Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of prime stock on Thursday 30th July 2026. Forward were 204 cattle and 1611 sheep.
51 Prime Bulls sold to 413ppk or £4140
51 Prime Steers sold to 429ppk or £3065
102 Prime Heifers sold to 454ppk or £2979
1493 New Season Lambs sold to 440ppk or £220
118 Cast Ewes/Rams sold to £237
Prime Bulls (51) – Sharp again as the bull trade continues its recent rejuvenation, eight sold over 400ppk and for the first time in quite a while a brilliant bull sold over £4000. The top end was joined by a below par lower tier which left the sale averaging 360ppk and £2566. Top per kilo at 413 pence was an excellent 627kg Limousin from S & J Dent & Son, Great Burdon Farm; the great bulls from Great Burdon followed again twice at 404ppk along with a fine sort from JC Johnson, Beanley Carr. Other bulls in the 400 club included a tidy lad from Cole Hill Farm Ltd and a tremendous trio of homebred heavy Limousin’s from AC Simpson & Son, McNeil Farm. The Simpson success took them way out ahead in the gross values, no doubting the star of the show as the magic from McNeil Farm produced a sensational 1030kg bull which added up to a massive £4140. Unusually an Ayrshire topped the dairy breeds when R Hall & Son, Kilton Hall sold a fleshy bull at 314ppk and £1921.
Leading Bull Averages
S & J Dent & Son sold 3 averaged 406ppk and £2655
Cole Hill Farm Ltd sold 2 averaged 399ppk and £2831
AC Simpson & Son sold 4 averaged 397ppk and £3527
DH Lawson sold 2 averaged 382ppk and £2973
AG Watson & Sons sold 3 averaged 380ppk and £3008
Top Prices Per Kilo – 413 404(x2) S & J Dent & Son. 404 JC Johnson. 402 396 Cole Hill Farm Ltd. 402 401 400 385 AC Simpson & Son. 392 374 DH Lawson. 391 386 364 AG Watson & Sons. 388 JG Moss. 386 378 373 366 WA Wardman Ltd. 384 LS Staley. 380 378 FW Hodgson & Son. 374 Tallentire. 370 JK & CE Farming. 368 R Hall & Son. 367 364 C Binks & Son.
Top Prices Per Head – £4140 £3588 £3432 £2949 AC Simpson & Son. £3210 £2925 £2890 AG Watson & Sons. £3162 JG Moss. £3100 £2845 DH Lawson. £2977 £2924 C Binks & Son. £2918 £2801 LS Staley. £2890 £2772 Cole Hill Farm Ltd. £2872 S & J Dent & Son. £2835 R Hall & Son. £2806 £2781 £2678 WA Wardman Ltd. £2783 JC Johnson. £2656 JK & CE Farming. £2608 JM Shotton.
Clean Cattle (153) – Clean cattle trade in good order, little change in the heavies however way more spark altogether for the in-spec butcher’s heifers as four sold at 450ppk or more, thirteen followed in the 440’s and the next seventeen sold in the 430’s. Aided by the sharp shop heifer prices the females averaged a very pleasing 405ppk and £2488 per head whilst the steers levelled at 354ppk and £2546 per head. Top per kilo at 454 pence was a sweet 548kg Limousin heifer from Wigton based W Miller, High Aketon Farm; the consistent Cumbrian consignor remarkably showed nine of the top ten prices per kilo, his dominance scuppered by a beauty from R Hirst, Neasham Grange at 450ppk. Other vendors up at the top of the prices per kilo included fine sorts from Maften based feeders FW Robson, South Farm and also Messrs WA Fettes, Braes of Enzie, Aberdeenshire. Topping the steers per kilo at 429 pence was a super 647kg British Blue from another of our Scottish contingency, Messrs JG Moss; following closest were a terrific Northumbrian trio between 405ppk and 413ppk from Ian Tulip, Bilton Farm. The fine form of Messrs Fettes continued in the gross values, topping the day with their 833kg Limousin steer at £3065; next in line at £2979 was another off the Scottish lorry as the aforementioned JG Moss sold a 39-month-old 803kg Limousin. Strong steers from Messrs R Miller Ltd, Arkleby Hall impressed when they sold to £2976 on a day which saw the top twenty-three cattle surpass £2700.
Leading Averages Per Kilo
W Miller – 10 Heifers 443ppk
R Hirst – 10 Heifers 428ppk
Cole Hill Farm Ltd – 5 Heifers 424ppk
A Crowder – 4 Heifers 424ppk
FW Robson – 7 Heifers 423ppk
Askwiths – 2 Heifers 423ppk
JV & JA Hodgson – 10 Heifers 422ppk
Ian Tulip – 3 Steers 388ppk
Cole Hill Farm Ltd – 5 Steers 379ppk
Leading Gross Averages
Messrs WA Fettes – 2 Steers £2931
Messrs WA Fettes – 9 Heifers £2786
Messrs R Miller ltd – 8 Steers £2699
JG Moss – 8 Steers £2654
JG Moss – 13 Heifers £2637
Messrs Miller – 3 Steers £2602
A Crowder – 4 Heifers £2553
Steers Per Kilo – 429 374(x2) JG Moss. 413 408 405 Ian Tulip. 397 W Ramsay & Sons. 396 395 374 372 Cole Hill Farm Ltd. 392 JR & B Anderson & Son. 387 370 Messrs R Miller Ltd. 378 JD Forsyth & Son. 375 370 Askwiths. 374 Messrs WA Fettes. 372 Messrs Miller.
Heifers Per Kilo – 454 450(x2) 449 448 447 445 444 443 W Miller. 450 438 437 434 432 430 R Hirst. 441(x3) Messrs WA Fettes. 441 440 436 FW Robson. 440 438 Cole Hill Farm Ltd. 440 439 437 435 432 431(x2) JV & JA Hodgson. 433 431 A Crowder. 432 JG Moss. 430 JR & B Anderson & Son.
Steers Gross – £3065 £2797 Messrs WA Fettes. £2976 £2792 £2710 £2667 £2665 £2628 £2602 £2555 Messrs R Miller Ltd. £2775 £2695 £2666 £2655 £2626 £2614 £2611 £2591 JG Moss. £2766 £2652 £2585 JD Forsyth & Son. £2745 £2618 R & LJ Simpson. £2704 £2570 JM Smith. £2686 £2581 Messrs Miller. £2670 £2653 £2580 Cole Hill Farm Ltd. £2622 £2567 Ian Tulip. £2571 JR & B Anderson.
Heifers Gross – £2979 £2951 £2779 £2725 £2682(x2) £2660 £2630 JG Moss. £2963 £2934 £2928 £2859 £2831 £2768 £2632 Messrs WA Fettes. £2829 £2683 Ian Tulip. £2748 Cole Hill Farn Ltd. £2740 £2680 TW Clark & Son. £2714 W Ramsay & Sons. £2670 £2607 £2601 R Hirst. £2661 £2609 JV & JA Hodgson. £2626 FJ Young & Partners.
New Season Lambs (1493) – For the first time the 2026 crop have fallen behind their siblings of last year as the lamb trade wobble apparent nationally continues, the sale averaged a weighed straight 324ppk and £147.97. One anomaly to the falling trade was our sale leader, a superb 50kg Beltex lamb from DR Smith, East Roughlea which sold for a marvellous £220 and 440ppk. Behind the leader just a couple of vendors sold over 400ppk, two local producers, namely JV & JA Hodgson, The Grange and PJ Tindale, Preston Tilery. The best lambs traded typically between 370ppk and 400ppk. With prices down per kilo the gross values were naturally less, behind the DR Smith £220 leader the pick of lambs came from William Simpson, Hill Top East (£192) and JV & JA Hodgson (£191). The very, very best traded £170 to £200 but the realistic appraisal is that for the first time in a long time the lamb trade looked precariously balanced at times today.
Leading Averages
Willam Simpson sold 5 averaged 48kg £173
Imogen Davies sold 2 averaged 43kg £171
JC Simpson sold 33 averaged 47kg £171
A & H Livestock sold 4 averaged 49kg £166
J & S Barnes sold 22 averaged 44kg £163
Prices Per Kilo – 440 DR Smith. 424 393 371 JV & JA Hodgson. 418 PJ Tindale. 398 397 Imogen Davies. 397 369(x2) J & S Barnes. 397 371 W Hanson. 395 386 372 HT Davies & Partners. 393 375 JR Mann. 391 376 W Simpson. 391 375 368 JA & A Herbert. 389 WKMM Lamb. 387 378 PR & V Barlow & Son. 386 A & H Livestock. 383 376 JC Simpson. 373 DL & D Lovegreen. 373 RG Richardson. 372 A Rooke & Sons. 370 W & M Knaggs & Son.
Prices Gross – £220 DR Smith. £192 £188 W Simpson. £191 £185 £176 JV & JA Hodgson. £188 £180 £179 £173 JA & A Herbert. £184 £181 JR Mann. £182 £178 PR & V Barlow & Son. £180 W & M Knaggs & Son. £180 PJ Tindale. £180 £177 £176 JC Simpson. £179 J & S Barnes. £179 £176 T Lawson & Son. £179 WKMM Lamb. £176 WR Thompson. £175 W Hanson. £174 HT Davies & Partners. £173 EA Bennett.
Cast Sheep (118) – The fleshy ewes maintained recent high levels, the lean sorts met resistance and are worth much more as feeders at the Monday store sales. All included the sale averaged 122.71. An excellent continental ewe from R Lawson & Son, Home Farm led the way when she sold for £237, the same good run sold twice more beyond £200 as did TN Callender, Ox Eye Farm. Fit and heavy continental ewes very frequently over £170, Mule ewes to a top of £176 for a pen of seven from L & S Barker, Long Pasture. Horned ewes very two tiered, full of meat Swaledale ewes topped at £100 but leaner sorts hard to move.
Leading Prices – £237 £211 £205 £196 £174 R Lawson & Son. £208 £194 £175 TN Callender. £197 JM Smith. £196 M Robinson & Sons. £195 £177 JC Simpson. £193(x2) J & A Herbert. £191 TW Clark & Son. £181 S Sanderson. £180 JC Thwaite & Son. £179 F Brown & Son. £176 L & S Barker. £175(x2) AW Sanderson.
