Ashford Market Report – Tuesday 2nd September 2025

Sheep Sales Reports

New Season Lambs – 1,215 Sold

Auctioneer: John Rossiter 07557 392903

Top price per kilo – 353p – D Isaac & Holly Chandler, Kent.
Top price per head – £208.00 – D Isaac & Holly Chandler, Kent.

Similar numbers to last week but trade is certainly getting harder for the lambs that are simply coming off grass. Bigger numbers are now available in the North of the country and with a falling trade it can become a race to the bottom across the wholesale market, which in turn levels out and stabilises. Bigger lambs are still in short supply nationally and they can still ring the bell when they are the right articles. Top on the day was £208 head for Dylan & Holly with an incredible run of properly finished lambs that were big weight and considerable shape. These also took top spot in the price per kg stakes at 353p kg.
The lesser finished grass type sheep are harder to sell with many of these now slipping below £3 kg, but overall averages at £3 kg with all sorts taken into account.

35 – £100.00 (286p kg) – J H & A H Godden
36 – £109.00 (303p kg) – G L Harris
37 – £108.00 (292p kg) – C B Hope
38 – £126.00 (332p kg) – L Stevens & Sons
39 – £115.00 (295p kg) – D J Cole & Sons
40 – £121.00 (303p kg) – D Thompson
41 – £135.00 (329p kg) – L Stevens & Sons
42 – £138.00 (329p kg) – A Head
43 – £120.00 (279p kg) – D Howard Farms Ltd
44 – £144.00 (327p kg) – H V Link Partnership
45 – £150.00 (333p kg) – L Stevens & Sons
46 – £148.00 (322p kg) – C & J Georgetti & Sons
47 – £158.00 (336p kg) – W G Watkins & Sons
48 – £162.00 (338p kg) – A Head
49 – £156.00 (318p kg) – W G Watkins & Sons
50 – £161.00 (322p kg) – Christy Clark
51 – £155.00 (304p kg) – M R Woodroofe
52 – £162.50 (313p kg) – C Watkins
53 – £159.00 (300p kg) – C R & G Daws
54 – £175.00 (324p kg) – D Isaac & Holly Chandler
55 – £166.00 (302p kg) – C Watkins
56 – £169.00 (302p kg) – C & J Georgetti & Sons
57 – £184.00 (323p kg) – D Isaac & Holly Chandler
59 – £208.00 (353p kg) – D Isaac & Holly Chandler
61 – £184.00 (302p kg) – D Isaac & Holly Chandler

Averages (p/kg) 

Standard 32.1 to 39 kgs – 189 – Top 332, Ave. 267.1
Medium 39.1 to 45.5 kgs – 406 – Top 333, Ave. 292.6
Heavy 45.6 to 52 kgs – 468 – Top 338, Ave. 304.9
Others 52.1 + kgs – 143 – Top 353, Ave. 299.1

Cull Sheep – 505 Sold

Auctioneer: James Cook-O’Connell 07780133678

Top price ewe: £248.00 – M Wickens, Kent. – Ave. £110.65

Trade on par this week with similar numbers in the pens and the best fleshed ewes remaining short. The best ewes regularly £150 – £180 and to a top price of £248 from M Wickens for smart Texels. Medium sorts £110 – £140 on most occasions with leaner grazing types £70 – £100 throughout with only very few sold below these figures.
Please inform me of any large consignments of ewes you intend on selling in the coming weeks with buyers present for all grades every week.

Top prices included:

Texels to £248 – M Wickens, Texel cross to £188 – E J Stanford & Sons, Suffolk cross to £180 – David Clark (Farms) Ltd, Charollais to £170 – Ross Farms, Mules to £148 – M Critcher & Partners, Romneys to £141 – A J Thompson & Sons.

 

Cattle Sales Reports

Finished Cattle –  58 Sold
Auctioneer: Peter Kingwill 07795 200357.

Certainly, a more variable entry this week in terms of finish, shape, weight and breeding but with a strong attendance around the ring competition was strong throughout with, undoubtedly, more going on for a little more finish.
Short of best bred beef types this week. A smart Limousin bred heifer from Hawkfibre topped the day at 385p with continentals from Birt Bros, A J Thompson & Sons, W S Furnival and G L Boulden & Sons all 375-385p.
Mostly heavier steers on offer today with Limousin from Burden Bros to 372p, £2879. A fine run of Charolais x steers and heifers from R Haydon & Partners saw heifers to 369p, £2377, steers to 353p, £2470.
More dairy bred types today and overall, certainly leaner. Alan Down`s well finished types saw Limousin x Friesian to 370p, £2303, his Herefords to 363p, £2284.  Hereford x steers and heifers from P W & P Sim to 356p & 357p but leaner types more generally 320-340p. Grand Angus and Danish Red steers from W F Farms to 344p, 340p, £2733, £2645.
A good mix in the natives but flesh wanted. Angus steers to 374p, £2578 W S Furnival, 370p, £2328 A C Hulme & Sons. Galloway x steers 346p, £2184, heifers 338p, £1789 P Ibbott, Farnham. Angus heifers 379p, £2536 A J Thompson & Sons. Sussex heifers to 359p, £2223 D Mackelden.
Young Bulls (2) Limousin x Friesian young bull from Alan Down to 360p, £2139 whilst a heavier older Limousin bull 320p, £2684 and a White Park 280p from R F & E A Simmons.

Top Steers

W S Furnival Ltd – Aberdeen Angus cross – 374p (£2577)
Burden Bros Farm – Limousin – 372p (£2879)
A C Hulme & Sons – Aberdeen Angus cross – 370p (£2328)
A J Down – Limousin cross   – 370p (£2291)
A J Down – Limousin cross – 366p (£2230)

Top Heifers

Hawkfibre Ltd – Limousin cross – 385p (£1980)
Brit Bros – British Blue cross – 384p (£2263)
A J Thompson & Sons – Limousin cross – 382p (£2232)
A J Thompson & Sons – Aberdeen Angus cross – 379p (£2536)
W S Furnival Ltd – Limousin cross – 379p (£1817)

Average prices

Steers 200 to 550 kg – 1 – Top 300p – Ave. 300p
Steers 551 to 650 kg – 15 – Top 370p – Ave. 357p
Steers 651 kg + – 9 – Top 374p – Ave. 350p
Heifers 300 to 500 kg – 4 – Top 379p – Ave. 349p
Heifers 501 to 590 kg – 16 – Top 385p – Ave. 352p
Heifers 591 kg + – 10 – Top 379p – Ave. 360p

OTM Cattle and Cull Cows – 74 Sold

Auctioneer: Peter Kingwill 07795 200357.

Though only the beginning of September a very different feel to the market, and very pleasing to see great numbers in the cull section.
More customers forward to compete strongly for all grades of cows with the good feeders a terrific trade and reflecting the confidence in the industry with supplies, so obviously, so tight.
Small numbers of beef cows with the best of the well-shaped beef cows to 330p, £2257 for a British Blue from R M Vant. Other good feeders up and around 300p with the best of the fleshed cows selling to 304p for Sussex from H W Richards. Huge Sussex from T Chapman selling to £2435.
British Blue 330p, £2257 R M Vant; Limousin x 318p, £1831 D J Cornforth, 296p, 288p, 285p, £1969, £1729, £1721 Hawkfibre, Dorking; Sussex 304p, 297p, £1912, £1735 H W Richards, 259p, 249p £2435 T Chapman; Hereford 278p, £1734 Goddard & Son, 265p, £1878 Uphill Farming; Angus x 253p, £2007 Goodwin Bros; Highland 240p, £1259 C Woodhead.
A big show of 42 dairy culls met a stronger trade. Again, not a lot of flesh on offer overall but all grades wanted. Proper fleshed British Friesians from R Haydon & Ptnrs, Arundel to 272p, £1894 whilst the Holstein bred types sold to 257p from Goddard & Son, grossing up to £2151 from J Warnock & Sons.
The lean cows continue looking a very good trade at 180-220p.
British Friesian 272p, 271p, £1894, £1887 R Haydon & Ptnrs; Holstein Friesian 257p, £1937 Goddard & Son, 255p, 254p (2) £2151, £2104 J Warnock & Sons, 247p, £1935 Appleton Farms; Holstein 256p, £2057 P J Forknall; Swedish Red 254p, £1838 Kingcott Dairy; Jersey 176p, 174p, £181 Hickson Bros.
Stock Bulls (5) Strong demand continues with flesh so much in demand.
Limousin 271p, £2286, 243p £2364; Stabiliser 250p, £3094; Angus 240p, £1760, 207p, £2168.
Overage (3) Small show today but all wanted.
Sussex OTM steer 358p, £2252 K Wheeler & Sons; Highland x OTM steer 306p, £1986.

Beef Cows – 25 Sold – Top 330, Average 256.5
Dairy Cows – 42 Sold – Top 272, Average 202.7

Store & Breeding Cattle – 201 Sold

Auctioneer: James Cook-O’Connell 07780133678

A very good start to the Autumn period with a good entry for early September with a nice mix of younger yearling wintering types together with some excellent quality forward stores to finish this winter. A crowded ring of buyers and interested parties saw a very strong trade for all categories with all recognising that despite all the talk of forage difficulties the real issue for the industry, for a long time to come, is the shortage of beef production in the UK, Ireland and beyond.
A few in calf Hereford cows from A R Ambrose sold to £1780 (2), £1680 and £1580 (3) whilst a Hereford cow and young calf sold at £1720 M G Naylor.
Good interest in the wintering youngsters despite the obvious concerns. Beef Shorthorn yearlings from David Light saw steers to £1140, heifers to £920. Dairy bred Angus steers 9-11mths from Simon Kilham, Steyning £950, £860; Simmental x steers 11mths £1000. Well reared Blue and Black steers 13mths from G Lawrence & Son sold to £1640, £1560 and £1480, £1350, respectively. Suckler bred Angus steers 8-13mths from R Brown, Chelmsford  £1250, £1080, & £910.
Moving forward in age only succeeded in generating more interest from feeders keen to secure numbers.
Bruce Ginger`s Hereford steers 15-18mths £1600, £1380 whilst a terrific consignment of Angus 17-18mths from J S & M I Tilley, Redhill saw steers to £1900, £1800, £1690, their heifers to £1720, £1580. The annual draw of Sussex 16-17mths, with a touch of Limousin in the cows, from Richard Luck saw steers rise to £2240, £1930, £1870 and £1790 whilst heifers sold to £1700, £1570, £1510.
Some marvellous cattle amongst the forward and older stores, and more of these really ought to get to market in the short term to allow feeders to get their high power feed working in time for Christmas and early winter.
A pen of outstanding Limousin heifers 28mths from Hawkfibre Ltd, Dorking sold to £2300; Charolais and Angus x steers 29-32mths from G D Venner £2300 and £2280; Beef Shorthorn and Limousin steers 18mths from Swanley Farms to £2170 and £2120. Blue x steers 26-31m £1740, matching heifers £1750 living all their lives outside to £1740 and £1750 from David Cornforth.  A Belted Galloway 22mths from Paul Ibbott, Farnham to £1700.
Interest is strong, and particularly for those to go straight into fattening yards.
Good entries already for Tuesday 16^th September, though stores will be welcome each week.

Calves – 76 Sold

Auctioneer: Peter Kingwill 07795 200357.

With more calves now coming forward nationally this was the first week we saw real resistance to the crossbred calves as purchasers have more choice, and they were hard work. The best calves as dear as ever with long term confidence high whilst the younger fresh black and white bred calves were a little steadier reflecting more numbers, more choice and higher costs this winter.
Overall a very decent day with good numbers of calves but harder trading overall.
Top spot this week to R & J Ledger with their Simmental x bulls to £530 and £475, heifers to £365. Appleton Farm`s Blue bulls sold to £520, £450, £435 with others from W G & T A Manford to £485, & £460, and £445 from P J Forknall. Strong Blue heifers to £455 & £390 from the Manford’s but more generally £250-£350. Crossbred Blue x heifers £140-£160.
Angus bulls sold to £400 from both J W Boyd & Son and A & W J Hitchcock with heifers, and lesser bulls £200-£260. Angus x crossbred calves hard work at £25 – £75.
Black & White bulls from P J Forknall £150, £140.

Bull Calves
British Blue cross – 15 – Ave. £349.67 – Top £520.00 – Appleton Farms Ltd
Simmental cross – 2 – Ave. £502.50 – Top £530.00 – R & J Ledger
Aberdeen Angus cross – 16 – Ave. £174.75 – Top £400.00 – J W Boyd & Sons
Holstein Friesian – 4 – Ave. £197.50 – Top £230.00 – W G & T A Manford
British Friesian – 2 – Ave. £145.00 – Top £150.00 – P J Forknall
Heifer Calves
British Blue cross – 21 – Ave. £242.86 – Top £455.00 – W G & T A Manford
Simmental cross – 1 – Ave. £365.00 – Top £365.00 – R & J Ledger
Aberdeen Angus cross – 10 – Ave. £112.10 – Top £260.00 – A & W Hitchcock
Sussex cross – 1 – Ave. £375.00 – Top £375.00 – W G & T A Manford
Bull Weanlings
Limousin cross – 1 – Ave. £465.00 – Top £465.00 – Mrs T Higgins
Heifer Weanlings
Limousin cross – 1 – Ave. £390.00 – Top £390.00 – Mrs T Higgins

Cattle Passports
We remind producers that on no occasion should the details on a cattle passport be changed other than by returning it to BCMS.
If details are incorrect return and advise BCMS or advise the auctioneers on market day without writing on the passport.

Forthcoming Auctions

Tuesday Livestock – 9th September 2025

Regular Weekly Market with a sale of Store and Breeding Cattle

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