Ashford Market Report – Tuesday 19th December 2023

Sheep Sales Reports

Auctioneer: John Rossiter 07557 392903

New Season Lambs – 915 Sold

Top price per kg: 320p – A Denning
Top price per head: £145.00 – Patrick Smith

A smaller show of lambs this week which did help the trade to lift a little. Overall, quality was good with more dry sheep, which is the first time in several weeks! Top spots on the week were £145 and 320p kg from Patrick Smith and Andy Denning, respectively. Demand is there for lambs, but numbers will dictate, with the unfortunate situation of large amounts of NZ lamb on the shelves!  Flooding the market will only kill the good trade that we are seeing at the moment.

35kg – £112.00 (320p/kg) – A Denning
36kg – £105.00 (292p/kg) – P Ashlee
37kg – £115.00 (311p/kg) – P Ashlee
38kg – £113.00 (297p/kg) – H & J Noakes
39kg – £115.00 (295p/kg) – H & J Noakes
40kg – £117.00 (293p/kg) – P Ashlee
41kg – £126.00 (307p/kg) – Beslee Farms
42kg – £119.50 (285p/kg) – W & P New T/A Moorhouse Farm
43kg – £132.00 (307p/kg) – J Wayman
44kg – £131.50 (299p/kg) – J Wayman
45kg – £135.00 (300p/kg) – Beslee Farms
46kg – £130.00 (283p/kg) – T R Holt
47kg – £140.00 (298p/kg) – J Wayman
48kg – £145.00 (302p/kg) – Patrick Smith
49kg – £127.00 (259p/kg) – R & S L M Smith
50kg – £140.00 (280p/kg) – Tilley Farm Partnership
51kg – £144.00 (282p/kg) – J Wayman
52kg – £131.00 (252p/kg) – J Wayman
54kg – £120.00 (222p/kg) – P E Skinner
55kg – £141.00 (256/kg) – T R Holt
56kg – £138.00 (246/kg) – Beslee Farms
57kg – £142.00 (249/kg) – T R Holt

Averages (p/kg)

Standard 32.1 to 39 kgs – 118 – Top 320, Average 279.5
Medium 39.1 to 45.5 kgs – 375 – Top 307, Average 265.2
Heavy 45.6 to 52 kgs – 420 – Top 302, Average 265.1
Other 52.1+ kgs – 28 – Top 256, Average 247.0

Cull Sheep – 315 Sold

Auctioneer: John Rossiter 07557 392903

Ewe: Top £121.00 – Beslee Farms

A small entry and a good trade throughout with numbers looking tight for the next couple of weeks nationally. Best ewes are £100+, second rates are £80-100 and grazers from £40-70.

Top prices included

Suffolk cross to £117 – J Wayman, Texel cross to £121 – Beslee Farms, Cheviot cross to £106 – D Masters, Romney to £100 – Langrish Farmers, Crossbred to £99 – C B Hope, Charollais cross to £92 – P R & H R Vellacott, Mules to £88 – P R & H R Vellacott

Sales Report – Friday 15th December

Store sheep sale – 4,823 sold

Auctioneer: Elwyn Davies 07710803901

The largest December entry of store lambs for many years was well received with a strong trade for the middle and strong stores while smaller long term sorts looked relatively good value to keep until the Spring.
Forward stores to turn around quickly +/- £110, best stores £95 to £105 and only the small long term sorts below £70.
An in lamb Pedigree Charollais ewe, kindly donated by Simon Husk, and sold for charity – Kent, Sussex & Surrey Air Ambulance raised an amazing £5040 adding to the £7000 already raised from the Ashford Primestock Show. A big thank you to all those who made generous contributions.

Principal prices include:
Texel cross – £113.00 – A R Dunlop
Texel cross – £111.00 – W Pynn Contractors
Texel cross – £110.00 – Dylan Isaac
Texel cross – £107.00 – J R Lilley
Texel cross – £106.00 – Mrs L Bernard
Charollais cross – £109.00 – I Strang
Charollais cross – £104.50 – David Clark (Farms) Ltd
Charollais cross – £102.00 – L E Humphreys & Sons
Suffolk cross – £94.00 – E Morris & Son
Lleyn – £94.50 – E & J H Maylam
Romney wether – £103.00 – A R Dunlop
Romney wether – £99.50 – Wright Farm Partnership
Romney wether – £97.50 – H Metcalfe

Average Prices
Texel cross – 1,350 sold – Top £113.50 – Ave £80.75
Charollais cross – 1,231 sold – Top £109.00 – Ave £91.00
Suffolk cross – 353 sold – Top £94.00 – Ave £74.50
Crossbred – 661 sold – Top £102.00 – Ave £78.50
Romney wether – 1,176 sold – Top £103.00 – Ave £77.00
Breeding sheep
Romney ewes – 51 sold – Top £98.00 – Ave £85.00

1 Pedigree Charollais ewe for Charity raising £5,040.

Cattle Sales Reports

Finished Cattle –  23 Sold

Auctioneer:Peter Kingwill 07795 200357

A controlled entry of quality finished cattle Pre-Christmas met an excellent trade with supply and demand in harmony!
Quality beef bred types from W G Vant & Sons selling to 300p, £1782 for a Limousin heifer and 296p kg, £1758 for a Limousin steer.
Alan Down’s run of dairy bred cattle carried excellent finish throughout with Limousin x steers to 270p, £1800, British Blue x 268p, £1618, Hereford x steers to 256p, £1520 and British Friesian steers to 261p, £1433.
Native cattle with good finish sought after. Angus x steers to 265p, £1666; Angus x heifers to 259p, £1471; Sussex steers to 264p, £1621 all from W S Furnival Ltd.

Cattle will be wanted on Tuesday 2^nd January 2024

Top Steers

W G Vant & Sons – Limousin cross – 296p/kg (£1758)
A J Down – Limousin cross – 270p/kg (£1630)
A J Down – British Blue cross – 268p/kg (£1618)
A J Down – Limousin cross – 267p/kg (£1798)
A J Down – Limousin cross – 265p/kg (£1679)

Top Heifers

W G Vant & Sons – Limousin cross – 300p/kg (£1782)
G L Boulden & Sons – Blonde cross – 266p/kg (£1473)
W S Furnival Ltd – Aberdeen Angus cross – 259p/kg (£1383)
W S Furnival Ltd – Aberdeen Angus cross – 253p/kg (£1439)

Average Prices

Steers up to 550kg – 1 sold – Top 261p – Ave 261p
Steers over 551kg to 650kg – 14 sold – Top 296p – Ave 263p
Steers over 651kg – 2 sold – Top 267p – Ave 262p
Heifers 501 to 590kg – 4 sold – Top 266p – Ave 257p
Heifers over 591kg – 2 sold – Top 300p – Ave 276p

OTM Cattle and Cull Cows – 15 Sold

Auctioneer: Peter Kingwill 07795 200357

A small entry Pre-Christmas met a good enquiry for largely beef cows for feeding. A few younger fleshed Sussex well sold and certainly showing that meat will be wanted in the New Year.
Charolais x 183p, 169p, 162p, £1396, £1356, £1308 (Non FA) Seymour Stevens Ltd; Sussex 170p, 160p, £1005, £881 N A Balcomb & Son, 150p, £1047 (Non FA) J C & C Lewis; Saler x 145p, £903 (Non FA) Seymour Stevens Ltd.
Stock bulls (3) Charolais 134p, 112p, £1395, £1227; Saler 128p, £1128.
Please get your VAN number from your vet and include it on your entry form. It will make a difference on slaughter cows as many abattoirs have export outlets for cuts or quarters, even though their main trade is home based, and the logistics of operating a meat plant has just been made more complicated!

Beef Cows – 10 Sold – Top 183, Average 148

Store Cattle – 4 Sold

Auctioneer: Peter Kingwill 07795 200357

Just a handful of Pre-Christmas “Tidy-Ups”. A good Charolais cross heifer at £1180 with others to £845 & £820.

Calves – 53 sold

Auctioneer: Tom Hamplett 07966 104532

A bullish trade from the off, with many more calves needed, that can only be described as an insatiable demand! Vendors today have certainly seen Christmas come early!
Bulls off to a flying start with Blues to £395 and £380 from H O Champneys Ltd with J W Boyd & Sons Ltd not far behind with £365 and £340 tops, with an average of £308. An absolute flyer for Angus bulls with tops of £360 from J W Boyd & Sons Ltd, £350 from Goddard & Son and J Warnock & Sons (x2), all in averages of £319! A single Hereford from Goddard & Son topped at £340 with Sussex bulls from J Warnock & Sons to £200.
Heifer calves as well sought after as the bulls with Blues to £315 from J W Boyd & Sons Ltd, tremendous Simmentals from H O Champneys Ltd to £310. Angus heifers well sold to £190 from J W Warnock & Sons and £150 from P J Forknall. A couple of Herefords from Goddard & Son well in demand to £210.
Dairy bulls in plenty of demand with tops of £220 for Norwegian Reds from D Murdoch & Sons with younger Friesians to £145 from the same home. Stronger Holsteins from J Warnock & Sons well in demand and topping at £250. Bobbies generally £10 -£30 depending on size and shape.
And finally, a big thank you to all buyers, vendors, and staff for their business and hard work in 2023. I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and prosperous New year, we look forward to welcoming you back on Tuesday 2^nd January 2024 for the first calf sale of the year.

Bull Calves
British Blue cross – 8 – Ave £308.13 – Top £395 – H O Champneys Ltd
Norwegian Red cross – 3 – Ave £141.67 – Top £220 – D Murdoch & Sons
Holstein Friesian – 11 – Ave £61.73 – Top £250 – J Warnock & Sons
British Friesian cross – 1 – Ave £145.00 – Top £145 – D Murdoch & Sons
Hereford cross – 1 – Ave £340.00 – Top £340 – Goddard & Son
Aberdeen Angus cross – 7 – Ave £319.29 – Top £360 – J W Boyd & Sons Ltd
Sussex cross – 2 – Ave £165.00 – Top £200 – J Warnock & Sons

Heifer Calves
British Blue cross – 3 – Ave £155.67 – Top £315 – J W Boyd & Sons Ltd
Simmental cross – 2 – Ave £310.00 – Top £310 – H O Champneys Ltd
Hereford cross – 3 – Ave £180.00 – Top £210 – Goddard & Son
Aberdeen Angus cross – 12 – Ave £130.42 – Top £190 – J Warnock & Sons

Ashford Primestock Show

4^th & 5^th December 2023

Championships

Cattle – Judge Mr Paul Humphrey
Show Champion Beast – Mr S Marsh.
British Blue cross heifer making 425p per kg (£2,441) to Mr S Husk.
Reserve Champion Beast -Mr S Marsh.
Limousin cross heifer making 390p per kg (£2,512) to Romford Meats.
Champion YFC Beast – Snowfield Academy YFC.
Limousin cross steer making 335p per kg (£2,057) to Romford Meats.
Champion penned cattle – W S Furnival Ltd
A pair of Limousin heifers making 290p and 280p per kg (£1,780 and £1,635) to Trigger Direct Ltd and Hartshead Meats Ltd.
Best Sussex went to Cobtree YFC

Lamb – Judge Mr Chris Sargent
Show Champion lambs – Mr A Town.
A pair of Beltex at 48kg made £290 to Mr S Husk.
Reserve Champion lambs – Mr A Town
A pair of Beltex at 56kg made £210 to Mr Brian Wilson.
Best YFC pair of Native lambs to W Bull – Ashford YFC at 46kg making £130 to Mr Alex Lennox. Best YFC pair of Continental lambs to Snowfield Academy YFC at 51kg making £146 to Mr Alex Lennox.

Pigs – Judge Mr Andrew Laver
Champion Pig – Snowfield Academy YFC.
Pietrain cross making 360p per kg (£266) to GHE (Lydden).
Reserve Champion Pig – Snowfield Academy YFC
A pair of Pietrain cross making 280p per kg (£196) to Mr Andrew Laver.

The first Primestock show held and run by Hobbs Parker Auctioneers LLP has concluded very well with 55 classes entered with 54 cattle, 130 pairs of lambs, 12 pens of 5 commercial lambs, and 15 pigs.
We saw 27 young handlers forward, ranging in age from 10 years to 17years parading their sheep and cattle with the upmost pride. Judges were impressed and found them challenging sections to judge.
Deadstock classes were also well supported with no less than 11 different varieties of potatoes forward, 19 entries of corn, seeds & pulses and 4 bales of hay.
40 individual wool entries over 4 classes with a Champion Fleece beginning awarded to J Saunders and Son, Reserve Champion fleece from SG & GT Orpin, both with Romney fleeces.
The family members competition once again saw a good entry of decorated Christmas cakes to be auctioned, for the show charity, the Kent, Sussex and Surrey Air Ambulance, which raised an impressive £3690 on the night.
Hobbs Parker Auctioneers would like to thank everyone that was involved in the putting together and running of the show, to all the Judges, stewards and market staff for their hand on roles and duties, to the huge amount of external help and support from all our Sponsors without whose support these shows, and events, would not exist.
The Show dinner was held on Wednesday 6^th December to a company of 238 people with a traditional beef dinner at the Ashford International Hotel. President Elwyn Davis was proud to host the evening.
A further £2,523 was raised for the Kent, Sussex and Surry Air Ambulance from a collection at the dinner.
The Champion cattle, sheep and pig trophies were awarded at the dinner, along with the summer crop competition trophies which has been successfully ran by Mr Tim Porter.

Forthcoming Auctions

Tuesday Livestock – 2nd January 2024

Regular Weekly Market with a sale of Store and Breeding Cattle

For our Auction Calendar and Catalogues click here