Ashford Market Report – Tuesday 10th June 2025

Sheep Sales Reports

New Season Lambs – 1,340 Sold

Auctioneer: John Rossiter 07557 392903

More penned in Ashford, and nationally this week, and as we thought might happen, trade has eased from last week’s peak. This was always going to be very hard to match with increasing numbers of lambs on offer and demand obviously impacted by the ending of the recent religious festivities. The current quality of the lambs on offer is certainly very good with several first draws coming out each week. Some super entries from P & E Andreozzi, Petworth, Masters Farms, Seaford and M J Ashworth, Lydd to name a few. Top in the pence per kilo was taken by Mr C Field for some smart light weight lambs but in the price per head, Masters Farms took the prize at £170. Overall, the average was 330p which despite being down on last week’s heights, is still ensuring that these fed lambs are receiving an acceptable margin. Trade should now hold with the reduction in numbers of hoggets dropping very quickly.

32 – £120.00 (375p kg) – C Field
33 – £110.00 (333p kg) – Edmonds Farming
34 – £117.00 (344p kg) – K T D Axell
35 – £124.00 (354p kg) – K T D Axell
36 – £118.00 (328p kg) – Messrs P H Hope
37 – £134.00 (362p kg) – Friday Street Farmers
38 – £130.00 (342p kg) – Link Bros
39 – £130.00 (333p kg) – A J Down
40 – £145.00 (363p kg) – K Lukehurst
41 – £139.00 (339p kg) – Friday Street Farmers
42 – £141.00 (336p kg) – Masters Farms
43 – £149.50 (348p kg) – M J Ashworth
44 – £158.00 (359p kg) – Masters Farms
45 – £163.00 (362p kg) – P & E Andreozzi
46 – £162.50 (353p kg) – W Pynn Contractors
47 – £167.00 (355p kg) – P & E Andreozzi
48 – £167.00 (348p kg) – M J Ashworth
50 – £159.00 (318p kg) – P & E Andreozzi
52 – £170.00 (327p kg) – Masters Farms                                                   

Averages (p/kg) 

Standard 32.1 to 39 kgs – 264 – Top 375, Ave. 334.9
Medium 39.1 to 45.5 kgs – 783 – Top 363, Ave.329.6
Heavy 45.6 to 52 kgs – 257 – Top 355, Ave. 319.4

Finished Hoggets – 223 Sold

Auctioneer: John Rossiter 07557 392903

A very small selection on offer with top price of £145 achieved by Mary Smith. Prices all over the place which is obviously connected to the quality of the sheep on offer.

Cull Sheep – 183 Sold

Auctioneer: James Cook-O’Connell 07780133678

Top price ewe: £178.00 – P Bates – Ave. £106

Less numbers following the Festival which took place last weekend. Trade steadier but the best ewes still regularly £130 – £150 with a top price of £178 from P Bates for strong Suffolk Crosses. Medium sorts £100 – £120 with leaner grazing types £70 – £90 throughout with very sold below these figures. Please do inform me of any large consignments of ewes that you intend on selling in the coming weeks with regular buyers for all grades.

Top prices included:

Suffolk cross to £178 – P Bates, Suffolk to £172 – East Sutton Park, Romneys to £155 – A J Thompson & Sons, Texel cross to £152 – W T Kemp, Mules to £126 – W J Hurley

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 Sales Reports

Finished Cattle –  52 Sold

Auctioneer: Peter Kingwill 07795 200357

Harder work this week with the ripples, or waves, sent out by the big group abattoirs affecting the whole industry. Much of this is caused by the supermarkets who, whilst battling one another for consumer share, are getting their producers, in many product lines, to pay for it all. Quite how committed to meat sales the supermarkets are, I have often questioned. They are lazy and narrow in their range of options, with butchery counters a thing of the past, now focusing on mince and little else, and, on occasions, heavily discounted joints to turn the eye of the shopper they wish to entice through their sliding door. Dedicated butchers in the retail and catering sectors have an uphill battle but their focus is one of service, quality and innovation that pushes their product forward bringing value to the whole chain of production – field to fork. Of course, they must be cost aware but not, like the major retailers, driving costs and quality down to into the cheap “ready meal world” in order to maximise their profits.
Top end cattle 370-385p with commercial grades 340-360p but with plenty of cattle still grossing £2200-£2600.
Limousin x heifers from Colin Leggat to 384p £2377 whilst Limousin steers topped at 380p £2527 from Dan Mackelden Ltd. Other good runs from R F & E A Simmons with heifers and steers to 375p and 373p. Good fleshed commercial Simmental x heifers from John Berryman to 366p £2210.
Dairy bred Limousin steers from Alan Down to 267p £2241, but more generally 350-360p. Angus x steers 344p and Blue x heifers 340p from M A & F W Owen; Blue x steers from Dan Mackelden Ltd to 340p £2224.
Native cattle saw strong Angus to 368p £2573 from R G Gibson & Son with fine Hereford steers from William New to 360p £2481. Sussex steers to 358p from High Chimney Farms, heifers to 347p £2166 Dan Mackelden Ltd.
Prices will always go up and down, we just need to ensure that there are more of us trying to push prices up rather than allowing politicians and big business to apply downward pressures on our industry!

Top Steers

Dan Mackelden Ltd – Limousin cross – 381p (£2527)
R F & E A Simmons – Limousin cross – 373p (£2030)
Leggat Farming Ltd – Limousin cross – 370p (£2531)
R F & E A Simmons – Limousin cross – 368p (£1800)
R G Gibson & Son – Aberdeen Angus cross – 368p (£2572)

Top Heifers

Leggat Farming Ltd – Limousin cross – 384p (£2377)
R F & E A Simmons – Limousin cross – 375p (£1816)
Leggat Farming Ltd – Limousin cross – 371p (£2074)
J Berryman – Simmental cross – 366p (£1991)
R F & E A Simmons – Limousin cross – 361p (£1946)

Average prices

Steers 200 to 550 kg – 3 – Top 373p – Ave. 360p
Steers 551 to 650 kg – 17 – Top 367p – Ave. 338p
Steers 651 kg + – 10 – Top 381p – Ave. 357p
Heifers 300 to 500 kg – 2 – Top 375p – Ave. 352p
Heifers 501 to 590 kg – 12 – Top 371p – Ave. 344p
Heifers 591 kg + – 8 – Top 384p – Ave. 353p

OTM Cattle and Cull Cows – 41 Sold

Auctioneer: Peter Kingwill 07795 200357

Numbers beginning to tighten as attention is focused onto silaging, and hay around the corner. Whilst deadweight rates are beginning to ease the general consensus is that cow numbers are very short, will continue to be so, and that prices will remain firm as processors aim to secure throughput.
Best of the beef feeders to 340p £1935 from Howard & James Noakes whilst meat cows still able to push past 300p and up to £2363 from A J Thompson & Sons. Older grazing feeders continuing to sell very well indeed.
Limousin x 340p, 285p £1935, £1792 H & J Noakes; Angus x 304p, 300p, 292p £2111, £1745 A J Thompson & Sons; British Blue x 290p, 283p £1708, £1624 A J Thompson & Sons; Blonde x 279p (2), 263p £1727, £1654, £1560 R J Stickland, Billingshurst; Sussex 280p £1677 L Stevens & Son, 272p, 269p, 259p £1517, £1493, £1486 M Wragg, Battle; Charolais x 266p £2363 A J Thompson & Sons.
Only a few from the dairy sector but all wanted. Maiden Holstein Friesian heifers to 317p from Appleton Farms; Lean steaking Holstein cows from P J Forknall to 228p £1684; Jerseys to 170p £771 Hickson Bros; and a Dexter to 136p £664 T Hayman, East Grinstead.
Overage (9) Strong interest in the overage with some fine examples on offer! A cracking OTM Sussex steer from W S Furnival to 363p £2465; a grand 3+ Angus steer from the Gibson family at 323p £2709; and good fleshed Blue x heifers from John Berryman 343p, 337p, 334p £2141, £2134. Some hard 3+ grazing Shorthorn and Sussex steers selling well to gross close to £1600.

Beef Cows – 22 Sold – Top 340, Average 260.0
Dairy Cows – 9 Sold – Top 317, Average 203.3

Store & Breeding Cattle – 143 Sold

Auctioneer: James Cook-O’Connell 07780133678

An ‘end of season’ show in the pens but a good show of cows and calves. First up was a reduction from Melvin Wragg, Battle with Sussex cows and calves to £1570, followed by Limousin cows with young calves from A Boyd & Co to £1800. Sussex heifers 21 months from M Wragg to £1300 followed by Blue x Fr steers 12m from D Goodwin & Sons, Haywards Heath to £1160, with their heifers to £930. Smart Sussex cross steers 14 month from High Chimney Farms to £1260 and strong Blue X Fr steers 22 months from B Sutton to £1770, with the heifers to £1790. Angus x Fr heifers 22 months to £1440 from J P J Wanstall and G J Ostridge had well put together Limousin steers 13 mths top at £1500. A run of rough coated types from J L Hall saw 22 m Limousin steers to £1430, with yearling heifers to £940 from the same home. John Carden had Blue x Fr steer 24m at £1700 and Shorthorn heifers 20m from George Young, Fobbing to £1540. Top call of the day goes to F S Husk with a very smart 13 m Limousin steer at £1880.
Please do not hesitate to get in contact for further advice if you have store or breeding cattle to sell in the coming weeks.

Calves – 30 Sold

Auctioneer: Peter Kingwill 07795 200357

A few more calves at this quiet time of year, and a better bred run, overall, of generally younger calves. Trade continuing at strong levels but perhaps buyers a little more selective with some of the smaller crossbred types.
The tidy month old Blue bull calves generally £350-£400 topping at £405, others £400, £390, £385 from Appleton Farms; £385 D Murdoch & Son; and £345 J W Boyd & Son. Blue heifers to £365 D Murdoch & Son; £285, £280, £265 Appleton Farms; and £280 J W Boyd & Sons. Crossbred Blue bulls to £200, heifers to £120 Hickson Bros.
A strong demand for the Angus calves with bulls to £340, £325 Appleton Farms; heifers to £275 J W Boyd & Sons. Friesian bull to £200; Holstein bull £160 D Murdoch & Son.
A pair of Limousin x calves from the beef herd of A J Thompson & Sons saw the bull to £400, heifer at £290.

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 – 17th June 2025

Regular Weekly Market with a sale of Store and Breeding Cattle

For our Auction Calendar and Catalogues click here