Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of prime stock on Thursday 21st May 2026. Forward were 184 cattle and 1496 sheep.
38 Prime Bulls sold to 405ppk or £4149
42 Prime Steers sold to 415ppk or £3073
104 Prime Heifers sold to 468ppk or £2883
304 New Season Lambs sold to 508ppk or £239
953 Prime Hoggs sold to 453ppk or £244
239 Cast Ewes/Rams sold to £300
Prime Bulls (39) – Dearer on the week to average 354ppk, a few absolute superstars included today as a pair passed £4000 and the top two sold over 400ppk. Two tremendous Limousin bulls from W Barron, Morrow Edge led the prices per kilo, a cracker at 849kg sold at 405 pence whilst his 694kg stable mate followed just a penny behind. The two tanks over £4000, like the Barron bulls, were also from noted local pedigree herds; head of the table at £4149 was a wonderful Limousin from WI Suddes & Son, South Farm, following him at £4132 was a brilliant British Blonde from P Weightman & Sons, Hallfield Farm. Top of the native breeds were a couple of smart young Beef Shorthorn crosses from S & J Dent & Son, Great Burdon Farm whilst a plainer show of Friesian’s in general were topped by JM & S Walton, Brettanby Farm.
Bulls- Lead Grossing Top Averages
WI Suddes & Son sold 3 (1046kg) Average £3918
W Barron sold 2 (771kg) Average £3121
J Layfield sold 5 (794kg) Average £3094
Bulls- PPK Top Averages
W Barron sold 2 (771kg) Average 404ppk
J Layfield sold 5 (794kg) Average 389ppk
WI Suddes & Son sold 3 (1046kg) Average 374ppk
Continental Bulls – Top prices ppk 404 404 W Barron. 398 JC Johnson. 392×2 390 388 385 J Layfield. 388 380 358 WI Suddes & Son. 376 P Weightman & Sons. 373 357 JR Knox & Son. 362 358 348 331 JM&S Walton. 358×3 343 J Armstrong. 358 345 J Peacock. 316 GS Dowson.
Lead Grossing Continental Bulls £4149 £3845 £3759 WI Suddes & Son. £4132 P Weightman & Sons. £3439 £3249 £3069 £2887 £2828 J Layfield. £3438 £2803 W Barron. £2973 £2831 JR Knox & Son. £2945 JC Johnson. £2751 £2548 £2543 JM&S Walton. £2570 £2442 £2416 £2398 J Armstrong. £2455 J Peacock.
Native Bulls – Top prices ppk 382 360 S&J Dent & Son. 350 C&M Atkinson & Sons. 320 GS Dowson.
Lead Grossing Native Bulls £2471 £2232 S&J Dent & Son. £2184 C&M Atkinson & Sons. £1756 GS Dowson.
Friesian Bulls – Top prices ppk 304 303 JM&S Walton. 290 GS Dowson. 288 D Walker. 288 272 270 C&M Atkinson & Sons.
Lead Grossing Friesian Bulls £2070 £1948 JM&S Walton. £1748 D Walker. £1652 £1647 £1578 C&M Atkinson & Sons.
Prime Cattle (146) – Dearer on the week, particularly the R grades as the processing beef looked a much sharper shot, all in the heifers averaged a pleasing 402ppk and £2422 with a relatively light weight offering of steers 357ppk and £2421. Top per kilo at 468 pence was a sweet 554kg Limousin heifer from the Askwiths of Low Mown Meadows which sold to H Taylor & Sons Butchers, Darlington. Four vendors from four counties followed in the 440’s as Northumberland’s Messrs Grix, North Yorkshire’s B Walker, Durham’s JV & JA Hodgson and Cumbria’s W Miller were all tightly grouped in the chasing pack. Top of the steers per kilo at 415 pence was an excellent Limousin from W Swinbank & Sons, Greystones; second in line at 408ppk was a smart British Blue from J Dixon & Sons Ltd, Lesson Hall just ahead of JJ Crichton, Loughrigg, J Forsyth, Low Stead and LR Welsh & Co, Green Lane Farm. A superbly finished 780kg Limousin steer from JB Harrison & Sons, Colepike Home Farm ran away with the top gross value when he added up to £3073; four steers which followed over £2900 included two more Colepike crackers plus one apiece for Messrs Grix and Swinbank. The top four heifers sold in the £2800’s, pick of them all at £2883 was an excellent 753kg Limousin from NE Dyson, Gebdykes Farm, Masham; the live ring still looks the best way to sell, the fifteen selling over £2700 today weighed between 660kg and 780kg.
Clean Cattle- PPK Top Averages
B Walker sold 3 (557kg) Average 433ppk
S&J Dent & Son sold 2 (527kg) Average 426ppk
W Miller sold 8 (558kg) Average 424ppk
Clean Cattle- Lead Grossing Top Averages
JB&N Harrison & Sons sold 3 (769kg) Average £2998
LR Welsh & Co sold 3 (712kg) Average £2831
W Swinbank & Sons sold 5 (681kg) Average £2768
Steers- Top Prices PPK 415 W Swinbank & Sons. 408 390 380 J Dixon & Sons Ltd. 407 JJ Crichton. 405 386 383 J Forsyth. 404 387 LR Welsh & Co. 396 Taylor Bros Ltd. 395 386 381 x2 WO Grix & Partners. 395 394 381 JB&N Harrison & Sons. 380 LW Martin. 380 Askwiths.
Lead Grossing Steers- £3073 £2966 £2956 JB&N Harrison & Sons. £2979 £2591 £2541 £2539 WO Grix & Partners. £2921 W Swinbank & Sons. £2856 £2807 LR Welsh & Co. £2808 £2584 £2456 J Dixon & Sons. £2717 £2585 £2540 £2447 £2430 J Forsyth. £2629 JJ Crichton. £2618 £2431 LW Martin. £2603 Askwiths.
Heifers- Top Prices PPK 468 438 Askwiths. 448 439 436 432 428 424 WO Grix & Partners. 446 430 424 B Walker. 445 438 431 424 418 JV&JA Hodgson. 444 430 x3 420 W Miller. 434 x2 432 431 429 427 x3 418 R Hirst. 430 420 JE Suddes & Son. 429 JJ Crichton. 428 424 S&J Dent & Son. 424 419 A Crowder. 421 J Forsyth. 421 W Swinbank & Sons. 418 Taylor Bros Ltd.
Lead Grossing Heifers- £2883 NE Dyson. £2830 LR Welsh & Co. £2808 £2800 £2762 £2547 W Swinbank & Sons. £2767 £2669 £2509 SH Watson & Son. £2686 £2671 £2571 £2560 JV&JA Hodgson. £2678 J Dixon & Sons Ltd. £2671 Taylor Bros Ltd. £2660 £2560 WO Grix & Partners. £2646 £2570 JJ Crichton. £2634 £2577 £2560 £2553 £2543 £2512 R Hirst. £2628 £2571 A Crowder. £2592 Askwiths. £2581 JR&B Anderson & Son. £2578 SJ Savile & Sons. £2572 £2554 J Forsyth. £2560 JE Suddes & Son. £2533 B Walker
New Season Lambs (304) – Not the dizzy heights of last week but a solid return remains available, the all in weighed straight averages of 447ppk with an SQQ of 458ppk equates to £202.64 per head which is still way out ahead of this time last year with vendors increases £30 to £50 on the corresponding week. Four bonnie Blue Texel’s from Duell Partners weighing 37kg led the prices per kilo at 508 pence, following closely and all over 500ppk were three pens from JC Simpson, Hill Top East, classy continentals between 42kg and 44kg. A belting Beltex led the gross values at £239, a cracker at 50kg from R Atkinson, High Greenbury Farm. Following at £236 were a super pen of 50kg Suffolk X Texel lambs from Cole Hill Farm, Elwick and then a 48kg Blue Texel from Duell Partners. Plenty of the best end sold in the £220’s, those with Mules for mothers sold frequently £180 to £200 plus we saw Dorsets to £204, Zwartbles to £200 and light weight Jacob’s to £157.
Spring Lambs- PPK Top Averages
JC Simpson sold 35 (43kg) Average 498ppk
Cole Hill Farm Ltd sold 42 (47kg) Average 469ppk
AC Kemp sold 3 (38kg) Average 469ppk
JA&A Herbert sold 13 (42kg) Average 468ppk
Spring Lambs- Lead Grossing Top Averages
Cole Hill Farm Ltd sold 42 (47kg) Average £221
R Atkinson sold 34 (49kg) Average £216
JC Simpson sold 35 (43kg) Average £214
PJ Tindale sold 5 (52kg) Average £211
Lambs – Top prices ppk 508 234 Duell Partners. 504×2 502 493 488 JC Simpson. 489 475×2 454 449 448 444 440 W&M Knaggs & Son. 488 477 461×2 JA&A Herbert. 485 478 455 446 R Atkinson. 474 459 AC Kemp. 472 471 470 469 467 463 Cole Hill Farm Ltd. 460 437 T Grix. 458 454 432 JW&DW Laing. 455 453 C Binks & Son. 453 443×2 C Binks & Son.
Lead Grossing Lambs – £239 £228 £225 £224 £221 £220 £214 £210 £203 R Atkinson. £236 £226 £218 £216 £215 £212 Cole Hill Farm Ltd. £234 £190 Duell Partners. £225 £220×2 £214×2 £209 W&M Knaggs & Son. £224 Askwiths. £222 £217 £215 £212 £211 JC Simpson. £220 £210 £204 PJ Tindale. £217 L Beckett. £210×2 JA&A Herbert. £204 C Binks & Son. £204×3 Anna Herbert. £202 Namens Leazes Farm.
Prime Hoggs (953) – Some serious steam on in the hoggs ahead of the EID celebrations, the sale averaged an incredible £220.94; the immense average was certainly aided by the heaviest show of the season, astonishingly only twenty-seven sat below 46kg. Top per kilo at 453 pence were a quality quintet of 52kg Beltex from R Atkinson, High Greenbury; the top ten lots contained two hundred hoggs and all sold over 435ppk. A fleshy pen of twenty-five Texel’s weighing 59kg also projected the High Greenbury hoggs to the top of the gross values when they sold for £244, the top ten lots per head contained one hundred and eighty-seven head and all sold over £236. Plenty of hill bred hoggs included today too, Mules to £220, Blackface to £203, Swaledale to £180 all from G & R Dawson, Mount Pleasant plus hill Cheviot’s to a whopping £224 from SJ Harrison, Aimshaugh, Alston.
Hoggs- PPK Top Averages
R Atkinson sold 575 (54kg) Average 428ppk
W Kirk & Sons sold 2 (48kg) Average 418ppk
CH&MC Phalp sold 24 (52kg) Average 404ppk
TN Callender sold 12 (52kg) Average 401ppk
Hoggs- Lead Grossing Top Averages
R Atkinson sold 575 (54kg) Average £232
I Marshall & Sons sold 4 (64kg) Average £223
RE&L Frank sold 21 (56kg) Average £221
N&LL Brown & Son sold 7 (58kg) Average £220
Hoggs – Top prices ppk 453 449 438 437×2 436×2 435×2 432×2 429×2 427 426 425 422×2 419 R Atkinson. 447 421 403 CH&MC Phalp. 440 428 403 400 TN Callender. 433 414 412 400 390×2 387G&R Dawson. 428 N&LL Brown. 428 AC Kemp. 428 425 410 400 RE&L Frank. 425 A&H Livestock. 418 W Kirk & Sons. 416 C Binks & Son. 414 GA&J Allison. 397 R Dickson. 394 J&A Layfield.
Lead Grossing Hoggs £244 £240×2 £239×2 £238 £236.50 £236×4 £235 £234×2 £232 3231 £230.50 R Atkinson. £240 £234×2 £231 £224 £220 G&R Dawson. £234 £232 £231 £230 RE&L Frank. £230 £220 TN Callender. £229 £218 CH&MC Phalp. £226 RE Dickson. £225 £220 I Marshall & Sons. £224 £220 SJ Harrison. £222 N&LL Brown. £220 £219 J&A Layfield. £220 JC Smith. £217 A&H Livestock.
Cast Ewes/Rams (239) – The ewes stay solid to average £151.60, top of the day at £300 were a pair of excellent Texel’s from W & M Knaggs & Son, East Newbiggin, plenty of the heavy ewes remain well over £200. Mules sold twice to £178 from T Grix, Park Farm and GS Bainbridge whereas horned ewes and Herdwicks are still frequently reaching three figures.
Lead Grossing Cast Sheep – £300 £276 £220 £217 £210 £200 £176 W&M Knaggs & Son. £244 £172 JP Coatsworth. £224 £190 £180 J&A Layfield. £219×2 JC Simpson. £206 £186 PM Hill. £201 £181 IR Appleton. £200 AW Sanderson. £200 Cole Hill Farm Ltd. £200 Duell Partners. £198 B&SM Rutherford. £196 JA&A Herbert. £196×2 £188 £165 RA Patterson & Son. £194 £191 C Binks & Son. £190 £186 £180 Swalebank Farms. £190 Namens Leazes Farm.
