Ashford Market Report – Tuesday 27th October 2026

Sheep Sales Report

New Season Lambs – 919 sold.

Auctioneer: John Rossiter 07557 392903

Top Price Per Kilo – 372p – L Stevens & Sons

Top Price Per Head – £181 – M Friend

A smaller entry today with just a shade under 1000 lambs penned and quite a big percentage of heavier types which have been fed, leaving a short fall in the middle weight meated types which are more suited for export and the higher end ethnic trade, boosting prices in this section with a lot of the smarter types selling for 340-370p/kg and topping at 372p/kg from Les Stevens. The lamb trade is in a slightly trickier position than we were in a few weeks ago with demand slow and a good number of heavy finished sheep now coming to market. Many of these sheep look to be priced low in comparison to the store lambs prices seen each week, but as we have said before, these are a different type of lamb at this time of year and the finished trade gamble for the spring bears no effect of the wholesale meat price we are seeing now in the end of October.

35 – £120 (343p kg) – S Spicer
37 – £121 (327p kg) – Woolly Dog Farm
38 – £138 (363p kg) – K T D Axell
39 – £131 (336p kg) – D Thompson
40 – £136 (340p kg) – G L Harris
41 – £144 (351p kg) – L Stevens & Sons
42 – £152 (362p kg) – K T D Axell
43 – £160 (372p kg) – L Stevens & Sons
44 – £160 (364p kg) – K T D Axell & H & J Noakes
45 – £150 (333p kg) – G L Harris
46 – £159 (346p kg) – H & J Noakes
47 – £174 (370p kg) – M Friend & S King
48 – £170 (354p kg) – S King
49 – £180 (367p kg) – W G Watkins & Sons
50 – £177 (354p kg) – S King
51 – £170 (333p kg) – W G Watkins & Sons, S King, K T D Axell
52 – £178 (342p kg) – E & M E Brundrett
53 – £170 (321p kg) – W G Watkins & Sons
54 – £174 (322p kg) – H & J Noakes
55 – £174 (316p kg) – S King
56 – £181 (323p kg) – M Friend
59 – £179 (303p kg) – P Bates

Prime NSL SQQ – 330.24

Lambs 32.1 to 39kgs – 47 – Top 363, Ave. 341.0
Lambs 39.1 to 45.5 kgs – 250 – Top 372, Ave. 329.8
Lambs 45.6 to 52 kgs – 398 – Top 370, Ave. 329.2
Lambs 52.1 kgs – 153 – Top 338, Ave. 315.0

Cull Ewes & Rams – 539 Sold  

Auctioneers: James Cook-O’Connell 07780133678.

Top Price – £200 – Perkins Farm – Ave. £124.94

A few less penned this week with a large percentage of grazing sorts forward and plenty of customers for all grades. The best regularly £150 – £180 and to a top price of £200 for Texel Cross from Perkins Farm. Medium sorts £120 – £150 on most occasions with leaner grazing types £90 – £120 throughout with only a very small number sold below these figures.

More ewes are wanted every week to satisfy regular, weekly buyers demands while trade remains at a good level.

Top Prices Included:

Texel cross to £200 – Perkins Farms
Suffolk cross to £196 – K W Kemp
Charollais cross to £189 – F & L Reeve
Mules to £169 – T Hope
Romney to £160 – R G Hobbs Farms

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 –  67 Sold

Auctioneer: John Rossiter 07557 392903.

More cattle penned this week and quite a mixed entry of cattle with some superb examples and some less so. A super entry of smart cattle form WG Vant & R Vant took top honours on the day, with top spot being 411p/kg for a heavier type heifer from R Vant, with WG Vant selling three from 395p/kg to 396p/kg. Taking some of these out of the mixture of the entry, more native and dairy bred cattle were on offer which were on a similar price trend to last week with averages of all included being about 350p/kg. Heavier cattle are currently selling very well in the live ring, way ahead of the deadweight price quotations with RG Gibson & sons Selling heavy heifers to top at £2,616 and heavy steers from SJ Theobald topping at £2,545.

Leading steer prices

S J Theobald & Sons – Limousin cross – £2566 – 367p
R G Gibson & Son – Aberdeen Angus cross – £2557 – 346p
S J Theobald & Sons – Limousin cross – £2477 – 347p

Leading heifer prices

W G Vant & Sons – British Blue cross  – £2630 – 396p
R G Gibson & Son – Limousin cross – £2617 – 377p
R M Vant – Limousin cross – £2566 – 411p

Average prices

Steers 200 to 550 kgs – 3 to 310p Ave. 302p
Steers 551 to 650 kgs – 22 to 396p Ave. 357p
Steers 651 kgs + – 6 to 367p Ave. 348p
Heifers 300 to 500 kgs – 2 to 356p Ave. 329p
Heifers 501 to 590 kgs – 13 to 389p Ave. 351p
Heifers 591+ kgs – 20 to 411p Ave. 353p

OTM Cattle & Cull Cows – 60 Sold

Auctioneer: Peter Kingwill 07795200357.

After several days of miserable weather the question of housing, and winter feed and bedding comes to the fore of most cattle farmers` minds and the decision must be made on those poor performers, the older less productive types, or the trouble makers.
More numbers today, again, largely from the dairy sector but with some decent beef feeding cows amongst the entries. Better fleshed beef types overall this week and this trade is, and will remain, strong as supplies are tight nationally and most leaner types taken to feed. Younger feeders readily over 300p with better fleshed types, also, pushing towards 300p with many up over £2000.
Limousin 320p £1846 D Light; Beef Shorthorn 316p, 257p £2014, £1578 DR Thompson; Angus 308p, 295p(2), 290p £2070, £2045, £1723 Trenchmore Ltd, 258p, 222p £1262, £1218 Wey Street Farm; Charolais 269p, 260p, 246p £2024, £1732, £1633 Old England; Devon 270p, 269p £1482 C Kearl.
The better fleshed dairy culls are dearer whilst the plain cows, of which there are many up and down the country, remain steady with higher processing costs and lower yields always difficult. Good fleshed cows 230-255p, whilst the plain wet bagged cows generally 170-200p, £1200- £1500, though a little dearer on the week.
British Friesian Maiden heifers 298p £2083 GD&EE Field; British Friesian cows 253p, 243p £1906 Debden Court; 245p £1773 R&J Ledger; 242p, 239p, 231p £1844, £1811, £1741 GD&EE Field; Ayrshire 256p, 240p, 239p £1729, £1495, £1425; Brown Swiss 250p £1684 Goddard & Son; Holstein 234p, 229p £2031, £1748 PJ Forknall; Swedish Red 226p £1477 Kingcott Dairy.
Stock Bulls (5) Strong trade, once again. Limousin 260p £1985; Simmental 259p £2417; Sussex 245p £2115; Hereford 236p £2261. Lean Limousin to 229p £2228, Lean Hereford 195p £1624.

Beef Cows – 23 Sold – Top 320, Average 254.0
Dairy Cows – 31 Sold – Top 298, Average 211.3

Store & Breeding Cattle – 184 sold

Auctioneer: James Cook-O’Connell 07780133678.

A few less on offer however a fierce trade with a much more varied selection penned and a large number dairy and native bred sorts. Top call went to E J & T H Gribble for a strong Angus x Fr steer 24 months with A & C Price in close attendance to £2190 for a 30 month Limousin heifer. Younger sorts to start from A B Jones & Partners saw £1100 for Hereford cross steers 9 months and Angus cross steers 11 months from A Barr & Son topped £1180. Hereford x Fr steers 12 months from M Wimble look well sold to £1390 and suckle bred Hereford steers 13 months from Farrant bros to £1480. Well done Blue x Fr steers 11-13 months from N J & A M Howlett topped at £1550 followed by the heifers to £1530 and smart Limouisn heifers 16 months from R Clark to £1820. Limousin cross heifers 18 months from R & H Vincent to £1810 and well put together Simmental cross heifers 20 months from S J Edmed & Sons to £1900. D Lanham had Angus x Fr steers 20 months to £1880 and P Lanham had Sim x Fr steers 14 months to £1740 and £1620. Proper bred Angus heifers 24 months to £2000 and £1960 from K W Kemp with Sussex steers from Langrish Farmers 19 months to £1690 and Simmental steers 10 months to £1860.

The trade for all grades is on fire with plenty of customers still looking to secure significant numbers in the coming weeks. We will have a catalogued sale next week on Tuesday 3^rd November to include our first larger number of single sucked calves.

Continental:

Limousin x Friesian strs 21m £2030 D Ward
Simmental x strs 10m £1860 Langrish Farmers
Simmental x Friesian strs 14m £1740 P Lanham
Limousin x hfrs 30m £2190 A & C Price
Simmental x hfrs 20m £1900 S J Edmed & Sons
Limousin hfrs 17m £1820 R Clark

Native:

Aberdeen Angus x Friesian strs 24m £2250 E J & T H Gribble
Sussex strs 19m £1890 J Eastwood
Aberdeen Angus x Friesian strs 22m £1880 D Lanham
Aberdeen Angus hfrs 24m £2000 K W Kemp
Aberdeen Angus x hfrs 22m £1980 P Highwood
Aberdeen Angus x Friesian hfrs 22m £1970 E J & T H Gribble

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.

Calves – 73 Sold

Auctioneer: Tristan Howell 07917024340.

Good overall quality in the calf ring once again, with 15 customers sold to today.
T Castle & Son’s cracking British Blue X calves well-rewarded to average £690 and the majority heifer Lim X calves averaged £526. In the Native corner, B J Goodsell & Son saw stronger Angus X calves to £600, £580 and Mr P J Forknall’s Angus topped just behind at £560, at only 3 weeks old. J W Boyd & Sons Ltd also seeing good returns for younger calves, British Blue bulls to £670. For dairy bulls, British Friesians averaged £306, Holstein Friesians averaged £238, and Jerseys averaged £60.
Kicking off the weanling section, 3-month-old suckler bred Lim X steer from Mrs T Higgins realised £680. More British Friesians from T Castle & Son, just over 3 months, both selling to £510.

Bull Calves                                    

British Blue cross – 11 – Ave. £515.45  – Top £760.00  – T Castle & Son
Aberdeen Angus cross – 12 – Ave. £441.25 – Top £600.00 – B J Goodsell & Son
Simmental cross – 1 – Ave. £510.00 – Top £510.00 – R & J Ledger Ltd
Limousin cross – 1 – Ave. £500.00 – Top £500.00 – T Castle & Son
British Friesian – 6 – Ave. £300.83 – Top £380.00 – T Castle & Son
Wagyu cross – 3 – Ave. £280.00 – Top £206.67  – Hickson Bros

Heifer Calves

Limousin cross – 4 – Ave. £532.50 – Top £590.00 – T Castle & Son
Aberdeen Angus cross – 18 – Ave. £376.94 – Top £485.00 – B J Goodsell & Son
British Blue cross – 1 – Ave. £330.00  – Top £330.00 – J W Boyd & Sons

Steer Calves

Aberdeen Angus cross – 4 – Ave. £450.00 – Top £580.00 – B J Goodsell & Son

Bull Weanlings

British Blue cross – 1 – Ave. £670.00  – Top £670.00 – T Castle & Son
British Friesian – 2 – Ave. £510.00 – Top £510.00 – T Castle & Son

Steer Weanling

Limousin cross – 1 – Ave. £680.00 – Top £680.00 – Tracey Higgins
Aberdeen Angus cross -1 – Ave. £575.00 – Top £575.00 – N Morgan

Heifer Weanling

British Blue cross – 1 – Ave. £630.00  – Top £630.00 – T Castle & Son
Aberdeen Angus cross – 1 – Ave. £480.00 – Top £480.00 – N Morgan

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