Beef / Lamb & Pig Price Tracker

[z.man]

Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of prime stock on Thursday 11th May 2023. Forward were 207 Cattle, 1260 Sheep and 17 Pigs.

65 Prime Bulls sold to 330ppk or £2729
35 Prime Steers sold to 329ppk or £2308
107 Prime Heifers sold to 344ppk or £2266
82 New Season Lambs sold to 483ppk or £209
900 Prime Hoggs sold to 361ppk or £191
278 Cast Ewes & Rams sold to £200
17 Prime Pigs sold to 140ppk or £191

Prime Bulls (65) – A similar trade on the week, perhaps a smidgen less however a sale average of 276ppk and £1890 included twenty-eight over £2000 and eighteen reaching at least 300ppk still appears healthy. A brilliant 21-month-old British Blonde stole the show, weighing 827kg the super sort from T & D I Allen & Son, Chatterley Farm, Wolsingham topped the market selling for 330ppk and £2729. Good runs from several vendors chased the Chatterley charge over the line as S & J Dent & Son claimed three of the top five prices per kilo, both T W Clark & Son and J J Horn sold bulls over £2400 and regular sellers D Richardson & Co and the consistent A G Watson & Sons also produced excellently finished bulls on the day. Friesian feeders were again well rewarded, tops this week came from serial winners R Hall & Son, Brotton at 257ppk and £1576 from W E & C A Anderson, Caldwell.

Clean Cattle (142) – As with the bull’s things look a fraction easier in the clean cattle rings across the country this week, thus said thirty beasts sold over 320ppk as our hot heifers averaged a pleasing 298 pence per kilo and a very heavy show of steers levelled at 279ppk; the whole kit and caboodle returned an average of £1770 per head. Top priced heifer selling to H Taylor & Sons, Darlington for 344 pence per kilo was a beautiful Limousin from J V & J A Hodgson, Summerhouse, three vendors shared second spot as J E Suddes & Son, Cornsay Colliery, R Hirst, Neasham and the Askwiths of Crook all with Limousin’s each reached 338ppk. The tremendous home bred cattle of W J Scott Ltd, Low Leam Farm, West Woodburn dominated the leading steers per kilo scoreboard; the pick of the pen a brilliant 605kg British Blue sold for 329ppk. The finest fifteen sold over £2000, leading the heifers at £2266 was an excellent British Blonde from J B & N Harrison & Sons, Lanchester with regular raiders Messrs Hirst, Hodgson and Marshall in hot pursuit. The aforementioned team from Low Leam scooped four of the top five gross values on the steer leader board however not the one at the top, that honour went to a brilliantly finished Limousin from R A & B A Ridley & Son, Dipton Foot which sold for £2308.

New Season Lambs (82) – New buyers bring about flyers; spring lambs a massive trade, weighed straight and even including eight lightweight Valais Blacknose’s the sale averaged a huge 385ppk and £172 per head. As the crop of 2023 slowly emerge from the depths of a miserable March and an awful April the light shone brightly today at the end of the tunnel. Rambo drew first blood as John Simpson of Caldwell with his first draw of the season sold half a dozen 46kg lambs at £209 (454ppk) before the same good homes next six weighing 42kg made a brilliant 483ppk (£203). Some beauties from the Burn’s of Stamfordham sold thrice to £200 whilst local producers Martin Gaskin, Alan Kirk and Anna Herbert all found their way in to the £190’s.

Prime Hoggs (900) – New accounts also operated in the hogg ring which induced a super trade for the well fed and best bred this week, as the hoggs begin to dry up and the springer numbers haven’t quite yet sprung the sheep trade looks set to stay strong. A peculiar show with what felt seemed like every breed under the sun involved look down in price on paper but in reality, trade would be stronger on the week. Two tidy Beltex from A S Whitfield, High Castledene led the race per kilo when selling for 361 pence. Top gross value went to ten topping 57kg Texel’s from A Crowder, Butsfield at £191 with four pens from A C Simpson & Son, Witton-le-Wear in the £180’s along with a good pen of nineteen excellent Suffolk’s out of Mule’s from G C & J C Pullan, Tunstall.

Cast Ewes & Rams (278)- Ewe Trade today proving much dearer, however a plainer show of sheep bringing the average down to £101. Top honours today were shared between a strong Texel tup from T Nesbitt & Son, Alwent Hall making £200 and a great Texel ewe also achieving £200 from PM&FM Hill, Old Hall Farm. Closely following, were a pen of three powerful Texel ewes from FR&AL Lyth, Mount Pleasant Farm, making a cracking £194. Another Texel from P Cockburn of Newbiggin farm made a price of £172, whilst A&CA Stanwix, Gayles Hall Farm, sold a Beltex ewe at £170. Suffolks today were sold to a top price of £164, Mules to £133, Black faced to £85 and Swales to £88.

Prime Pigs (17) – Swine time! Pigs to £191 in Darlington, who would have thought it. Save on the maths below, the pen of four weighed 290kg apiece, that’s a monumental amount of pork pies, hold my coat and pass me the ketchup.

Pigs – Top prices ppk 140 110 J Mitchell & Son. 74 70 66 C Harrison.

Lead Grossing Pigs £191 £184 £172 C Harrison. £105 £82 J Mitchell & Son.

I think the auctioneer was going steady on the cattle incase he burnt out before the sheep…… he seems to have had a second wind with the springers mind

 

[Optimus]

Whats that make them

Around £5.10

 

[Stewartie_d]

Around £5.10

£5.05 this week. They were stuck at £4.98 for a long time.

 

[Skintagain]

Good that the £5 has been broken they won’t have liked it

 

[cattleman123]

Had a good day again yesterday sold 200 Hogs AV Weight around 54kg Av 283 ppk....very pleased indeed...bet store lambs will be a trade in the fall now

 

[aangus]

Good that the £5 has been broken they won’t have liked it

Has the £5 barrier been broken in england yet?

 

[Skintagain]

Has the £5 barrier been broken in england yet?

Not sure

 

[e3120]

Has the £5 barrier been broken in england yet?

Yeah, but not officially. 502 & 505 touted this week.

 

[Vorest Tat]

Prime Pigs (17) – Swine time! Pigs to £191 in Darlington, who would have thought it. Save on the maths below, the pen of four weighed 290kg apiece, that’s a monumental amount of pork pies, hold my coat and pass me the ketchup.


Don't know who writes this stuff, but this did make me laugh!!!

 

[fieldfarmer]

Yeah, but not officially. 502 & 505 touted this week.

Gits, I was on £4.95 base and you then almost need a degree in maths to follow all the ++ == - - to work out what they actually will pay.

 

[Anymulewilldo]

Had a good day again yesterday sold 200 Hogs AV Weight around 54kg Av 283 ppk....very pleased indeed...bet store lambs will be a trade in the fall now

Hopefully people have more sense than to do the same thing again… but they are farmers

 

[Estate fencing.]

Had a good day again yesterday sold 200 Hogs AV Weight around 54kg Av 283 ppk....very pleased indeed...bet store lambs will be a trade in the fall now

Fall? You American?

 

[Anymulewilldo]

Fall? You American?

That’s pistols at dawn talk!!

 

[haymaker80]

Pickstocks up another 5p on cows next week to 440. Stand on for clean 490

 

[aangus]

Pickstocks up another 5p on cows next week to 440. Stand on for clean 490

didn't it used to be about 70p difference

 

[Skintagain]

Fall? You American?

Y’all

 

[Skintagain]

Hopefully people have more sense than to do the same thing again… but they are farmers

Fuuuck that I have some to sell

 

[haymaker80]

didn't it used to be about 70p difference

Varies, last summer it was only about 30p difference

 

[e3120]

Gits, I was on £4.95 base and you then almost need a degree in maths to follow all the ++ == - - to work out what they actually will pay.

I'm afraid the +s & -s are still to apply to those headlines. Strangely, a lot more of one than t'other.

 

[livestock 1]

Had a good day again yesterday sold 200 Hogs AV Weight around 54kg Av 283 ppk....very pleased indeed...bet store lambs will be a trade in the fall now

I had this conversation yesterday morning when we were loading hoggs and ewes for the mart, the lad on the wagon was asking how we had come on with last weeks sheep he was wondering if they had been enough at a decent price to make store lambs a go this time. I said it would depend when the finisher sold them the late sold hoggs would have to cover the losses for the early sold hoggs I thought