Weekly Sales News – 17th November 2020

Auctioneer: Elwyn Davies 07710 803901

Top price per head – £99.00 – P & G & J Carden: Top price per kilo – 224p – P Ashlee

Report on trade: A very disappointing show of finished lambs both in number and quality sold at recent levels to average 204.5p per kg overall. Smart handyweights attracted prices around 220p with 38kg Beltex cross topping the market at £85 (224p) from P Ashlee while the best heavyweights grossed up to £99 from P & G & J Carden.

More fleshed lambs required to satisfy requirements of current buyers. Important to contact us regarding numbers so that we can notify the buyers.

Auctioneer: Elwyn Davies 07710 803901

Report on trade: A very mixed show of ewes with better fleshed sorts in excess of £70 and the best sorts for grazing looking relatively well sold in the £55 to £60 bracket. A heavy Wensleydale ram topped at £82 from Canterbury Oast Trust while crossbred ewes topped at £77 from R F & E A Simmons and G & A Wood, Romneys to £69 from Langrish Farmers and Mules to £66 from P Taylor.

Report on trade: A strong trade continues for store lambs with 500 on offer topping at £85 for a pen of Texel cross from G W Fuller & Son and an overall average of £72 for a very average quality show.

Other top prices included Texel crosses to £78.50 from A Rhodes, £78 from A Kinnear and £76.50 from R J Adams with Suffolk crosses £76 from R P, G J & D R O’Brien and Romney wethers to £74.50 from E J & A I Fenton.

Only very small long-term keeping lambs below £70.

Please contact if you have store lambs to sell over the forthcoming weeks.  We still plan to hold a final Friday sale on the 11^th December

Auctioneer: Peter Kingwill 07795 200357

Report on trade: This was a very sharp trade indeed and more cattle wanted in coming weeks to satisfy Christmas demand. Some very good cattle were on offer and a great credit to south east producers. Buyers were keen for all grades and competition intense from start to finish.

Best beef bred Limousin steers sold to 230p and 225p (2) from L Smith grossing up to £1529 and £1526. Not far behind was the regular quality entry from W Alexander (Shoreham) selling to 226p £1410 whilst non assured Sussex steers from J M & S M Ogilvy sold very well to199p £1141. Amongst the dairy bred cattle Limousin cross sold to 213p £1306, British Blue to 206p £1192 and Hereford cross to 199p £1203 all from A J Down. Non assured Aberdeen Angus x Friesians from Mrs A Farris made to 195p £1148 with black and white steers from G J Reynolds to 157p £1049.

The run of heifers this week could have graced any primestock show and the fact that the lowest priced heifer this week was 214p speaks volumes.! D W Ferguson Ltd topped the day with British Blue heifers at 245p and 243p £1297 and £1271 just ahead of W S Furnival (Brookland) with Blondes to 244p £1388 and Limousin to 240p £1273. Limousin from G L Boulden & Sons to 236p £1271.

A very good trade for very good cattle. Many thanks.

Report on trade: Tremendous numbers, a ring full of buyers and another very strong competitive trade with the keeping cattle again the trade of the day though the slaughter stock were also a little firmer overall. Our comments of recent weeks remain true to form –  cows for processing will strengthen once the prime Christmas beef work is largely done and retailers focus on the New Year. Finishers are keen to secure feeding cows as the processing market, assisted by Covid home catering routines, is strong and will remain so during the New Year.

Best assured meat cows made 130p to 150p per kg with a smart Grey Limousin cross to 155p £1174 E Chantler & Sons. Fleshed Sussex to 133p £920 H W Richards with non assured Sussex to 125p 123p 119p £817 I Strang and 114p £959 J M & S M Ogilvy. Fleshed Hereford cross and Aberdeen Angus cross, again non assured, made 115p to 118p £870 F Pearce & Sons.

Another big show of keeping cows with demand fully maintained included a run of scanned empty Sussex cows from the Bowes Lyon Estate making up to 170p (2) with plenty 130p to 150p. Also South Devon cross 148p £1003 Burden Bros and Limousin cross 148p 141p 137p 135p (2) £1096 Burden Bros; Limousin cross128p (Non assured) J H & A H Godden; Simmental cross 125p (Non assured) Mrs C K Alexander and Aberdeen Angus cross 124p (Non assured) P Parks.

Not a big show of dairy this week and whilst not all can be kept to December/January these black and whites will turn a corner shortly. Few very best on offer but selling to 111p for British Friesian from B J Goodsell & Son with Ayrshires got to 98p 96p J Howie.

Bulls to 100p but nothing of real quality.

Strong overage steers and heifers were a marvellous trade. Some continental steers over thirty months to 196p 184p 172p R W Jones & Son; Simmental heifers (3 yrs +) (Non assured) 144p 137p £1092 T Avon and British Friesian steers (4 yrs +) 124p.

Report on trade: The possibly last big entry of stores for the year comprised a relatively large percentage of younger native bred cattle with few continental crosses on offer. Again, many producers opting to sell the younger weaned calves now as opposed to next spring due to the cost of straw and limited supplies of feed.

Trade held firm throughout with the best of the native bred youngsters attracting bids of £600 plus and up to £705 for quality 8 mths Aberdeen Angus cross steers from Gallagher Farms while stronger 18 mths Aberdeen Angus cross steers sold at £845 from R M Vidler.

A small selection of continental crosses on offer with quality runs from P J S Farms Ltd and Beaute Agri taking the pick of the trade notably 16-18 mths smart Limousin cross heifers selling at £875 and £840. Stronger aged cattle to finish short term made in excess of £1000 and up to £1190 for 22 mth Simmental cross steers from T Avon.

Report on trade: A handful of in-calf cows forward from G Drewett this week. All were 3-4 mths in calf and TB Low selling to a high of £860 for a pair of 2016 born Hereford cross cows with an overall average of £805.55.

Report on trade: The ups and downs of pig marketing!! This was a difficult week for sellers who brought a large entry of good pigs to Ashford for sale. Buyers were short of orders but still did their best to pay a fair price on the day. Returns were however back again from levels we have seen in the last few months. Culls were a little better after a prolonged period of very low returns and stores look reasonably well sold.

The best finished pigs were 80p to 111p per kg, grossing to £109 for a pen of 98kg from D Pope. Other top calls were 98p and £82 for S Scott & Son and 84p and £75 for N Dance. 45p to 78p covered the rest of the pigs on offer.

5 Cull sows and 1 boar and three individual bidders were the story today for these pigs. Sows made 29p to 32p with one grossing over £100.

4 Pens of stores penned, and middle weights made £45 and youngsters £18 to £20.

Next pig sales – 1^st and 15^th December with stores being sold immediately following the finished and cull at 9am.

Please note if you don’t wash out at Ashford

Drivers of vehicles leaving Ashford empty without cleansing and disinfecting MUST complete a declaration form obtainable from the Market Office.

You must then cleanse and disinfect as soon as possible and within 24 hours, or before using again for livestock.

This is a LEGAL responsibility and are subject to checks by Local Authority Animal Health and Welfare Officers

Bovine TB Test Dates

It is very important that the date (first part of test) is recorded on cattle entry forms for all cattle sold from TB1holdings. Any recent whole herd test dates from TB4 holdings must also be recorded. This information is critical to purchasers who may be required to test animals again and who will wish to avoid the risk of a false positive by testing again within the 60-day period.

Please advise of test dates when making cattle entries for cataloguing from TB! Holdings.

Heathfield Show News

The Council members of the Heathfield & District Agricultural Show Society have

unanimously decided, after much discussion, and with much regret, to cancel the

Heathfield Show scheduled for 29th May 2021. This is due to the uncertainties

surrounding the organisation of an event whilst the Coronavirus (Covid-19) may still

be active in the community.

South East Farmer and Farm Machinery magazines

The December edition of this popular regional farming magazine is now available here in the market. Hobbs Parker is a regular contributor to the editorial content.

In addition, our Property Consultants Outlook for Winter 2020 is included with this month’s publication and again are available here in the market.

Miscellaneous livestock and general goods and services for sale and wanted ex farm

For Sale – Collie dog puppies, ready to go – East Kent. Ring 07885 968077

Wanted – a farmworker on a local beef, sheep and arable farm. Ring 07774408059 for details

Wanted – Experienced stock person required. Supervising & training residents at HMP East Sutton Park. Full Job specification and application on Ministry of Justice jobs website.

Call Chris for more info 07968908641

For Sale – 9 Holstein x Friesian heifers, 24mths and in calf to an Aberdeen Angus bull – East Kent. Ring Peter Kingwill on 07795 200357

For Sale – ready for work Limousin bull. East Sussex. Ring Mark Cleverdon for details 07741 845230