Ashford Market Report – Tuesday 3rd November 2026

Sheep Sales Report

New Season Lambs – 804 sold.

Auctioneer: John Rossiter 07557 392903

Top Price Per Kilo – 410p – N C & C G Hedges.
Top Price Per Head – £190.00 – S King & Link Bros.

Less lambs on offer this week and trade improved accordingly in line with the rest of the country, returning an average of 339p/kg and topping at 410p/kg for the best of the Beltex from N C & C G Hedges, closely followed by some similar but lighter types from R J Adams at 409p/kg and also 400p/kg from Jack Laver. Heavier fed sheep are a little harder to sell as they are in greater supply around the country but the best of these topped out at £190/hd from Mr Steve King and Link Bros jointly. Better lambs obviously sell for better prices, and clean well finished sheep are at a good premium currently, however, sheep off grass that are just almost there are in line with high end store prices.

32 – £131.00 (409p kg) – R J Adams
34 – £124.00 (365p kg) – S J Martin
35 – £140.00 (400p kg) – J Laver
36 – £130.00 (361p kg) – Langdon Farms & J Laver
37 – £131.00 (354p kg) – Bagshaw Farming
38 – £127.00 (334p kg) – S Wenham
39 – £160.00 (400p kg) – N C & C G Hedges
40 – £145.00 (363p kg) – D Nixon
41 – £134.00 (327p kg) – Joey Burden & G L Harris
42 – £152.00 (362p kg) – P Tampin
43 – £149.00 (347p kg) – D Thompson
44 – £172.00 (391p kg) – Michael Keeley (Agri Services)
45 – £164.00 (364p kg) – N C & C G Hedges
46 – £168.00 (365p kg) – C & J Georgetti & Sons
47 – £178.00 (379p kg) – S King
48 – £167.00 (348p kg) – D Thompson & Michael Keeley (Agri Services)
49 – £180.00 (367p kg) – Michael Keeley (Agri Services)
50 – £179.00 (358p kg) – R G Hobbs Farms
52 – £179.00 (344p kg) – S King
53 – £179.00 (338p kg) – R G Hobbs Farms
54 – £179.50 (332p kg) – R G Hobbs Farms
55 – £184.00 (335p kg) – S King
56 – £179.00 (320p kg) – R G Hobbs Farms
57 – £183.00 (321p kg) – C & J Georgetti & Sons
58 – £180.00 (310p kg) – S King
61 – £190.00 (311p kg) – S King
65 – £190.00 (292p kg) – Link Bros

Prime NSL SQQ – 339.13
Lambs 32.1 to 39kgs – 129 – Top 410.0, Ave.363.9
Lambs 39.1 to 45.5 kgs – 259 – Top 3910, Ave.328.8
Lambs 45.6 to 52 kgs – 209 – Top 379.0, Ave.347.4
Lambs 52.1 kgs – 163 – Top 342.0, Ave.325.9

Cull Ewes & Rams – 598 Sold  

Auctioneers: James Cook-O’Connell 07780133678.

Top Price – £186.00 – Link Bros – Ave. £124.55

Plenty in the pens with trade on par and a large percentage leaner sorts once again.
The best regularly £150 – £180 and to a top price of £186 for Texel crosses from Link Bros. Medium sorts £120 – £150 on most occasions with leaner grazing types £90 – £120 throughout with only small numbers sold below these figures.
We are seeing good numbers penned every week with customers keen for all grades and more numbers would be of no concern with averages consistent every week.

Top Prices Included:
Texel cross to £186 – Link Bros
Suffolk cross to £172 – S G & G T Orpin
Romneys to £168 – K Lukehurst
Lleyn cross to £165 – C J Hardwick
Beltex cross to £164 – J Laver
Cheviot to £156 – Bagshaw Farming

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 –  81 Sold

Auctioneer: John Rossiter 07557 392903.

A big entry this week with over 90 finished cattle on offer including the finished bulls. More cattle than we have seen for several weeks and a sign that the live ring is the way to sell nowadays. This is now evident to many sellers who are coming back from other selling methods as the best results are gained by selling under the hammer. Less of the top quality in the overall entry but still breaking the 400p/kg barrier with M A Piper & Sons and several cattle traded from 380-399/kg from both vendors, W G Vant and M A Piper & Sons. Lesser types from more dairy breeding were maybe 10p less on the week, with more numbers coming out in markets across the country, as a result of very strong prices in the past two weeks in the lead up to the Christmas kill period. A number of young bulls went through the ring this week from both C Cook and T Castle & Sons, with the best quality of these topping at 348p/kg and grossing over £2000/hd at just 16 months old.

Leading steer prices

Top Steers

M A Piper & Son Farms Ltd – Sussex cross – 405p (£1921)
M A Piper & Son Farms Ltd – Limousin cross – 393p (£2178)
M A Piper & Son Farms Ltd – Limousin cross – 391p (£2167)
W G Vant & Sons – Limousin cross – 390p (£2434)
M A Piper & Son Farms Ltd – Limousin cross – 390p (£2064)

Leading heifer prices

W G Vant & Sons – Limousin cross – 394p (£2302)
M A Piper & Son Farms Ltd – Limousin cross – 388p (£2131)
G L Boulden & Sons – Aberdeen Angus cross – 367p (£2162)
R G Gibson & Son – Limousin cross – 366p (£2504)
M A Piper & Son Farms Ltd – Limousin cross – 365p (£2169)

Average prices

Steers 200 to 550 kgs – 6 – Top 405p, Ave. 384p
Steers 551 to 650 kgs – 15 – Top 393p, Ave. 355p
Steers 651 kgs + – 10 – Top 361p, Ave. 341p
Heifers 300 to 500 kgs – 1 – Top 328p, Ave. 328p
Heifers 501 to 590 kgs – 18 – Top 394p, Ave. 348p
Heifers 591+ kgs – 11 – Top 366p, Ave. 340p

OTM Cattle & Cull Cows – 51 Sold

Auctioneer: Peter Kingwill 07795200357.

Some excellent cows on offer today with certainly more flesh on offer. Despite meat prices trending a little lower, and a degree of worry in the industry with cyber-attacks on retail and commercial refrigeration rates remain very positive for slaughter and feeding cows.
Some big heavy fleshed cows able to top 300p and grossing regularly over £2200 topping out at £2666, 316p for a younger Hereford from J Berryman.
Aberdeen Angus 316p, 288p, 277p, £2250, £2243, £2198 Jan Boomaars; Hereford 316p, £2666 J Berryman, 264p, £1897 Jan Boomaars, 257p, £2116 G & R Bailey; Limousin 300p, 284p, £2097, £1715 G & R Bailey, 256p, £1903 A J Bray; Charolais 290p, 288p, £2501, £2157 Jan Boomaars; Sussex 288p, 266p, £1955, £1580 Trenchmore Ltd, 240p, £1796 J Hodson; Beef Shorthorn 264p, 252p, £1547, £1423 H S Nicholls, 245p, £1993 V E & M A Britton; British Blue 254p, £1838 A J Strand & Sons.
Very few from the milk sector with tidy British Friesian cows from PHR Farms to 243p, £1611.
Stock Bulls (8) Remaining a very positive trade with fleshing the critical factor. Limousin 290p, £3127; Aberdeen Angus 278p, £2289, 194p, £1616; Blonde 261p, £2826; Hereford 249p, £2286, 235p, £2603; Lean Sussex 236p, 220p, £1472, £1229.
Overage (10) A little less but significant age on offer. Sussex 3+ heifer 315p, £1950, Aberdeen Angus 3+ heifer 311p, £1754, British Blue cross 5+ steer 296p, £1847 J Berryman; British Blue cross 3+ steer 268p, £2314 R G Gibson & Son; Sussex 4+ heifers 298p, 280p, £2008, £1929 Torry Hill Farms.

Beef cows – 27 Sold – Top 316.0, Ave. 262.0
Dairy cows – 6 Sold – Top 243.0, Ave.193.0

Store & Breeding Cattle – 411 sold

Auctioneer: James Cook-O’Connell 07780133678.

A cracking show of suckler bred types forward with our first big show of suckled calves creating plenty of interest ringside.
In the breeding section to start we had a herd reduction of mainly Hereford cross cows 2018 – 2023 back in calf to a Hereford bull and due to calf in January/February which topped at £2400, and majority sold in excess of £2200.
In the stores we had Charolais cross steers 7 mths from R Woods to £1280 followed by the heifers to £1240 and Limousin heifers 8 mths from N A Vincent not far behind to £1160. Top call in the sucked calf section went to F S Husk with a Limousin steer 7 mths to £1700 and smart Blonde x Aberdeen Angus steers 6-7 mths from Wey Street Farm to £1220. Strong Aberdeen Angus x Charolais steers 7-10 mths from Rhino Plant Hire to £1460 with the heifers to £1250 and a cracking run of Limousin 7-8 mths from Swanley Farm topped at £1500 for the steers with the heifers to £1320. Betchworth Estate Farm sold their annual consignment of Simmental cross and Aberdeen Angus cross steers 6-8 mths topping at £1380 and British Blue cross steers 10 mths from Birt Bros on par to £1380 also. A run of harder sorts, mainly Shorthorn crosses 11-14 mths from R & S Vant topped at £1700 for the steers with Seymour Stevens reaching highs of £2080 for their Aberdeen Angus crosses 17-19 mths followed by the heifers to £1930. W J Hurley had their Limousin cross steers 19 mths to £1720 with the heifer to £1640 and well put together Limousin heifers from J Hooker & Son topped at £1990. A J Bray continued to provide plenty of quality with Limousin steers 19 mths to £2200 with P N & C Burden on par with Limousin steers also to £2200. Big stretchy Charolais cross steers 18 mths from R & H Vincent not far behind to £2190 and cracking Limousin heifers 20 mths from C & J Georgetti & Sons taking top call on the day to £2220.
We have good numbers entered for a catalogued sale next week already so if you have cattle to sell on Tuesday 10^th November please get in contact with your entry.

Principal Prices Include:

Continental:
Limousin cross steers 19 mths – £2200 – A J Bray
Limousin cross steers 19 mths – £2200 – P N & C Burden
Charolais cross steers 19 mths – £2190 – R & H Vincent
Limousin cross heifers 20 mths – £2220 – C & J Georgetti & Sons
Limousin cross heifers 19 mths – £1990 – J Hooker & Son
Limousin cross heifers 19 mths – £1910 – P N & C Burden

Native:
Hereford cross steers 20 mths – £2100 – North Kent College
Aberdeen Angus cross steers 20 mths – £2080 – Seymour Stevens
Aberdeen Angus steers 20 mths – £1900 – D R Miles
Aberdeen Angus cross heifers 20 mths – £1930 – Seymour Stevens
Sussex cross heifers 19 mths – £1870 – M J & C W Barnes

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.

Pigs – 34 Sold

Auctioneer: Tristan Howell 07917024340.

A tremendous offering of pigs, proving that good quality is met with good returns. In the finished pigs, J & S Harmer topped both the PPK at 178p/kg for 93kg boars (£165.54) and the PPH, at £168.72 for 114kg boars (148p/kg). Less covered but well-shaped continental pigs saw prices up to 174p/kg from East Sutton Park Prison and similarly bred store pigs from the same home realised £75. Larger stores from Mr H Barritt just ahead at £78. One sow this week, well fleshed and shaped, at £20.

 

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