 WI Suddes & Son. 265×2 Grahams Family Dairy. 264×2 250 D&L Graham. 264 261×2 253×2 AG Watson & Sons. 260 J&A Moralee. 260×3 252 249 247 R&R Contracting. 260 254 252 WM Dick & Sons. 257 JF Gibson & Son. 256 255 254 246 J Burnett & Sons. 255 WM Fleming. 254 G Corner. 251 245 S&J Dent & Son. 250 C&JC Stephenson. 249 R&M Paterson. 250 LS Staley. 247 JK&CE Farming. 245 K Trotter. 244 R McCulloch.

Lead Grossing Continental Bulls £2734 £2416 Grahams Family Dairy. £2463 £2410 £2265 £2143 J Burnett & Sons. £2437 £2199 £2172 D&L Graham. £2151 R&M Paterson. £2003 £1867 £1844 DM Lyle. £1993 £1983 £1907 £1889 £1863 £1850 AG Watson & Sons. £1987 LS Staley. £1983 R&P McAlister. £1978 £1783 WM Dick & Sons. £1967 C&JC Stephenson. £1948 £1832 R McCulloch. £1918 J&A Moralee. £1820 WM Fleming.

Friesian Bulls – Top prices ppk 232 198 JE&B Morgan & Sons. 220 JK&CE Farming. 215 210×2 207 200 198 197 JM&S Walton. 199 154 GW Dobson & Son. 186 185 179 157 C&M Atkinson & Sons.

Lead Grossing Friesian Bulls £1642 JE&B Morgan & Sons. £1462 £1369 £1339 £1258 £1253 £1222 £1205 JM&S Walton. £1109 C&M Atkinson & Sons.

Native Breed Bulls – Top prices ppk 227 219 J Rettie. 226 WM Dick & Sons. 220 JF Gibson & Son. 220 W&R Kemp & Son. 210 R Hall & Son.

Lead Grossing Native Breed Bulls £1806 J Rettie. £1758 WM Dick & Sons. £1379 W&R Kemp & Son. £1322 JF Gibson & Son. £1215 R Hall & Son.

Prime Clean Cattle (138) – As with the bulls the buyers showed some resistance at the top end of the spectrum but an incredibly tight chasing pack could be found sitting very closely behind the few special ones, countless heifers today sold in the 280ppk to 300ppk bracket and the fleshy heavy steers continue to add up nicely. Sale averages of steers 242ppk and heifers 271ppk with the whole show levelling at £1628 apiece.

Regular sellers W A Armstrong of Coxhoe and J V & J A Hodgson of Summerhouse between them produced two thirds of the top nine prices per kilo but somehow missed out on the podium places; R Hirst, Neasham and W & M Knaggs & Son, Sadberge were separated by a penny in bronze and silver positions but the runaway winner this week was Caldwell based W Swinbank & Sons with a sensational 554kg Limousin heifer selling for 313 pence to H Taylor & Sons Butchers, Darlington. We head back North of the border to present our leading steer per kilo award this week as W M Fleming, Moss Tower, Kelso produced a British Blue at 280 pence, closest of the rest were J & A Moralee, Bardon Mill and B W & A O Manners of Dudley, Newcastle Upon Tyne.

Two steers led by quite a margin on the gross value list, the aforementioned steer from Messrs Manners added up to a whopping £2123 however for the second week running it was a cracker from J E Suddes & Son, Cornsay Colliery which topped the sale at an impressive £2141. Over 30 heifers today sold over £1700, of these just four broke £1800 and one stand out performer led the field at £1918, the vendors responsible for the 735kg Limousin were I Marshall & Sons, Hope House Farm, Bishop Middleham. As is customary below are listed some of the successful sellers. Heifers

Askwiths, Crook sold 3 Heifers to average 286ppk and £1585

R Hirst, Neasham sold 10 Heifers to average 283ppk and £1661

W Swinbank & Sons, Caldwell sold 6 Heifers to average 281ppk and £1703

W A Armstrong, Coxhoe sold 12 Heifers to average 278ppk and £1668

J E Suddes & Son, Cornsay Colliery sold 6 Heifers to average 277ppk and £1638

I Marshall & Son, Bishop Middleham sold 3 Heifers to average 275ppk and £1832 Steers

J E Suddes & Son, Cornsay Colliery sold 3 Steers to average 266ppk and £1879

W M Fleming, Kelso sold 6 Steers to average 259ppk and £1711

Askwiths, Crook sold 2 Steers to average 259ppk and £1626

I Marshall & Son, Bishop Middleham sold 2 Steers to average 275ppk and £1832

Steers – Top prices ppk 280 269 264 258 247 WM Fleming. 276 J&A Moralee. 273 BW&AO Manners. 271 WM Dick & Sons. 271 W Swinbank & Sons. 270 269 260 JE Suddes & Son. 267 265 258 250 GC&JC Pullan. 266 254 Askwiths. 264 J Gilson. 260 254 I Marshall & Sons. 250 RO Gilson. 239 James Gilson. 233 GW&L Marsay.

Lead Grossing Steers £2141 £1906 JE Suddes & Son. £2123 £1771 £1706 £1648 BW&AO Manners. £1906 £1764 £1656 GC&JC Pullan. £1901 £1766 £1752 £1674 WM Fleming. £1807 WM Dick & Sons. £1794 £1652 RO Gilson. £1778 £1704 I Marshall & Sons. £1703 GC&JC Pullan. £1689 J&A Moralee. £1646 TN Hodgson & Sons.

Heifers – Top prices ppk 313 290 W Swinbank & Sons. 304 W&M Knaggs & Son. 303 288 287 286 284 281 280 R Hirst. 300 299×2 290 284 283 279 WA Armstrong. 298 295 292 285×2 279×2 JV&JA Hodgson. 291 287 283 Askwiths. 290 I Marshall & Son. 286 JE Suddes & Son. 282 278 WF Hustwit. 282 279 276 JE Suddes & Son. 281 K&J Heslop. 279 M&J Cheesbrough. 275 W Henderson.

Lead Grossing Heifers £1918 £1800 £1778 I Marshall & Sons. £1827 £1788 £1721 W Henderson. £1818 £1782 W&M Knaggs & Son. £1779 £1770 £1743 £1734 £1719 £1705 JV&JA Hodgson. £1777 £1776 £1741 JE Suddes & Son. £1769 £1740 £1725 £1720 £1719 £1703 WA Armstrong. £1762 £1745 R Hirst. £1754 £1677 £1674 JJ Kemp & Son. £1734 £1709 £1705 £1703 W Swinbank & Sons. £1718 M&J Cheesbrough & Sons.

Cast Cows – Top prices ppk 234 J Gilson. Lead Grossing Cast Cows £1712 J Gilson. Prime Lambs (105) – Good lambs are indeed a very good trade with the top three vendors I Burn & Sons, Stamfordham (8 sold), W & M Knaggs & Son, Sadberge (27 sold) and Wytherstone Farms, Skiplam (26 sold) averaging £149, £147 and £141 respectively. Plainer lambs at this time before the wholesaler’s switch are still selling at hogg price which in itself is more than healthy. The star of today’s show and keeping the Beltex out for a change was a fabulous British Rouge lamb from W & M Knaggs & Son, Sadberge weighing 44kg and selling for £166 (377ppk).

New Season Lambs- Top Prices PPK 377 363 360 357 325 318 281 W&M Knaggs & Son. 350 339 328 318 306 I Burn & Son. 333 320 308 Wytherstone Farm. 331 326 318 M Barley. 323 Anna Herbert. 322 307 J Clark.

Lead Grossing New Season Lambs – £166 £160 £155 £150 £140 £135 W&M Knaggs & Son. £161 £150 £148 £146 £140 I Burn & Son. £148 £141 £140 Wytherstone Farm. £140 £139 £137 M Barley. £138 A&EJ Dobinson.

Prime Hoggs (860) – Dearer again as the better bred and handy weights are in very high demand, as always weighed absolutely straight the sale average returned at 262ppk with an SQQ of 279ppk. After a fortnight sharing the top price per kilo it was solo glory today for the Callender family of Whinney Hill who’s terrific quartet of 40 kg Beltex led the trade at 347 pence. Top gross value was something a little special, a truly outstanding 82kg Texel tup hogg from J P Floyd, Whitby sold for £200, the more normal runs of big hoggs once again largely sold £140 to £145. As always, our hill bred hogg supporters were here in force, this week’s best a pen of 29 Scotch Blackface hoggs weighing 39kg from P Turnbull, Kildale which sold for £112.

Hoggs – Top prices ppk 347 333×3 322 302 300 294 289 283 282×2 TN Callender. 340 333 331 300 295×2 293 290×2 PJ&MP Gilhespy. 318 JD Brannen. 311 296 WE Frank & Son. 310 295 JE Braithwaite & Son. 302 300 298×2 297 292×2 291 289 PR&V Barlow & Son. 300 J Butterfield & Son. 297 287 RE&L Frank. 294 WA Wardman Ltd. 289 GP&A Carter. 287 DA Gill. 287 284 JR&AR Wall. 287 285 P Turnbull. 286 L&S Barker. 282 JH&D Wise.

Lead Grossing Hoggs £200 JP Floyd. £165 £140 JM&S Walton. £150 £140×2 £139 £138.50 £135.50 £135 £133 TN Callender. £150 £149 £144 ££142 £141 £140×3 £138 £136×3 £134×2 AC Simpson & Son. £145 JA&A Herbert. £145 £139 JR&AR Wall. £140 £139.50 £139 PJ&MP Gilhespy. £142 £140 C Binks & Son. £140 £139×2 £137.50×2 PR&V Barlow & Son. £139 £137 J Pallister & Sons. £134 JD Brannen. £134 JH&D Wise.

Cast Ewes & Rams (296) – Less forward with trade still exceptional even after last weeks EID celebrations are done and dusted. A super sale average of £112. Top price this week went to C S & V Whitfield of High Castledene, Knitsley with a terrific Beltex X Texel ewe which sold for £245, a further ten ewes sold over £200 with forty more above £150. The bigger Mule ewes still sold £110 to £120 whilst the fit horned ewes sold £70 to £80.

Lead grossing cast sheep- £245 £232 £200 £160 £140 C S&V Whitfield. £220 £178 Askwiths. £182 CA Knaggs. £180 £178 £165 JP Floyd. £180 JV Hodgson & Son. £160 £150 £140 W&M Knaggs & Son. £150 £138 PJ&MP Gilhespy. £151 CM Cameron. £150 £140 JA&A Herbert. £148 £134 £130 AC Simpson & Son.

Pigs (5) – Alas the great Darlington pig boom was short lived as numbers fell by an alarming 80%!

Trade is on the mend and statistics show today that for the first time since 2018 pig farmers are now less likely to be depressed than Manchester City fans, who would have thought it.

Pigs – Top Prices Ppk – 110 105 J Mitchell & Son.

Lead Grossing Pigs – £90 £91 J Mitchell & Son.