Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of prime stock on Thursday 13th August 2026. Forward were 211 cattle and 1554 sheep.
82 Prime Bulls sold to 394ppk or £3230
49 Prime Steers sold to 421ppk or £2900
80 Prime Heifers sold to 477ppk or £2911
1489 Prime Lambs sold to 431ppk or £228
65 Cast Ewes & Rams sold to £224
Prime Bulls (82) – As reported elsewhere bulls are less money this week as the recent revival came to an end, hot weather and selling meat rarely go hand in hand, the sale averaged 353ppk and £2539. For the first time in weeks none quite made it to 400ppk, six did sell in the 390’s and a dozen more in the 380’s. Two vendors shared the top at 394ppk; Roxburghshire raiders WM Fleming, Moss Tower with a lovely 749kg homebred Limousin joined CH & SE Armstrong, Middle Moor Farm with a shapely 686kg British Blue. The others in the 390’s included three more from Moss Tower and a tidy bull from PJ & ES Rogerson, Maison Gill. The top dozen sold over £3000, none bettered a hefty 979kg Limousin from P Langstaff, Dunn House Farm at £3230. Second on the gross value list was a smart 835kg homebred British Blue from Renton Highlaws Ltd, Morpeth at £3181 followed by a British Blonde from JJ Horn, Bushy Park at £3129. The next nine in the £3k plus club included five from the Fleming’s of Moss Tower, another from Messrs Renton and one apiece for CH & SE Armstrong, J Layfield, Nackshivan and WJ & AS Bowes & Sons, Stainton Hill House. Friesian bulls topped at 312ppk and £2074 from GW Dobson & Son, Wood Close.
Bulls – Grossing Top Averages:
JJ Horn sold 2 (845kg) Average £3030
WJ&AS Bowes & Sons sold 2 (821kg) Average £3019
WM Fleming sold 10 (774kg) Average £2976
P Langstaff sold 2 (877kg) Average £2932
Bulls PPK Top Averages:
WM Fleming sold 10 (774kg) Average 384ppk
PJ&ES Rogerson sold 4 (756kg) Average 372ppk
WJ&AS Bowes & Sons sold 2 (821kg) Average 367ppk
Renton Highlaws Ltd sold 9 (776kg) Average 365ppk
Continental Bulls – Top prices ppk 394 387 386 380×2 354 CH&SE Armstrong. 394 393 392 390 388 382×2 380 371 370 WM Fleming. 391 377 370 PJ&ES Rogerson. 385 383 381 377 375 Renton Highlaws Ltd. 383 379 365 363 J Layfield. 374 362 LS Staley. 371 364 WJ&AS Bowes & Sons. 370 368 366 352 TD Wight & Sons. 368 JJ Horn. 361 R Hall & Son.
Lead Grossing Continental Bulls £3230 £2635 P Langstaff. £3181 £3018 £2975 £2932 £2872 £2758 Renton Highlaws Ltd. £3129 £2932 JJ Horn. £3119 £3077 £3053 £3033 £3006 £2952 £2951 £2947 WM Fleming. £3117 £2971 £2918 J Layfield. £3116 £2922 WJ&AS Bowes & Sons. £3093 £2899 CH&SE Armstrong. £2933 £2834 £2748 £2745 PJ&ES Rogerson. £2913 LS Staley. £2887 WT Wight & Sons.
Native Bulls – Top prices ppk 354 328 C&M Atkinson & Sons. 336 330 326 318 CH&SE Armstrong. 325 310 JA&A Herbert. 323 319 J&K Woodward.
Lead Grossing Native Bulls £2471 R Hall & Son. £2286 £2187 £2177 £2092 CH&SE Armstrong. £2235 £2226 J&K Woodward. £2232 £2229 JA&A Herbert. £1890 £1863 C&M Atkinson & Sons.
Friesian Bulls – Top prices ppk 312 298 GE Dobson & Son.
Lead Grossing Friesian Bulls £2074 £1963 GW Dobson & Son.
Clean Cattle (129) – As with the bulls the out of spec and heavy weight clean beef would be harder to sell on the week, way less of the best quality shop heifers available resulted in only a dozen heifers passing 440ppk, it has to be said that the best end 550kg to 600kg butcher’s beast would be no less money, just few and far between. Heifers averaged 397ppk and £2399 whilst the steers levelled out at 355ppk and £2417. No doubting the trade of the day belonged to Cole Hill Farm Ltd, Elwick as they stole a march on the rest this week and produced the top four heifers per kilo. The classy Cole Hill consignment sold a quality, all Limousin’s weighing between 565kg and 591kg at 458, 468, 469 and 477 pence. Eight steers sold over 400ppk, top of them all at 421 pence was a sweet handy weight Limousin from Messrs Bell, Wethercote Farm; the same home checked in again at 419ppk just before a tidy trio of homebred Limousin’s from Taylor Bros, Belle Isle between 408ppk and 414ppk. Top of the gross values at £2911 was a strong 787kg Limousin OTM heifer from EW Grieves, Oakdene. Next in line at £2900 was an 831kg Limousin steer from regular Cumbrian consignors Messrs R Miller Ltd, Arkleby Hall with third place going to a 705kg Limousin heifer from JE Suddes & Son, Rowley Farm at £2876.
Clean – Grossing Top Averages:
JE Suddes & Son sold 4 (676kg) Average £2742
MJ&EA Sedgewick sold 7 (692kg) Average £2715
Messrs R Miller Ltd sold 8 (792kg) Average £2662
EW Grieves sold 7 (658kg) Average £2650
Clean PPK Top Averages:
Cole Hill Farm Ltd sold 8 (596kg) Average 443ppk
M Robinson & Sons sold 3 (589kg) Average 420ppk
R Hirst sold 13 (605kg) Average 419ppk
J Davis sold 4 (520kg) Average 410ppk
Steers – Top prices ppk 421 419 Messrs Bell. 414 411 408 404 Taylor Bros. 406 WL Robinson & Partners. 403 399 391 389 388×3 MJ&EA Sedgewick. 392 384 Askwiths. 392 P Milestone. 388 364 I Bosworth. 380 370 NL Dalton. 377 EW Grieves. 374 351 349 Messrs R Miller Ltd. 372 Cole Hill Farm Ltd. 360 348 G&JY Marshall. 352 340 PR&V Barlow & Son.
Lead Grossing Steers £2900 £2827 £2662 £2650 £2641 £2619 £2505 £2496 Messrs R Miller Ltd. £2791 £2733 £2727 £2723 £2716 £2661 £2655 MJ&EA Sedgewick. £2763 EW Grieves. £2618 Cole Hill Farm Ltd. £2595 £2453 I Bosworth. £2553 WL Robinson & Partners. £2525 JB&N Harrison & Sons. £2516 Askwiths. £2509 Messrs Bell. £2473 NL Dalton. £2467 Taylor Bros.
Heifers – Top prices ppk 477 469 468 458 447 446 431 Cole Hill Farm Ltd. 449 446 436 435 430 422 417 414 R Hirst. 446 443 410 409 EW Grieves. 444 439 M Robinson & Sons. 440 WF Hustwit. 435 PR&V Barlow & Son. 426 414 Askwiths. 424×2 J Davis. 418 414 408 FW Robson. 412 FJ Young & Partners. 411 WL Robinson & Partners. 411 408×2 JE Suddes & Son. 410 P Milestone.
Lead Grossing Heifers £2911 £2809 £2624 £2560 EW Grieves. £2876 £2729 £2692 £2673 JE Suddes & Son. £2741 £2723 £2706 £2695 £2654 £2614 Cole Hill Farm Ltd. £2708 WL Robinson & Partners. £2687 £2559 M Robinson & Sons. £2652 £2649 £2604 £2601 £2591 £2559 £2542 R Hirst. £2564 I Bosworth. £2563 Messrs Bell. £2516×2 WF Hustwit.
Prime Lambs (1489) – A nice show of quality would look somewhat disappointing after last weeks humdinger, arguably the hot weather has dampened the nations appetite to average today a weighed straight 314ppk and £147.02 per head. One terrific Texel tup lamb stood out from the rest when the 55kg cracker from CW Gray, Low Hall Farm sold for a whopping £228 (414ppk). Just two lambs sold for more per kilo, a couple of cracking 44kg Beltex from TA Robson & Son, Newstead Grange made it to 431ppk (£190). As always, we try to give an accurate reflection, just fifty lambs made it over £180 and the next hundred or so passed £170, no doubting that the buyers approached with much more caution this week. A thumping 60kg Texel lamb from DR Smith, East Roughlea is well worthy of mention as the only other to pass £200.
Lambs – Grossing Top Averages:
M&A Gaskin sold 18 (52kg) Average £178
CW Gray sold 70 (52kg) Average £174
TA Robson & Son sold 44 (46kg) Average £171
A Wilson & J Lawrence sold 3 (59kg) Average £169
Lambs – Top prices ppk 431 392 385 380 375 373 372 369 364 TA Robson & Son. 414 365 346 340 337 335 CW Gray. 381 AWSM Farms. 375 K&PM Lough. 371 J&S Barnes. 367 JM&S Walton. 366 HT Davies & Partners. 357 340 JC Hope & Son. 355 347 343 MR Cass. 355 CJM Hedley. 352 RO Gilson. 350 347 343 340 DR Smith. 348 347 342 DG&PD Ayre. 347 GPA Carter. 344 Anna Herbert. 342 338 M&A Gaskin.
Lead Grossing Lambs £228 £199 £190 £188 £179 £172 £170 CW Gray. £210 £189 £171 DR Smith. £199 £188 T Lawson & Son. £196 S Sanderson. £193 J&S Barnes. £193 WR Thompson. £190 £186 £185 £179 £175×2 TA Robson & Son. £188 D&PH Brown. £185 M&A Gaskin. £184 £179 MR Cass. £184 £173 A Wilson & J Lawrence. £180 K&PM Lough. £180 Anna Herbert. £180 JR&J Crowe. £177 JK Gill & Son.
Cast Sheep (65) – A light show of ewes as the feeding ring on a Monday continues to attract more of our market share. Trade similar with the fleshy sorts well placed but leaner meat harder to place. Top at £224 was a smart Texel ewe from JC Hope & Son, Cornhow Farm. Cheviots to £140, Mules to £130 and Ryland’s to £120.
Lead Grossing Cast Sheep £224 £140 £125 JC Hope & Son. £150 £130 £110 A Pennell. £140 £130 J Milbank & Sons. £124 £112 D Jackson. £120 T&D Muir. £120 £110 FR&AL Lyth. £110 £90×2 A Wilson & J Lawrence.
