Ashford Market Report – Tuesday 29th September 2026

Sheep Sales Report

New Season Lambs – 975 sold.

Auctioneer: John Rossiter 07557 392903

Top Price Per Kilo – 379p – A M & S J Lerwill.
Top Price Per Head – £182.00 – W G Watkins & Sons & D Howard Farms Ltd.

Trade just a bit harder today, but in all honesty our prices have been well ahead of the rest of the country for several weeks in a row now and with a lower quality entry of lambs as a whole today and a little bit less demand, ultimately the averages were a litter lower than last week. Nothing worrying and the better meated sorts are still well sold, with home produced sheep selling over £170/hd, we can’t really complain after some of the tough times we have had over the years. The high price of stores currently does often skew judgement on what we would like the finished trade to be, but we must realise that the price of stores on a Friday, that are purchased with the intentions of being killed after Christmas, has little or no bearing on what today’s purchasers can sell meat for this week. Best on the day was D Howard Farms with some strong Charollais lambs at £182/hd and W G Watkins & Sons at the same price. The pence per kilo section was topped by A M & S J Lerwill at 379p/kg.

37 – £133.00 (359p kg) – A M & S J Lerwill
38 – £139.00 (366p kg) – O Blake
39 – £148.00 (379p kg) – A M & S J Lerwill
40 – £146.00 (365p kg) – C A Worley Farming Ltd (2)
41 – £136.00 (332p kg) – C B Hope
42 – £136.00 (324p kg) – Mrs R Vant & J Claringbould & S Wenham
43 – £150.00 (349p kg) – Ben Foy Ltd
44 – £157.00 (357p kg) – Ben Foy Ltd
45 – £154.00 (342p kg) – Frederick & Son
46 – £160.00 (348p kg) – P N & C Burden
47 – £166.00 (353p kg) – W G Watkins & Sons
48 – £161.00 (335p kg) – Frederick & Son
49 – £170.00 (347p kg) – W G Watkins & Sons
50 – £169.00 (338p kg) – G B Richards & Son
51 – £174.00 (341p kg) – W G Watkins & Sons
52 – £167.00 (321p kg) – K & P M Sinden & Sons & D Howard Farms Ltd
53 – £182.00 (343p kg) – D Howard Farms Ltd
54 – £179.00 (331p kg) – W G Watkins & Sons
55 – £182.00 (331p kg) – W G Watkins & Sons
56 – £181.00 (323p kg) – Wilson Farm Partnership
57 – £180.00 (316p kg) – D Howard Farms Ltd
58 – £179.00 (309p kg) – H J Hecks & Son
59 – £179.00 (303p kg) – Bowley Farm Ltd

Prime NSL SQQ – 328.1
Lambs 32.1 to 39kgs – 49 – Top 366, Ave. 339.9
Lambs 39.1 to 45.5 kgs – 444 – Top 379, Ave. 327.0
Lambs 45.6 to 52 kgs – 342 – Top 353, Ave. 325.9
Lambs 52.1 kgs – 140 – Top 343, Ave. 315.0

Cull Ewes & Rams – 465 Sold  

Auctioneer: James Cook-O’Connell 07780133678.

Top Price Ewes: £195.00 – W Stewart Wood – Ave. £118.94

More in the pens this week with trade on par and plenty of leaner sorts forward.
The best remain short with majority £150 – £170 and to a top price of £195 for a Texel from W Stewart Wood. Medium sorts £120 – £140 on most occasions with leaner grazing types £90 – £110 throughout with only a small number sold below these figures.
We would expect more to come forward in the coming weeks now which would be of no concern with a good number of regular buyers every week for all grades.

Top Prices Included:

Texel to £195 – W Stewart Wood
Texel cross to £185 – Link Bros
Suffolk cross to £180 – D Meehan
Continental to £180 – J G & M Bray
Romney     to £173 – H G Tompsett & Sons
Mules to £148 – Miss H Heathcote

Ear Tags in Sheep
Please be aware of your responsibilities with regard to the tagging of sheep of all ages and in all sections of the market.

Cattle Reports

Finished Cattle –  49 Sold

Auctioneer: John Rossiter 07557 392903.

Similar strong trade this week again with a good entry of cattle again and once again more coming back to the live ring as prices are simply ahead of the deadweight quotations.
Several cattle 380p/kg upwards and top on the day was a super steer from M A Piper & Son Farms at 394p/kg, just falling short of the £4 target, but there’s always next week to try and achieve that…Some bigger bullocks this week from P W & P Sim grossing at £2,928, showing that we have got top purchasers for all types around the ring to make the top prices. Beef from the dairy herd this week from Alan Down was a little hotter than last week with many over 370p/kg and topping at 376p/kg.

Leading Steer Prices
M A Piper & Son Farms Ltd – Limousin cross – 394p (£2125)
M A Piper & Son Farms Ltd – Sussex – 390p (£2512)
M A Piper & Son Farms Ltd – Limousin cross – 389p (£2098)
Langrish Farmers – Sussex cross – 386p (£2236)
M A Piper & Son Farms Ltd – Sussex cross – 380p (£2030)

Leading Heifer Prices
K & P M Sinden & Sons – Limousin cross – 389p (£2059)
K & P M Sinden & Sons – Sussex – 370p (£1940)
P W & P Sim & Son – Simmental cross – 359p (£2581)
Langrish Framers – Galloway cross – 356p (£1778)
A J Down – Limousin cross – 355p (£1879)

Average prices
Steers 200 to 550 kgs – 15 – Top 394p, Ave. 362p
Steers 551 to 650 kgs – 15 – Top 390p, Ave. 366p
Steers 651 kgs + – 6 – Top 372p, Ave. 348p
Heifers 300 to 500 kgs – 1 – Top 356p, Ave. 356p
Heifers 501 to 590 kgs – 9 – Top 389p, Ave. 346p
Heifers 591+ kgs – 3 – Top 359p, Ave. 329p

OTM Cattle & Cull Cows – 10 Sold

Auctioneer: John Rossiter 07557 392903.

Very disappointing not to see more culls forward but not surprising with this year’s empty beef cows long since gone and cows and calves staying together to benefit from this late grass. Couple this with an increase in milk price and one can see the reason for the national shortage.
Demand for flesh strengthening along with the prime market.  Feeders very positive.
Continental feeders 318p and 310p R Martin; plain culls 150-200p. Well fleshed Wagyu OTM steer 328p, £2129 Hickson Bros; OTM Aberdeen Angus x Friesian steers 330p, £1870 C Kearl.

Beef Cows – 4 Sold – Top 318, Average 236.3
Dairy Cows – 2 Sold – Top 208, Average 208.0

Calves – 67 sold

Auctioneer: Tristan Howell 07917024340.

The best part of 70 calves and weanlings sold through the ring today, following the recent trend of all grades selling well.
British Blues making up the majority of the calf entries, with the bulls averaging a healthy £493 and 11 heifers averaging £429. The dearest of these were topped by J W Boyd & Sons Ltd.’s bull at £670, with W G & T A Manford following just behind at £660. W G & T A Manford’s run of calves were headlined by the Sussex – a well-turned out bull calf from this home finding £680 at just over 2 mths. Representing the rare breeds today were Garratt & Mannerings, 8-week-old Dairy Shorthorns and Blue Albions selling to £500 and £480 respectively, showing that a well-presented calf through de-budding and steering, can make it pay. A & W J Hitchcock with two strong Angus calves with registered sires, a bull at £680 and a heifer at £620.
An encouraging number of weaned calves and stirks was bolstered by an encouraging trade. Another Dairy Shorthorn x Blue Albion from Garratt & Mannerings saw £900, at over 3 mths. Top and second call in the weanling section went to Mrs L Townsend, good Aberdeen Angus steers making £1300 and £1100 at the 9/10 mth mark. A consignment also in this section from W G & T A Manford realised £915 for a British Blue Bull, with a 2-mth Sussex cross standing out to make £730.

Bull Calves
British Blue cross – 14 – Ave £482.50 – Top £670.00 –  J W Boyd & Sons Ltd
Charolais cross – 1 – Ave £510.00 – Top £510.00 – P J Forknall
Aberdeen Angus cross – 4 – Ave £460.00 – Top £680.00 – A & W J Hitchcock
Sussex cross – 2 – Ave £550.00 – Top £680.00 – W G & T A Manford
Holstein cross – 1 – Ave £365.00 – Top £365.00 – W G & T A Manford
British Friesian – 4 – Ave £365.00 – Top £450.00 – T Castle & Son
Holstein Friesian – 2 – Ave £260.00 – Top £260.00 – W G & T A Manford

Heifer Calves
British Blue cross – 10 – Ave £441.50 – Top £570.00 – J W Boyd & Sons Ltd
British Blue x Jersey – 1 – Ave £300.00 – Top £300.00 – S E Lane & Partners
Charolais cross – 1 – Ave £550.00 – Top £550.00 – P J Forknall
Aberdeen Angus cross – 1 – Ave £620.00 – Top £620.00 – A & W J Hitchcock
Sussex cross – 2 – Ave £532.50 – Top £610.00 – W G & T A Manford
Wagyu cross – 1 – Ave £270.00 – Top £270.00 – Hickson Bros

Steer Calves
British Blue x Jersey – 2 – Ave £320.00 – Top £320.00 – S E Lane & Partners
Dairy Shorthorn cross – 1 – Ave £500.00 – Top £500.00 – Garrett & Mannerings
Blue Albion – 2 – Ave £287.50 – £320.00 – Garrett & Mannerings
Aberdeen Angus x Jersey – 1 – Ave £395.00 – Top £395.00 – S E Lane & Partners

 Bull Weanlings
British Blue cross – 2 – Ave £757.50 – Top £915.00 – W G & T A Manford
Sussex cross – 1 – Ave £730.00 – Top £730.00 – W G & T A Manford
Hereford cross – 1 – Ave £700.00 – Top £700.00 – W T Kemp
Holstein Friesian cross – 1 – Ave £510.00 – Top £510.00 – W G & T A Manford
Holstein Friesian – 2 – Ave £565.00 – Top £620.00 – W G & T A Manford

Heifer Weanlings
Hereford cross – 1 – Ave £660.00 – Top £660.00 – Mrs L Townsend

Steer Weanling
Aberdeen Angus cross – 2 – Ave £1200.00 – Top £1300.00 – Mrs L Townsend
Dairy Shorthorn cross – 1 – Ave £900.00 – Top £900.00 – Garrett & Mannerings

Ear Tags

Producers are reminded that all cattle require two ear tags with at least one large distance readable tag. Please inspect stock in good time to order replacement tags as, regrettably, any stock that are incorrectly tagged may not be offered for sale. Local authority inspectors will be taking note as stock comes to market.

 

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