Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of prime stock on Thursday 17th September 2026. Forward were 209 cattle and 1756 sheep.
77 Prime Bulls sold to 420ppk or £3744
51 Prime Steers sold to 423ppk or £3183
81 Prime Heifers sold to 494ppk or £2916
1665 Prime Lambs sold to 430ppk or £215
91 Cast Ewes/Rams sold to £265
Prime Bulls (77) – The bull trade proved livelier again with much more enthusiasm from the weekly ringside of buyers. All classes 10-15ppk dearer to leave a sale average of 363ppk and £2751 per head. Thirteen broke beyond 400ppk and twenty sold over £3000. Top per kilo at 420 pence was a stunning 718kg homebred Limousin from Renton Highlaws Ltd, Morpeth; the hot Highlaws pen followed again at 416ppk ahead of two tremendous heavy bulls from JA Matten & Sons, Avenue Grange at 412ppk. Top of the gross values was a powerful 948kg Limousin from AC Simpson & Son, McNeil Farm when he sold for £3744; three from the aforementioned Matten pen followed between £3504 and £3687 ahead of another couple of crackers from Messrs Simpson. Native breeds sold to a top per kilo of 340 pence from R Hall & Son, Kilton Hall with an Aberdeen Angus and to a top per head of £2607 from W & R Kemp & Son, Wigdon Walls with a Hereford. The Hall family of Kilton Hall Farm gain a second mention as they produced the finest Friesian, a fleshy bull which sold for 337ppk and £2315.
Bulls Grossing Top Averages-
JA Matten & Sons sold 3 (886kg) Average £3618
AC Simpson & Son sold 3 (872kg) Average £3499
P Langstaff sold 2 (834kg) Average £3042
W&M Knaggs & Son sold 2 (780kg) Average £3029
Bulls PPK Top Averages-
JA Matten & Sons sold 3 (886kg) Average 408ppk
AC Simpson & Son sold 3 (872kg) Average 401ppk
Renton Highlaws Ltd sold 6 (746kg) Average 400ppk
S&J Dent & Son sold 3 (711kg) Average 400ppk
Continental Bulls – Top prices ppk 420 416 407 400 384 Renton Highlaws Ltd. 412×2 400 JA Matten & Sons. 409 401 395 AC Simpson & Son. 408 398 396 A&J Dent & Son. 406 397 GK KN & GJ Hird. 403 W&M Knaggs & Son. 402 PJ&ES Rogerson. 397 380 MJ Marley396 383 CH&SE Armstrong. 395 390 TW Clark & Son. 384 380 LW Martin. 391 P Langstaff. 380×2 LR Welsh & Co. 380 376 WJ&AS Bowes & Sons.
Lead Grossing Continental Bulls £3744 £3468 £3284 AC Simpson & Son. £3687 £3662 £3504 JA Matten & Sons. £3226 £3057 £2942 WJ&AS Bowes & Sons. £3191 £3028 LW Martin. £3175 S&J Dent & Son. £3152 £3028 £3015 £2956 Renton Highlaws Ltd. £3086 £2997 P Langstaff. £3059 PJ&ES Rogerson. £3053 TW Clark & Son. £3045 £3014 W&M Knaggs & Son. £3017 LR Welsh & Co. £2961 £2919 GK KN & GJ Hird.
Native Bulls – Top prices ppk 340 R Hall & Son. 337 333 332 330 310 CH&SE Armstrong. 308 306 W&R Kemp & Son.
Lead Grossing Native Bulls £2607 £2500 W&R Kemp & Son. £2434 R Hall & Son. £2427 £2257 £2207 £1844 £1733 CH&SE Armstrong.
Friesian Bulls – Top prices ppk 337 R Hall & Son. 324 316 296 MA&PD Foster.
Lead Grossing Friesian Bulls £2315 R Hall & Son. £2126 £2015 £1861 MA&PD Foster.
Clean Cattle (132) – No repeat of last week’s incredible averages but please be under no illusion, DfAM still provided a really sharp trade with prices standing firm against all other outlets to see the heifers average 417ppk and £2492 and the steers 368ppk and £2638. The top two heifers hit the 490’s per kilo; a smart 558kg Limousin from W Miller, High Aketon at 490ppk was beaten to the top spot by a beautiful 577kg Limousin from R Hirst, Neasham Grange, both super sorts were snapped up by H Taylor & Sons Butchers, Darlington. Just thruppence separated the top four steers per kilo, Taylor Bros, Belle Isle sold at 420ppk and 422ppk, they found Messrs Miller of Allerby Hall splitting their pair at 421ppk however top of the tight knit pack at 423ppk was an excellent 669kg Limousin from JD Forsyth & Son, Gloster Hill, Amble. Top of the values in the lump at £3183 was a thumping 865kg Limousin steer from Messrs R Miller, Arkleby Hall; following at £3093 and £3038 were a couple of crackers from NE Dyson, Gebdykes Farm whereas the leading heifer hailed from Cole Hill Farm Ltd, Elwick with a super 614kg British Blue Heifer which sold for £2916. Thirty-nine clean cattle sold over £2700 this week, the live ring continues to dominate the deadweight options available as the beef remains very much in demand.
Clean Grossing Top Averages-
NE Dyson sold 3 (802kg) Average £3026
Messrs R Miller Ltd sold 8 (826kg) Average £2849
R Hirst sold 13 (620kg) Average £2754
JD Forsyth & Son sold 12 (723kg) Average £2680
Clean PPK Top Averages-
W Miller sold 10 (551kg) Average 454ppk
JR&B Anderson & Son sold 2 (560kg) Average 450ppk
R Hirst sold 13 (620kg) Average 443ppk
J Layfield sold 6 (580kg) Average438ppk
Steers – Top prices ppk 423 380 379×2 369×3 JD Forsyth & Son. 422 420 418 400 Taylor Bros. 421 409 368 Messrs Miller, Allerby Hall. 415 406 Cole Hill Farm Ltd. 414 404 397 378 I Marshall & Sons. 406 395 NE Dyson. 402 388 384 WO Grix & Partners. 379 368 350 Messrs R Miller Ltd, Arkleby. 373 JB&N Harrison & Sons. 372 TJ Dennis. 360 350 R&LJ Simpson.
Lead Grossing Steers £3183 £2990 £2908 £2842 £2830 £2815 Messrs R Miller Ltd, Arkleby. £3093 £3038 £2946 NE Dyson. £2888 £2838 Messrs Miller, Allerby. £2829 £2814 £2800 £2793 £2763 JD Forsyth & Son. £2869 £2775 I Marshall & Son. £2827 TJ Dennis. £2766 WO Grix & Partners. £2689 JB&N Harrison & Sons. £2671 Cole Hill Farm Ltd. £2620 R&LJ Simpson.
Heifers – Top prices ppk 494 470 464 459 456 454 438 433 R Hirst. 490 484 480 458 444 443×2 438 434 428 W Miller. 479 452 451 428 417 J Layfield. 470 473 468 458 452 445 Cole Hill Farm Ltd. 470 442 428 JV&JA Hodgson. 468 I Grainger. 460 450 418 RW Sowerby & Sons. 458 444 JR&B Anderson. 433 WO Grix & Partners. 425 416 WF Hustwit. 423 A Swinbank & Son.
Lead Grossing Heifers £2916 £2710 £2670 £2648 Cole Hill Farm Ltd. £2909 £2883 £2854 £2850 £2832 £2765 £2754 £2741 £2691 £2676 R Hirst. £2902 £2853 £2666 RW Sowerby & Sons. £2827 £2687 £2627 J Layfield. £2763 £2717 £2643 JV&JA Hodgson. £2734 £2686 £2592 £2577 W Miller. £2713 £2636 TW Dinning. £2691 I Grainger. £2584 A Swinbank & Son. £2535 JR&B Anderson & Son.
Prime Lambs (1665) – A few more forward and another excellent trade throughout as the lively lambs show no signs of a September slip up; the super heavies are still very good but it was the lightweights which took a notable lift to strengthen the weighed straight average to 345ppk and £164.62 per head with an SQQ of 358ppk. H & DM Forster, East Wharmley, Hexham made a memorable Darlington debut when they produced the top priced lamb of the day, an excellent 50kg Texel sold for £215 and 430ppk. Impressing also on the day were a pair of 45kg lambs from AC Kemp, Whitwell Farm at 422ppk and ten toppers at 46kg from AWSM Farms sold at 419ppk. Heaps of the heavies still trading £180 to £199, the handful of vendors who made it to the £200 club included the aforementioned H & DM Forster plus DK Barker, D & PH Brown, J & S Barnes and LD Laws.
Lambs Grossing Top Averages-
DK Barker sold 12 (58kg) Average £192.50
T Lawson & Son sold 16 (58kg) Average £191
DL&D Lovegreen sold 9 (49kg) Average £182
LD Laws sold 25 (49kg) Average £182
Lead Grossing Lambs- £215 £195 £194 £193 £190 £189 £186 £184 H&DM Forster. £203 £198 £193 £192 £180 DK Barker. £200 £190 £182 LD Laws. £200 £185 £182 x2 £180 J&S Barnes. £200 £194 £182 £181 D&PH Brown. £199 £193 £190 £189 x2 £187 T Lawson & Son. £194 Corner Bros. £193 AWSM Farms. £192 K Hall. £191 £190 £180 AC Kemp. £191 HT Davies & Partners. £189 SW Thompson. £188 JJ Horn. £187 M&A Gaskin. £187 £181 F Shield. £186 £183 DL&D Lovegreen. £184 JA&A Herbert. £184 £181 PJ&MP Gilhespy. £183 £180 TW Dinning. £182 WR Thompson. £182 B&ME Craven & Son. £182 WKMM Lamb. £182 RO Gilson. £180 Winsbury Farm Partners. £180 A&PA Jopling.
Lambs- Top Prices PPK 430 375 373 H&DM Forster. 424 384 375 AC Kemp. 419 393 373 AWSM Farms. 412 397 383 371 Winsbury Farm Partners. 406 393 387 380 R Atkinson. 395 DL&D Lovegreen. 393 x2 373 JA&A Herbert. 391 JJ Horn. 391 377 J&S Barnes. 388 383 381 PJ&MP Gilhespy. 388 381 372 HT Davies & Partners. 387 373 LD Laws. 381 375 372 William Tindale. 380 375 GF Whitfield. 380 JR Wilson & Son. 377 376 M Johnson & Son. 375 RO Gilson. 375 M Bell. 375 TW Dinning.
Cast Ewes/Rams (91) – Following the large offering on Monday gone just a handful of ewes in attendance today, trade was absolutely excellent to average a stunning £170.21. Top of the tree was a Texel tup from W Tindale, Paradise Farm when he sold for £265; a brilliant Beltex ewe from F Brown & Son, North Hart led the females at £241 closely followed by a trio of Texels from PJ & MP Gilhespy, Low House at £233. Half of the sale were Mule ewes which were motoring to average £145, the pick of them at £190 came from RO Gilson, Old Park Hall with three other vendors following in the high £180’s.
Lead Grossing Cast Sheep £265 W Tindale. £241 £159 £125 F Brown & Son. £233 £179 P Cockburn. £233 £181 £171 PJ&MP Gilhespy. £229 £191 £189×2 £171 WR Thompson. £227 £225 I&A Holmes. £227 £187 JGM Brown & Co. £225 £223 G Holmes. £219 £217 T Lawson & Son. £207 H Emerson. £197 M Johnson & Son. £195 JR Wilson & Son. £195 JG Hall. £190 RP Gilson. £188 A&PA Jopling.
