Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of prime stock on Thursday 23rd April 2026. Forward were 221 cattle and 1009 sheep.
49 Prime Bulls sold to 419ppk or £3404
59 Prime Steers sold to 430ppk or £3057
113 Prime Heifers sold to 488ppk or £3352
15 New Season Lambs sold to 458ppk or £211
874 Prime Hoggs sold to 443ppk or £220
120 Cast Ewes/Rams sold to £220
Prime Bulls (49) – Trade a touch easier although it should be noted that a plainer show assembled and the 18ppk drop on average on the week would in real terms be much more like 8 or 10ppk. All in this week’s offering averaged 342ppk and £2333. Half a dozen of the best still traded beyond 400ppk, the top quartet all over 410ppk; pick of the pack at 419ppk was a cracking 700kg Limousin from WI Suddes & Son, South Farm, tuppence behind followed a smart 685kg Limousin from TW Clark & Son, Frankland Park. Three bulls sold over £3000, four more over £2900 and another quartet over £2800. Highest of them all at £3404 was a superb 851kg British Blonde from F & JS Gargett, Westwick Farm when he made £3404; two Limousin bulls followed when an 852kg sort from P Langstaff, Dunn House reached £3254 and another excellent bull from WI Suddes & Son at 775kg sold for £3185. Nicest of the natives were arguably two Beef Shorthorn’s from S & J Dent & Son, Great Burdon Farm when they led the prices per kilo at 372 and 370 pence, the best in the lump was a hulking Hereford from W & R Kemp & Son, Wigdon Walls which sold £2862. R Hall & Son, Kilton Hall led the pure dairy breeds with their excellent feeding; the Brotton based firm sold Friesian’s to 319ppk and £1968, Montbéliard’s to 310ppk and £2287 and Ayrshire’s to 305ppk and £1964.
Bulls- Lead Grossing Top Averages
P Langstaff sold 2 (807kg) Average £3065
WI Suddes & Son sold 2 (737kg) Average £3059
F&JS Gargett sold 3 (750kg) Average £2982
TW Clark & Son sold 3 (739kg) Average £2935
Bulls- PPK Top Averages
WI Suddes & Son sold 2 (737kg) Average 414ppk
TW Clark & Son sold 3 (739kg) Average 397ppk
F&JS Gargett sold 3 (750kg) Average 397ppk
P Langstaff sold 2 (807kg) Average 379ppk
Continental Bulls – Top prices ppk 419 411 WI Suddes & Son. 417 404 374 TW Clark & Son. 411 400 384 F&JS Gargett. 391 377 364 J&A&DA Horn. 382 377 P Langstaff. 370 359×3 345 337 J Murray. 355 349 342 338 336 JM Greensit & Son Ltd. 341 329 HM&JS Hutchinson. 337 Williamson.
Lead Grossing Continental Bulls £3404 £2922 £2622 F&JS Gargett. £3254 £2876 P Langstaff. £3185 £2933 WI Suddes & Son. £2985 £2965 £2856 TW Clark & Son. £2815 £2715 J&A&DA Horn. £2715 £2622 £2606 £2558 JM Greensit & Son Ltd. £2482 £2355 £2154 £2114 J Murray. £2287 R Hall & Son.
Native Bulls – Top prices ppk 372 370 S&J Dent & Son. 326 317 HM&JS Hutchinson. 296×2 W&R Kemp & Son. 287 W Chrystal & Partners.
Lead Grossing Native Bulls £2862 £2462 W&R Kemp & Son. £2758 W Chrystal & Partners. £2349 £2380 S&J Dent & Son. £2158 £2024 HM&JS Hutchinson.
Friesian Bulls – Top prices ppk 308 296 295 276 HM&JS Hutchinson. 319 R Hall & Son.
Lead Grossing Friesian Bulls £1968 R Hall & Son. £1920 £1728 £1657 £1600 HM&JS Hutchinson.
Clean Cattle (172) – No denying that the beef trade is on the slide, after a prolonged period of excellent prices the trade has certainly fallen off in the past couple of weeks. Averages would still stand firm against most other options with all buyers present and bidding but doing so with noticeable caution, still some spark remains for the better bred and thickest fleshed, the R and O grades certainly look to have taken the biggest hit. Heifers averaged 382ppk and £2351 with steers 365ppk and £2482. Top per kilo at a whopping 488 pence was a marvellous 627kg Limousin heifer from LR Welsh & Co, Green Lane Farm. Quite a gap appeared before the second and third spots which both went to R Hirst, Neasham Grange with expertly fed Limousin’s at 603kg and 459ppk and 620kg and 456ppk. Seven heifers followed between 440ppk and 451ppk with a further dozen in the 430’s and sixteen in the 420’s. Two tremendous steers split the top spot per kilo at 430 pence as two Northumbrian feeders shared the limelight; a 694kg British Blue from WJ Scott, Low Leam joined a 597kg Limousin from J Forsyth, Lows Stead Farm. A dozen other steers selling over 400ppk were predominantly from this week’s plethora of Northumberland based vendors but not exclusively as one or two local vendors were also joined by todays farthest travelled consignor, D Bush of Holly Farm, Great Yarmouth. Three thousand pounds is becoming increasingly difficult to find, just three made it today, six followed in the £2900’s and a dozen more sold in the £2800’s. Top by some margin at £3352 was a superbly finished 776kg Limousin heifer from NE Dyson, Gebdykes Farm, the other three over £3000 were the aforementioned 488ppk heifer from LR Welsh & Co and two terrific homebred steers from the WJ Scott team at Low Leam.
Clean- Lead Grossing Top Averages
JD Forsyth & Son sold 6 (735kg) Average £2869
LR Welsh & Co sold 4 (669kg) Average £2858
WJ Scott Ltd sold 7 (668kg) Average £2832
NE Dyson sold 4 (691kg) Average £2800
Clean- PPK Top Averages
R Hirst sold 8 (598kg) Average 440ppk
LR Welsh & Co sold 4 (669kg) Average 426ppk
MF Hall sold 7 (541kg) Average 423ppk
B Walker sold 3 (560kg) Average 423ppk
WJ Scott Ltd sold 7 (668kg) Average 423ppk
Steers – Top prices ppk 430 417 412 WJ Scott Ltd. 430 409 408 391 366 J Forsyth. 419 399 LR Welsh & Co. 415 401 Askwiths. 415 404 392 386 381 365 JD Forsyth & Son. 412 376 WO Grix & Partners. 405 MF Hall. 402 375 372 NL Dalton. 401 399 371 370 368 D Bush.
Lead Grossing Steers £3057 £3044 £2984 WJ Scott Ltd. £2992 £2889 £2745 £2719 £2430 GS Eggleston. £2983 £2891 Askwiths. £2981 £2950 £2843 £2834 £2830 £2779 JD Forsyth & Son. £2892 £2878 LR Welsh & Co. £2632 WO Grix & Partners.
Heifers – Top prices ppk 488 LR Welsh & Co. 459 456 445 444 438 434 425 R Hirst. 451 437 436 433430 428 426 WO Grix & Partners. 447 438 420 WJ Scott Ltd. 444 WF Hustwit. 440×2 429 424 422 MF Hall. 438 JE Suddes & Son. 437 JV&JA Hodgson. 434 418 Askwiths. 434 424 WF Hustwit. 432 NE Dyson. 429 421 419 B Walker. 427 417 ME Robinson. 421 JE Suddes & Son. 420 S&J Dent & Son. 416 WJ&AS Bowes & Sons.
Lead Grossing Heifers £3352 £2618 £2615×2 NE Dyson. £3059 £2604 LR Welsh & Co. £2917 £2837 £2631 WJ&AS Bowes & Sons. £2877 £2856 £2676 WJ Scott Ltd. £2837 £2702 £2630 JE Suddes & Son. £2827 £2767 £2674 £2655 R Hirst. £2825 £2760 £2722 £2616 WO Grix & Partners. £2711 £2653 EA Martin & Son. £2696 £2578 JV&JA Hodgson. £2638 £2625J Forsyth. £2625 B Walker. £2572 S&J Dent & Son.
New Season Lambs (15) – Still early days for the lamb producers this far North, thankfully another smart consignment of Charollais lambs from D Whitcher, Foulrice, York was in attendance to fulfil buyer demand. The offering from Foulrice averaged 438ppk and £203.93 with the top two pens heading to Roots Farm Shop, East Rounton at £211 apiece.
New Season Lambs – Top prices ppk 453 439 434 431×2 D Whitcher.
Lead Grossing New Season Lambs £211×2 £204 £194×2 D Whitcher.
Prime Hoggs (874) – Trade just marginally easier for the continental bred hoggs, a disappointing drop was however noticeable for the Mule and horned types this week which pulled the average per kilo down to a weighed straight 356ppk with an SQQ of 384ppk which equated all in to £181.14 per head. The hogg of the day was a superb 50kg Beltex from TN Callender, Ox Eye Farm at £220 (440ppk). Top per kilo this week at 443ppk were nine 44kg Texel hoggs from H Haywood & Son, Lodge Farm, Melton Mowbray. Mule hoggs got away alright if they were very heavy and sold to a top of £185, Cheviot’s peaked at £186, Blackface at £155 and Swaledale £154.
Hoggs- Lead Grossing Top Averages
JP Floyd sold 6 (58kg) Average £200
TN Callender sold 40 (51kg) Average £199
CM&TF Seymour sold 11 (57kg) Average £197
TA Greensit & Sons sold 38 (52kg) Average £195
Hoggs – Top prices ppk 443 424 377 373 366 357 H Haywood & Son Ltd. 440 416×2 402 387 384 TN Callender. 408 402 374 363×2 TA Greensit & Sons. 395 393×3 390 383×3 380 379 J Hicks. 384 381 RH Wilson & Son. 383 373 372 CS Robinson. 380 M Robson. 374 368 367×2 366 J&A Layfield. 369 R Tiplady & Son. 367 JR Knox & Son. 366 J Pallister & Sons. 361 CM&TF Seymour.
Lead Grossing Hoggs £220 £205 £204 £200×2 £199 TN Callender. £205 £200×2 £195 £193 £191 TA Greensit & Sons. £202 £200×2 £199 £194×2 £190×2 J&A Layfield. £200×2 £195×2 CM&TF Seymour. £200 £198 C Bell. £200 JP Floyd. £200×2 £195 £190 JP Coatsworth & Son. £200×2 £198×2 £195×2 £191 £190 H Haywood & Son Ltd. £192×3 RE& L Frank. £192 CS Robinson. £190 F&N Cook. £190 M Robson. £190×3 JM&S Walton.
Cast Ewes/Rams (120) – Still some life in the old girls whilst not setting the place on fire as they were a few weeks ago, all in today averaged £134.89. A lovely Texel ewe from J Hird, Thorney Close led proceedings when she sold for £220. Mule ewes averaged £134 and sold to £150 on three occasions.
Lead grossing Cast Sheep £220 £192 £186 £160 J Hird. £170 £110 E Smith. £170 GS Bainbridge. £170 £130 W Walker & Sons. £170 £164 £150 £140 £134 £130 £128 J&A Layfield. £160 £140 R Herbert. £160 JP Floyd. £160 £144 £140 JM&S Walton. £150 £130 GM Blair & Partners. £150 J Mitchell & Son. £150×2 DWT Davies. £140 DM McClurg. £130 RH Wilson & Son. £130 K&M Elders.
Stephen Dodsworth
