Ashford Market Report – Tuesday 14th April 2026

Sheep Sales Reports

Finished Hoggets – 1,299 sold.

Auctioneer: John Rossiter 07557 392903

Top price per kilo – 490p – Husk Farms Ltd, East Kent.
Top price per head – £238.00 – Jan Boomaars, Surrey.

A smaller entry of hoggets this week with certainly a pressure now coming on numbers of hoggets around the country, a large number of sheep have been sold nationally in the past 4 weeks and with those now out of the system, numbers inevitably will drop away in the coming month.
Trade is at a similar level with handy weighted hoggets now quite hard to find, and the majority of the entry being made up of heavies.  Tops on the day were the handy weights that reached 490p kg for some superb Beltex crosses from Husk Farms Ltd with J Boomaars, Vexour Flock, topping the list in the lump at £238 hd. Several pens of best hoggets are well over £200 but there is a little more resistance here than we saw pre easter and maybe the shine has come off the trade for now, but with supplies tight, this could firm up in the run up to the Festival of EID later in May.

Finished Hoggets

34 – £145.00 (426p kg) – J Cook
35 – £135.00 (386p kg) – D Thompson
38 – £144.00 (379p kg) – Miss Alice Goodman
39 – £191.00 (490p kg) – Husk Farms Ltd
40 – £169.00 (423p kg) – R L Goodman & Son
41 – £166.00 (405p kg) – J Laver
42 – £166.00 (395p kg) – D Thompson
43 – £180.00 (419p kg) – J Cook
44 – £189.00 (430p kg) – A B Jones & Partners
45 – £212.00 (471p kg) – Husk Farms Ltd
46 – £194.00 (422p kg) – R E Jarvis
47 – £202.00 (430p kg) – T Lyle & Partners
48 – £214.00 (446p kg) – Husk Farms Ltd
49 – £206.00 (420p kg) – Husk Farms Ltd
50 – £214.00 (428p kg) – Husk Farms Ltd
51 – £220.00 (431p kg) – Husk Farms Ltd
52 – £215.00 (413p kg) – Husk Farms Ltd
53 – £198.00 (374p kg) – R L Goodman & Son
54 – £186.00 (344p kg) – Hugh Goldsworthy
55 – £218.00 (396p kg) – Husk Farms Ltd
56 – £216.00 (386p kg) – T Lyle & Partners
57 – £196.00 (344p kg) – Oliver Tilley
58 – £202.00 (348p kg) – Oliver Tilley
59 – £204.00 (346p kg) – Husk Farms Ltd
60 – £206.00 (343p kg) – Fergus Henderson Farms
61 – £211.00 (346p kg) – Husk Farms Ltd
62 – £196.00 (316p kg) – M R Woodroofe
64 – £210.00 (328p kg) – Husk Farms Ltd
94 – £238.00 (253p kg) – Jan Boomaars

Averages (p/kg)

Standard 32.1 to 39 kgs – 20 – Top 426, Ave. 385.7
Medium 39.1 to 45.5 kgs – 196 – Top 490, Ave. 390.8
Heavy 45.6 to 52 kgs – 572   – Top 453, Ave. 384.8
Over 52.1 kg + – 500 – Top 413, Ave. 346.0

Store Hoggets  136 – Sold

Auctioneers: John Rossiter 07557 392903.

Getting to be a very late season entry in this section and not much to get excited about but topping at £150 hd from G H Bates and averaging £124 all included.

Cull Sheep – 663 Sold

Auctioneer: James Cook-O’Connell 07780133678

Top price ewes: £239.00 – Husk Farms Ltd, Kent. – Ave. £173.98

An absolute flyer once again with quality slightly less however trade on par.
The best regularly £160 – £190 and to a top price of £239 from Husk Farms Ltd for heavy Texel crosses followed closely by N A Balcomb & Son with Texels to £230. Medium sorts remain to look the best sold and £140 – £170 on most occasions with leaner grazing types £110 – £140 throughout with only 9 lots sold under £120 per head.
Please do inform me of any larger consignments of ewes you have to sell in the coming weeks with customers present every week for all grades.

Top prices included:

Texel cross to £239 – Husk Farms Ltd, Beltex to £238 – Husk Farms Ltd, Texels to £230 – N A Balcomb & Son, Charollais   to £230 – J Boomaars, Romneys to £192 – N A Balcomb & Son, Mules to £188 – Southwood Farm

Ewes & Lambs 16 sold

Auctioneer: James Cook-O’Connell 07780133678

Our first show of couples this year topping at £300 per outfit and £125 per life from P & R Locke for Texel cross ewes with Texel lambs followed closely by J Laver with continental ewes and Texel lambs to £237 per outfit.
We have plenty of interest for couples so if you have any to sell there will be a section available every Tuesday for couples.
We will also be holding a separate sale on Saturday 9^th May to include commercial breeding sheep with entries open now.

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 –  56 Sold

Auctioneer: Peter Kingwill 07795 200357.

More cattle forward this week and the trade certainly steadier as concerns over both the war`s impact on consumer spending, and the inconvenience to distribution should disruption on the roads take hold.
A very commercial entry with few of the best on offer, and a sizeable proportion of dairy bred types. Leaner cattle found additional support from feeding men, but the fleshed types of all grades would have to be quoted less.
Birt Bros smart Black Blue heifers to 371p and 365p (2) £2427 with Leggat Farming selling Angus steers to 363p, £2248, their strong Limousin steer to £2751, 351p. Better types 350-370p.
Commercial types easing back and Limousin x Friesian steers from A J Down to 355p, £2304, consistently 345-355p. More dairy shaped cattle more generally 310-330p and ready to pull back the overfull sorts.
A decent show of native cattle and several retail butchers present to take cattle. Angus steers 363p, £2248 Leggat Farming; Sussex steer 354p, £1909 H W Richards; Beef Shorthorn 342p, £2271 C R Cook; Nicely covered Angus heifer 354p, £1909 J & A Lyon; Sussex heifers 352p, £1986 Dan Mackleden Ltd.
Young Bulls (5) Good competition at the lower rates with a nice show of fleshed bulls. British Blue 349p, £2318, Sussex 338p, £2295 C R Cook; Limousin 335p, £2241 A J Down; British Friesian 324p, 312p, £2200, £2134 T Castle & Son.

Leading steer prices

Leggat Farming Ltd – Aberdeen Angus cross – 363p (£2248)
A J Down – Limousin cross – 355p (£2198)
A J Down – Limousin cross – 354p (£2192)
A J Down – Limousin cross – 354p (£2192)
Leggat Farming Ltd – Limousin cross – 351p (£2751)

Leading heifer prices       

Birt Bros – British Blue cross – 371p (£2427)
Birt Bros – British Blue cross – 368p (£2168)
Birt Bros – British Blue cross – 365p (£2151)
C R Cook – Simmental cross – 360p (£2211)
J & A Lyon – Aberdeen Angus cross – 354p (£1909)

Average prices

Steers 200 to 550 kg – 1 – Top 345p – Ave. 345p
Steers 551 to 650 kg – 16 – Top 363p – Ave. 342p
Steers 651 kg + – 7 – Top 351p – Ave. 343p
Heifers 501 to 590 kg – 10 – Top 368p – Ave. 338p
Heifers 591+ kg – 17 – Top 371p – Ave. 323p

OTM Cattle and Cull Cows – 63 Sold

Auctioneer: Peter Kingwill 07795 200357.

An excellent entry for the time of year and significantly more flesh on offer in both beef and dairy types. Trade remains very strong indeed with both best meat and feeding beef cows well over 300p with several up over 320p, and grossing often over £2500, and up close to £3000 from A J Strand & Sons. Good commercial meat 270-300p, and older hard grazing cows regularly 350-270p.
Limousin 331p, 282p, £2214, £1999 M J Ashworth, 322p, 314p, 312p, £2477, £2124, £2087 Campbell Bros, 313p, 307p, £2609, £2590 L E Humphreys & Sons, 275p, 270p, £1927, £1878 J Berryman; British Blue 324p, £1472 F S Husk, 270p, £2143 M J Ashworth; Simmental 320p, 311p, 286p, £2329, £2221 M J Ashworth, 267p, £1772 J Berryman; Angus 312p, £2928 A J Strand & Sons, 287p, 283p, £2052, £2034 K Bugden, 287p, £1804 M J Ashworth; Charolais 299p, £2378 Campbell Bros; Beef Shorthorn 292p, £1428 I D Machin; South Devon 287p, £2220 Gardners, 261p, £1993 J Berryman.
More cover on the dairy culls with just a handful of plainer types. Good export types 240-260p with the plain Black & Whites 200-220p. Lightweight Jerseys with cover well sold up to 190p.
British Friesian 256p, 252p, 248p, 246p, £1801, £1735, £1720, £1719 Debden Court; Holstein Friesian 252p, 250p, 236p, £1884, £1723 J W Boyd & Sons; Danish Red 244p, £1778 Kingcott Dairy; Guernsey 238p, £1864 W G & T A Manford; Jersey 190p, 183p, £894, £891 S E Lane & Ptnrs.
Stock Bull (1) A good Sussex well sold at 249p, £2460.
Overage (15) A mixture of meat and feeders this week but holding their trade well.
Sussex OTM steer 340p, £2122, heifer 338p, £1839 CR Cook; Angus 3+ heifer 339p, £1913 B G & M A Tomsett; Angus OTM heifer 319p, £2532 S Marsh; Swedish Red OTM heifer 312p, £2212 Kingcott Dairy; Black & White 3+ steers 299p, 297p (2), 296p, £2328, £2090, £2076 R Scott; Grazing OTM Holstein steers 301p, 292p, £1668, Hereford heifers 298p, 288p, £1636 C Kearl.

Beef Cows – 33 Sold – Top 331, Average 287.9
Dairy Cows – 19 Sold – Top 301, Average 231.9

Store & Breeding Cattle – 243 Sold

Auctioneer: James Cook-O’Connell 07780133678

Our annual breeding sale saw plenty of interest with people from all areas of the country travelling with hope to fill lorries.
To start the sale, we had breeding bulls which topped at £4000 for a 3yr old proven Limousin from Burden Bros and a 6yr old proven Hereford from P N & C Burden to £2500.
Onto the in-calf cows from J J Livestock Services with Lincoln Red cross cows in calf to an Aberdeen Angus bull to £1860 and Angus crosses in calf to an Angus to £1900 all from the same home. A few young bulls from John Little Farmers saw their 12 mths Purebred Hereford to £1500 and £1390. Bulling heifers created plenty of interest around the ring with T Castle & Son topping at £1780 for 16 mths British Blue x Friesian heifers followed by Angus crosses 28 mths from I D Machin to £1850 and smart Blonde x Angus heifers 24 mths from Wey Street Farm to £2370.
On to the first ever beef production sale on behalf of PHR Farms of 161 Limousin x Friesian bulling heifers 18 mths and what a picture they were in the pens. All were bought for breeding without hesitation and topped at £2640 with majority of the run £2400 – £2600 and only one pen sold under £2300.
An extra run of stores from J & A Lyon which topped at £1910 for 13 mth Angus cross steers with heifers from the same home to £1770.
We have a sale of 500 + already entered for Tuesday 21^st April with entries now closed however there is a good sale already building for Tuesday 28^th April and entries are open.

Calves – 31 Sold

Auctioneer: Tristan Howell 07917024340.

A fabulous day in the calf and weanling section, with no calves sold under £250! A heavily continental entry and a limited number of calves on the day, combined with more new faces wanting stock, led to last week’s average of £321 once again being exceeded with fresh calves averaging an astonishing £442.88. Good quality helped sell the day, with a terrific run of calves from T Castle & Son starting the sale and topping the day at £750 with a 2-month-old British Blue bull calf.
Following on, Castle’s Limousin cross were £695, £675 for the bulls and the best heifer, £640, before finishing their run with 4 British Friesian bulls, all between £410 and £340. The other black and whites on the day were from R & J Ledger, with 1-month-old bulls realising £295 and £290. Hickson Bros were the other large run of the day, with Blue bulls at £465, £405, £400 etc. Three Blue heifers from the same stable topping at £420 and their Wagyu cross Bulls making £335 and £300. Only two Aberdeen Angus cross this week, two bright-eyed heifers from P J Forknall reaching £525 and £470.
W G & T A Manford filling the weaned section this week with strong 7-month-old Blue bulls at £880, with a big 3-month-old at £730. Just the one heifer in this category, still from the same home, was a Sussex cross selling at £710.

Bull Calves
British Blue cross – 1 – Ave. £750.00 – Top £750.00 – T Castle & Son.
Limousin cross – 2 – Ave. £685.00 – Top £695.00 – T Castle & Son.
Wagyu cross – 2 – Ave. £317.50 – Top £335.00 – Hickson Bros.
British Friesian – 6 – Ave. £354.17 – Top £410.00 – T Castle & Son.
Other Dairy – 6 – Ave. £392.50 – Top £465.00 – Hickson Bros.

Heifer Calves
British Blue cross – 3 – Ave. £350.00 – Top £420.00 – Hickson Bros.
Limousin cross – 4 – Ave. £558.75 – Top £640.00 – T Castle & Son.
Aberdeen Angus cross – 2 – Ave. £497.50 – Top £525.00 – P J Forknall.

Bull Weanlings
British Blue cross – 4 – Ave. £842.50 – Top £880.00 – W G & T A Manford.

Heifer Weanlings
Sussex cross – 1 – Ave. £710.00 – Top £710.00 – W G & T A Manford.

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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