Ashford Market Report – Tuesday 10th October 2023

Sheep Sales Reports

Auctioneer: John Rossiter 07557 392903

New Season Lambs – 828 Sold

Top price per kg: 307p – C & J Georgetti & Sons
Top price per head: £150 – A B Jones & Partners

A few more penned this week in the finished section but of variable quality. The best are well sold with the top end of the heavies hitting £150 head from A B Jones & Partners, with smart sorts from C & J Georgetti & Sons topping at 307p kg for Texel lambs with plenty of shape. Overall averages are roughly the same as last week and trade is strong for all the meated lambs on offer. Numbers are still tight, and trade seasonally high with this looking likely to be the case for the run up towards Christmas. It must be right to get the lambs well finished to really reap the benefit of the best prices, even if this must come from a bag…

38kg – £98.00 (258p/kg) – A Head
39kg – £98.00 (251p/kg) – S T Phillips
40kg – £111.00 (278p/kg) – C R & G Daws
41kg – £110.50 (270p/kg) – P & A Love Ltd
42kg – £120.00 (286p/kg) – T Lyle & Partners
43kg – £118.00 (274p/kg) – C Moss & Sons
44kg – £131.00 (298p/kg) – C & J Georgetti & Sons
45kg – £138.00 (307p/kg) – C & J Georgetti & Sons
46kg – £123.00 (267p/kg) – P & A Love Ltd
47kg – £139.00 (296p/kg) – C & J Georgetti & Sons
48kg – £143.00 (298p/kg) – C & J Georgetti & Sons
49kg – £135.00 (276p/kg) – Link Bros
50kg – £143.00 (286p/kg) – A B Jones & Partners
51kg – £139.00 (273p/kg) – Mrs K Tucker
52kg – £147.00 (283p/kg) – C & J Georgetti & Sons
54kg – £150.00 (278p/kg) – A B Jones & Partners 

Averages (p/kg) 

Standard 32.1 to 39 kgs – 96 – Top 258, Average 244.6
Medium 39.1 to 45.5 kgs – 446 – Top 298, Average 247.6
Heavy 45.6 to 52 kgs – 233 – Top 307, Average 270.9
Other 52.1+ kgs – 29 – Top 278, Average 260.2

Cull Sheep – 717 Sold

Auctioneer: James Cook-O’Connell 07712 246474

Ewe: Top £121 – N A Balcomb & Son, Average £65.42
Ram: Top 200 – Mrs K Tucker, Average £91.00

Large numbers continue to come forward both regionally, and nationally. A very mixed entry again with a high percentage of lean grazing types. Plenty of competition for these grazing ewes and confidence remaining firm. The best meat ewes were regularly £90 – £110, to a top price of £121 from N A Balcomb & Son for smart Charollais ewes. Medium sorts generally £70 – £90 with leaner grazing ewes £45 – £65 throughout. Overall a good trade on the day with buyers present for all grades of ewes. Please do inform me of any large numbers of ewes that you intend on selling in the coming weeks.

Top prices included

Charollais to £121 – N A Balcomb & Son, Texel cross to £120 – A Boyd & Co, Beltex to £111 – C A Worley Farming Ltd, Suffolk cross to £105 – H O Champneys Ltd, Mules to £78 – J Hooker & Son, Romney to £81 – S G & G T Orpin

 

Store & Breeding Sheep – Friday 6th October – 7,279 Sold

Auctioneers: Elwyn Davies 07710 803901 and James Cook-O’Connell 07712 246474

Store Lambs – 6,146 sold – Top price £110 – Ave £81.25

Another big entry of store lambs, well attended by potential customers and a similar report to 2 weeks ago – prices holding well for the best while smaller longer keeping lambs less money compared to a month ago. Top crossbred lambs selling readily at £90 plus, averaging in excess of £80 and only small long keeping lambs below £70.
Similar trend in the Romney section with the middle and best holding recent high prices at £85 plus but a bigger percentage of long term sorts generally £55 to £60.

Still, plenty of interest and inquiries re store lambs – Please keep inquiries coming and keep in touch.

Principal prices include: 

Texel cross – £110.00 – H Crump & Son
Texel cross – £104.00 – S P Howland
Texel cross – £99.50 – A K F Dod
Texel cross – £98.50 – E J Clough
Texel cross – £98.00 – P H & P E Skinner
Texel cross – £97.00 – H G Tompsett & Sons Ltd
Texel cross – £96.00 – Maytham Wharf Farm
Charollais cross – £104.50 – N Hacking
Charollais cross – £97.50 – E Ford
Charollais cross – £96.50 – Wanstall Farms
Charollais cross – £95.00 – M Wickens/P Bates
Beltex cross – £89.50 – S Weeks & Sons
Beltex cross – £89.00 – P Ashlee
Suffolk x Mule – £104.00 – Southwood Farm
Suffolk x Mule – £97.00 – W J Hurley
Suffolk x Mule – £96.50 – J Monnington Farms Ltd
Suffolk x Mule – £96.00 – D Howard Farms Ltd
Suffolk x Mule – £95.00 – E Morris & Son
Romney wether – £94.00 – A J Thompson & Sons
Romney wether – £90.50 – Langrish Farmers
Romney wether – £89.00 – G L Boulden & Sons
Romney wether – £89.00 – H Metcalfe 

Average Prices – Store Lambs

Texel cross – 1,640 sold – Top £110.00 – Ave £83.10
Charollais cross – 885 sold – Top £104.50 – Ave £85.50
Suffolk cross – 925 sold – Top £104.00 – Ave £81.70
Crossbred – 764 sold – Top £84.00 – Ave £72.50
Romney wether – 1,932 sold – Top £94.00 – Ave £73.20

Numbers of ewe tegs were slightly less than we saw a fortnight ago, but only to be expected with the breeding season now well underway in places. The majority of tegs were Mules with a super run of North Country Mule ewe tegs from Little Boarzell Farm topping the trade at £176. Suffolk x Mules were again plentiful, reaching highs of £172 from Dan Mackelden, with E W & R E Hanks close behind to £170 from the best of their run. There will be more tegs on Friday 13^th Oct for anyone still looking to source ahead of the breeding season. 

Mule – 355 sold – Top £176.00 – Ave £152.00
Suffolk cross – 250 sold – Top £172.00 – Ave £135
Crossbred – 89 sold – Top £144.00 – Ave £116.00
Romney – 51 sold – Top £128 – Ave £124

A strong demand on the breeding ewes with a consistent trade throughout with buyers present for all grades. Top call of the day was for C & J Georgetti & Sons with their strong Suffolk cross ewes to £128, and again at £125. A pen of 1 lamb Mule ewes from A Laver reached £120 and Texel cross ewes from Sir R Halstead to £116, with their Mules to £99. Romney ewes from L Kutner, again 1 lamb ewes, topped at £102 with their second pen to £99, all going to the same home. More ewes already entered for Friday 13^th October.

Breeding Ewes – 340 sold – Top £128.00 – Ave £102.00

 

Cattle Sales Reports

Finished Cattle –  70 Sold

Auctioneer: Elwyn Davies 07710 803901

A big entry and a cracking trade throughout with all the best Continental cross beef bred cattle 280p plus and several breaking the 300p mark and grossing in excess of £1500.
Well fleshed dairy bred cattle around 250p with Limousin x Friesian steers £1570 (258p), £1658 (248p) and £1669 (246p) and Hereford x Friesian steers well sold at £1533 (254p) and £1488 (264p) all from Alan J Down.
Native bred cattle all selling well with the pick including Aberdeen Angus cross heifers £1409 (269p) from W S Furnival Ltd, £1288 (269p) from A J Thompson & Sons and £1503 (245p) from Gary Stokes while a run of Sussex and Sussex cross heifers attracted prices around 250p and grossed up to £1405 again from W S Furnival Ltd.
A small selection of bulls topped at £1724 (232p) for heavyweight Limousin cross from G L Boulden & Sons.
More cattle wanted every week at these improved prices.

Top Steers

W Alexander (Shoreham) – Limousin cross – 301p/kg (£1923)
A J Thompson & Sons – Limousin cross – 287p/kg (£1704)
J Hooker & Son – Blonde cross – 277p/kg (£1659)
A J Thompson & Sons – Limousin cross – 276p/kg (£1460)
R F & E A Simmons – Limousin cross – 265pkg (£1269)

Top Heifers

A J Thompson & Sons – Limousin cross – 310p/kg (£1578)
S Marsh – Limousin cross – 308p/kg (£1460)
S Marsh – Limousin cross – 306p/kg (£1527)
A J Thompson & Sons – Limousin cross – 305p/kg – (£1568)
D W Ferguson Ltd – Limousin cross – 290p/kg (£1490)

Average Prices

Steers up to 550kg – 11 sold – Top 276p – Ave 248p
Steers over 551kg to 650kg – 21 sold – Top 301p – Ave 256p
Steers over 651kg – 5 sold – Top 265p – Ave 249p
Heifers up to 500kg – 10 sold – Top 308p – Ave 246p
Heifers 501kg to 590kg – 17 sold – Top 310p – Ave 269p
Heifers over 591kg – 3 sold – Top 260p – Ave 245p
Bulls – 3 sold – Top 232p – Ave 210p

OTM Cattle and Cull Cows – 82 Sold

Auctioneer: Peter Kingwill 07795 200357

Just the first few signs of the Autumn decline in prices. Certainly, the North has had more than its share of rains, and that combined with the debacle within the milk industry, is causing more cows onto the market; I firmly believe that supply overall is tight and that once this “pinch point” is over that rates will again climb back. Overall, still a strong and competitive trade with the feeding buyers present in force and remaining confident for the New Year period.
No really smart cows but good meat cows 150 – 180p kg with generally very little below 140p kg unless particularly old.
Limousin cross 179p, £1419 A J Thompson & Sons, 164p, 162p, £1234, £1155 (Non FA) Hawkfibre Ltd; Blonde cross 174p, £1293 A J Thompson & Sons; Sussex 179p, £1178 (Non FA) H W Richards, 175p, 166p (Non FA) J Muscat, 166p, 160p, £1440, £1173 (Non FA) M B Burgess, 161p, £1268 (Non FA) Bosney Farms; Charolais cross 163p, £1073 (Non FA) E Tilley; Beef Shorthorn 161p, 155p, £1120, £1100 (Non FA) M Britton; Murray Grey 150p, £957 E Tilley.
Similar remarks amongst the dairy culls with few of the best fleshed cows. Best types could pass 200p for youngsters. Meat generally 150 – 180p kg but mostly lean and plain cows which looked well sold again.
British Friesian under 3 years old cow 216p, £1196 Debden Court; Cows 177p, 171p, 168p, 162p, £1066, £1013, £1006 Debden Court; Holstein Friesian 158p, 149p, £1158, £1084 H O Champneys Ltd; 152p, 144p, £1076, £1015 W G & T A Manford; 145p, £1062 J W Boyd & Sons Ltd. Guernseys 145p, 138p, 137p, 12p, £1107, £1091, £1003 W G & T A Manford; Jerseys 86p, 84p, £367, £363 S E Lane & Partners; Foreign cows 124p, 110p, £1031, £991.
Stock bulls (1) Good trade for Beef Shorthorn at 150p, £1562.
Overage (17) Strong demand for all on offer. OTM Holstein Friesian steers 227p, 226p, 222p, 218p (2), £1714, £1699, £1686, £1519, £1517; OTM Sussex steers 220p, 216p, £1591, £1509; OTM Hereford cross steers 217p, £1147; 4 Year old plus Sussex steer 196p, £1349; 3 Year old plus Friesian heifer 160p, £1188.

Beef Cows – 32 Sold – Top 179, Average 157.1
Dairy Cows –33 Sold – Top 226, Average 142.3

Breeding Cattle – 18 Sold

Auctioneer: Peter Kingwill 07795 200357

A nice run of younger Black ( Lim x & Angus x) cows, 6-8 yo, with 5-7 month Angus x calves, and back in calf sold to a strong enquiry selling to £1450 twice, £1440, £1420, etc with the 9 outfits averaging £1370. There is good interest for these younger cows with good calves though they really must be scanned back in calf.

Store Cattle – 364 Sold

Auctioneer: Elwyn Davies 07710 803901

Due to the abundance of Autumn keep and the mild weather store cattle have been slow to come forward and this week’s entry of 370 were well received by specialist finishers both locally, the Midlands and the Eastern Counties. Trade was brisk with only the poorer bred youngsters proving more difficult to sell due to the time scale and cost of wintering.
Several runs of single suckled youngsters on offer attracted plenty of interest notably yearling Limousin cross steers and heifers selling to £1190 and £920 respectively from H & S Nesfield. Other top runs of Continental crosses included 16-18 mths Limousin cross steers and heifers at £1425 and £1360 from P N & C Burden and a superb run of Simmental cross steers and heifers topping the market at £1670 and £1450 respectively from Masters Farms.
Generally stronger cattle in the native bred section with highlights including a run of 28 14 mths Aberdeen Angus x Friesian steers from R Haydon & Partners topping at £1265 and averaging £1126 and purebred Sussex steers looking well sold at £1220 from W J Hurley.
Next sale Tuesday 17^th October – 250 already entered and further entries now invited.

Principal Prices include:

Continental Cross 

7mths Limousin cross steers – £800 – J C & P C Dallaway
10-12mths Limousin cross steers – £1190 – H & S Nesfield
10-12mths Limousin cross heifers – £920 – H & S Nesfield
16mths Limousin cross steers – £1425 – P N & C Burden
16mths Limousin cross heifers – £1360 – P N & C Burden
17mths Limousin cross steer – £1320 – Hawkfibre Ltd
17mths Limousin cross heifers – £1070 – Hawkfibre Ltd
18mths Simmental cross steers – £1280 – Wood Farm Partnership
18mths Simmental cross steers – £1670 – Masters Farms
18mths Simmental cross heifers – £1450 – Masters Farms
20mths Simmental cross steers – £1260 – P R Lanham
21mths Continental cross heifers – £1230 – Langrish Farmers
23mths Blue cross steers – £1270 – G B Nicholson & Son 

Native Bred

7mths Beef Shorthorn cross steers – £760 – M Britton
14mths Angus x Friesian steers – £1265 – R Haydon & Partners
15mths Angus cross steers – £1110 – Wood Farm Partnership
15mths Angus cross heifers – £1005 – Wood Farm Partnership
15mths Hereford cross steers – £1010 – Pitcher & Cole
16mths Hereford cross steers – £1120 – P J Goldsmith
18mths Sussex steers – £1220 – W J Hurley
19mths Angus cross steers – £1150 – P J Mannington

Calves –  81 Sold

Auctioneer: Tom Hamplett 07966 104532

A tremendous entry today with improved numbers and of improved overall quality. Older calves are still attracting a premium over those with more work to do although the best quality younger calves were also a real step up in terms of trade today.
Bulls topped at £350 for an older weaned Blue from W G & T A Manford with best younger Blues to £310 and £305 from J W Boyd & Sons Ltd. H O Champneys Ltd and J C & S K Williams also selling stronger Blues to tops of £300. A handful of Limousins forward today topping at £205 for a young suckler bred calf from D G & J W Gore. A decent selection of Angus forward with trade sharper topping at £310 for J E Scutt & Sons. A single Hereford from  Goddard & Son looked well sold at £180.
Heifers in strong demand with several buyers willing to pay a premium for the best. Blues to £330 for a tremendous heifer from J E Scutt & Sons with others to £295 (x2). Angus heifers a more mixed trade with best strongest and shape to £310 and £260 from A & W J Hitchcock. Others with more leg or less shape a little harder work and potentially offering value to those who were prepared to gamble.
Dairy bulls a stronger trade again with more interest in all types. British Friesians and Norwegian Reds attracting premiums with tops of £155 & £145 from Parrett & Son with plenty of other rearing types £50-£100; bobbies a little more this week with more flesh enabling a stronger trade, most £20-£40.
A polite request to all vendors, please do advise of entries on the Monday morning before a sale to ensure we can communicate numbers to buyers!

Bull Calves

British Blue cross – 22 – Ave £218.64 – Top £350 – W G & T A Manford
Limousin cross – 3 – Ave £175 – Top £205 – D G & J W Gore
British Friesian – 12 – Ave £60.50 – Top £155 – Parrett & Son
Aberdeen Angus cross – 19 – Ave £167.37 – Top £310 – J E Scutt & Sons
Hereford cross – 1 – Ave £190 – Top £190 – Goddard & Son

Heifer Calves

British Blue cross – 13 – Ave £211.15 – Top £330 – J E Scutt & Sons
Simmental cross – 1 – Ave £315 – Top £315 – Freshfield Farm
Aberdeen Angus cross – 6 – Ave £165 – Top £310 – A & W J Hitchcock

Forthcoming Auctions

Tuesday Livestock – 17th October 2023

Regular Weekly Market with a sale of Store and Breeding Cattle

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