Weekly Sales News – 21st March 2017

Top price per kg – 215p – J Cox; Top price per head – £113 – N Balcomb & Son

Report on trade: A similar sized entry this week met a trade that would generally be comparable to last week. The medium weight sheep were a little dearer with heavier sorts selling at similar levels to last week. More heavy sheep have been marketed nationally with the larger finishers in the midlands beginning to sell. 15% more heavy sheep sold nationally on Monday in comparison to the previous week.

Best continental cross hoggets sold to 215p per kg for some super Beltexs from J Cox, closely followed by A Denning at 206p. Heavy hoggets generally traded between £77 and £82 with a top price of £113 for some very heavy ram hoggets from N Balcomb & Son.

Producers please note – For top results please present well fleshed lambs which are preferably dry and clean. Lairage facilities are available every Monday evening.

Sheep sales here in Ashford are supported by buyers representing a large cross section of abattoirs throughout the country. Please ensure your FABBL status is up to date and if you are not FABBL assured seriously consider becoming so – certain buyers are restricted to the purchase of only farm assured stock.

Report on trade: A similar trade to last week here with a very mixed entry on offer with all sorts in the pens from the leanest to the strongest. The entry was at the expected level for the time of year with the lambing season beginning to get into full swing across the county. Some very strong ewes from N Balcomb & Son sold to £93 and leaner grazing sorts traded between £35 and £55 with only some poor sorts and very long term grazers below this figure.

Top prices included continental ewes to £93 from N Balcomb & Son, Suffolk crosses to £84 from D Moss, Mules to £69.50 from M Woodruffe and Romneys to £69 from D Beadle

Report on trade: Another strong trade with best stores in excess of £60 and only very small long term sorts below £50. A few near full fleshed hoggets topped at £80 from V J Anstey while Texel cross stores sold to £65 from P Tassell, Charollais crosses to £63 from J S Rye and Suffolk crosses £60.50 from C Moss & Sons.

If you have store hoggets to sell please enter up now while trade is strong and buyers will have time to finish before the end of the season. Averages: Top £80 and aver £53.23.

Report on trade: An entry of 34 lambs sold readily to average £18.67 with the best, but still young sorts, readily making over £20 to a top call of £30.Only 2 made below £10.

A consignment of 6 wether goat kids made from £14 to 34.

Report on trade: An increased number of finished cattle met a similar strong trade to recent weeks with the best butcher type cattle making in excess of 200p per kg and commercial sorts generally making from 175p to 190p. A smart Blonde cross heifer topped at £1182 (214p) from G L Boulden & Sons, a Limousin cross heifer £1146 (209p) from W Alexander (Shoreham) and a Limousin cross steer to £1177 (207p) from M J Ashworth. A large consignment from Gillshaw Farms Ltd sold well with the best topping at £1326 (203p) for a Limousin cross steer.

Over 30mths cattle made up to £1124 (160p) for a British blue cross steer from Gillshaw Farms Ltd.

Report on trade: Tight supplies in our pens this week and no sign of that position changing for some little while yet. The requirement on the Dutch dairy herd to reduce cow numbers substantially in order to satisfy EU nitrate rules is a cloud on the horizon but the short-term remains positive. Grazing men are keen to secure stock for early turn out, processing meat is nowhere to be found and meat cows are in very short supply.

Very few best beef cows but those present still readily made 130-150p. Competition was fierce throughout with British Blues to 157p and £1182 (Non FA) from M L Williams, 128p K & P M Sinden & Son and 128p (Non FA) A J Britton; Simmental 140p W Hurley and 137p £1030 P R Hayes; Sussex 142p £877 Chandler & Dunn, 138p J Tapley, 132p C Greenland £862 (Non FA), 132p A J Thompson & Sons, 132p Piper Farms and 128p from M Banham.

Tight supplies in the dairy culls as well and all grades a famous trade with lean steakers looking very well sold indeed. Holstein cows 128p, 125p, 124p and £1071 from W S Furnival, 127p A J Thompson & Sons and  123p £998 W F Farms. Jerseys 98p and £521 from Hickson Bros.

A Sussex bull made 110p and £964.

A run of overage Holstein steers up to 55 months sold well 140p, 136p, 134p, 133p, 132p(2) £1177, £1162, £1031, £1015 frm R W Jones & Son.

More wanted, please!

Store Cattle – 404 Sold

Auctioneer: Elwyn Davies 07710 803901

Report on trade: Another quality show of store cattle this week comprised a big percentage of single suckled 12-15mth continental cross beef cattle. The catalogue attracted a lot of interest with several specialist finishing men from the Eastern counties in attendance competing well with the regular local interest ensuring competitive returns throughout.

A pen of exceptional yearling Limousin cross steers topped at £1050 from L Smith while large runs from M A Piper & Son and P N & C Burden selling very well with steers mainly in the £900 to £1000 bracket and heifers £800 to £900. The best of the older cattle to feed short term attracted prices in excess of £1000 and up to £1095 for a Limousin cross steer from N Gould.

The few Aberdeen Angus cross stores on offer sold very well with buyers in attendance feeding cattle for the Aberdeen Angus schemes with premium available for those sired by a registered bull. The best of the yearlings topped at £835 for a few smart steers from R Carr Ptnrs and stronger sorts up to £955 from Barfrestone Court Farm.

A couple of pens of quality Sussex steers sold well up to £910 for 20mths old from R Horsman.

Principal prices not mentioned above included:                                                       

Vendors are reminded that store heifers are sold warranted empty – a warranty that lasts 6 months. If you have any concerns over this status, whether it be from a rig steer or the bull still running, please take the appropriate veterinary action or, at the very least, mention it to the auctioneers prior to sale.

Heifers as young as 14 months, trying to calve, is certainly best avoided!!

Auctioneer: Elwyn Davies 07710 803901

Report on trade: An in calf (due May) British Blue x Friesian heifer, not the biggest, made £850 from M W Goddard.

Auctioneers: Peter Kingwill 07795 200357 and John Rossiter

Report on trade: Just south of Guildford can not have enjoyed finer weather than in this March and this was richly deserved by Trevor and Karen Telling who had taken the difficult decision to retire from farming and disperse their entire range of implements and machinery, having previously sold their breeding flock of Lleyn ewes last autumn and their outwintered Aberdeen Angus and Hereford store cattle this spring both at Ashford Market.

The crowd at the farm sale was huge drawn together by an attractive catalogue of well maintained equipment. Tractors, haymaking equipment, general farm implements and the full range of livestock handling equipment could not have been presented in better condition.

A very strong local turnout was complemented by buyers from throughout the South of England and several from across the Irish Sea. Prices achieved were excellent from start to finish. Well maintained, and regularly serviced by Elliots of Dunsford was the secret to success as many farmers competed for good machinery with many years of work still to be obtained. The sale was opened to extra included lots from neighbours and the strong competition continued in this section.

Prices achieved included for the Tellings lots included:- Ridley Rappa mobile sheep handling trailer unit – £5,300; Richie combi clamp with weighing unit and drafting gates – £2,000; Claas Variant 360 round baler – £9,300; Lely Welgar conventional baler & camera system – £13,600; Cooks flat 8 bale sledge – £1,850; Lawrence Edwards round bale wrapper – £2,000; Kuhn hay tedder – £5,200

Kuhn master drive rowing up rake – £4,350; Kuhn mower with lift control – £3,900; Kuhn 3m flail topper – £2,150; Browns 56 bale carrier – £2,700; Quantock hydraulic post thumper – £1,650; McConnell PA34 hedge cutter – £1,200; Polaris Ranger with canopy – £6,000; Kverneland 4 furrow reversible plough – £1,250; Opico 20’ hydraulic folding tined grass harrows – £2,050; Dalbo hydraulic fold 6m Cambridge ring rolls – £3,200 Kuhn 3m power harrow – £4,550; Hardi mounted crop sprayer – £2,100; Kuhn Fertiliser spreader – £1,700

Bale wrapper – £3,100; Warwick 8 tonne grain trailer – £3,000; Ifor Williams livestock trailer – £2,300; Warwick tandem axle 25’ bale trailer – £4,500; Claas Axion 4wd tractor – £25,100 and the John Deere 6310 tractor – £16,150

Prices for local farmer included lots  – Kubota compact tractor – £2,200; Restored Fordson Power Major – £2,500; Claas 4wd tractor – £8,800; John Deere gator – £7,000; New Holland 4wd tractor – £23,000; John Deere 4wd tractor & loader – £7,500; Norton box trailer – £1,700; AW twin axle bale trailer – £3,550; Taarup trailed forager – £4,500; New Holland square baler – £2,300; Claas rollant baler – £5,500; John Deere conventional baler – £1,000; Fraser MuckMaster spreader – £1,050; Major offset trailed topper – £1,100; Claas Volto 4 rota tedder – £2,800; Parmiter round bale unroller – £1,100; Kuhn mower – £3,100; Marshall vacuum tanker – £1,250; Cattle crush – £1,000 and Parmiter disc harrows – £1,650.

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Lairage bookings for Monday and Thursday evenings

Please ring David Martin on 07860 114650 to confirm when you are delivering stock to the market for overnight lairage.

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DEFRA and our Local Authority trading standards officers regularly remind us of our responsibilities regarding unfit animals. No unfit animal should be exposed for sale in a market.

We have been reminded by the Local Authority that it is against current Welfare and Market Regulations to move stock to market, or any other holding, in the final stages of pregnancy (final 4 weeks). Please be careful with dates on breeding stock and cull stock that might turn out to be in lamb or in calf.

All animals should be fit to travel. All in milk cows should to be milked out prior to movement to market. Do not present lame sheep or those, for any reason, which are not fit to be transported.

Thanks for your attention to these matters.

Livestock entry forms, FCI declarations and movement licences

It is essential that these forms are fully completed for every consignment of stock brought to the market. Please help us to provide you with the high level of service you expect from us by getting this right.

It is a legal requirement that entry form and food chain declarations are competed correctly.

We regularly notice that the information is missing from forms. Please can you ensure that all information is completed in future.

It would be very useful to market staff and thereby help with the speed of processing your stock, if a few further simple rules were followed on entry forms particularly for larger entries.

1. Steers and heifers are listed separately.
2. Passports are presented in numerical order.

3.Breeds are listed separately – for example Aberdeen Angus away from Limousin

South East Point to Point Meetings (www.pointingse.com)

Updated 14^th March 2017 

The fixture list for the season has been circulated with this report recently. Further copies are available here in the market

Sunday 26^th March – Old Surrey, Burstow and West Kent; Penshurst, Kent – 1.30pm

Sunday 9^th April – Southdown & Eridge; Godstone, Surrey. RH9 8DB at 2.15pm

Saturday 15^th April – Ashford Valley; Charing, Kent. TN27 0JS – 2pm

Monday 17^th April – East Kent: Aldington, Kent. TN25 7EJ – 2pm.

Saturday 22^nd April – Old Surrey, Burstow and West Kent; Penshurst, Kent. TN8 7DD – 2pm

Saturday 29^th April – Chiddingfold, Leconfield and Cowdray; Parham, West Sussex. RH20 2ER – 2pm

Hay, Straw and fodder

Updated 14^th March 2017

For Sale – Large quantities of hay. Ring 07860 623196.

For Sale – Large quantity Quadrant rectangular bales of 2016 season made threshed ryegrass hay. Good quality. Romney Marsh. Ring 07885703458

For Sale – Large quantities of 2016 made and gathered organic hay, haylage and silage. Buckhurst Park, East Sussex. Ring 01892 770220 or email: office@buckhurstpark.co.uk

For Sale – 100 Mini Hesston 4 string bales of oat straw, 60 Mini Hesston 4 string and 200 4’ round bales of exceptional hay. Transport can be arranged get at cost. East Sussex. Ring 01580 819000 or 07768 771933

For Sale – 157 Massey Ferguson 8’ x 4’ 6 string bales of 2016 season gathered winter barley straw, stored dry. East Kent. Ring 07703 130575

For Sale – 2000 Conventional bales of 2016 season made meadow hay. East Kent. Ring 07885 305520.

For Sale – 150 Claas Quadrant 2016 season gathered winter barley straw, stored dry. Ashford area. Ring 07850 789113.

For Sale – upto 500 Conventional bales of 2016 season made hay. West Kent. Ring 07905 269113.

For Sale – 200 Round bales of 2016 season made meadow hay. Maidstone area. Ring 07813 741636

For Sale – 50 Round wrapped bales of 2016 season made haylage from organically farmed grassland. Mid Kent. Ring 01233 756468.

For Sale – 500 bales of 5` long mini Hesston bales of July 2016 meadow grass haylage with delivery available at cost. Chiddingfold, Surrey. Ring 01428 654695 or 07966 452256.

For Sale – 300 to 400 wrapped 4 string bales of 2016 season haylage and 50 7’ long 6 string bales of meadow hay. Kent / Sussex borders. Ring 07773 384271 or 07973 634519.

To advertise your stocks in this section please speak to Mark Cleverdon or Adam Leonard for details of our very reasonable charges

RABI, FCN, Kent Herdsmans, Ashford Cattle Show and YFC Club news

Updated 7^th March 2017

Fund raising events over the next few months include:

Clay Pigeon Shoot – Friday 31^st March. West Kent Shooting School, Brenchley. TN12 7DG. 70 bird R.A.B.I Charity shoot. Ring Sally Field 01903 882741 or Charles Tassell 01622 858733. £75

Beef Dinner, British Beef Week – Saturday 22^nd April. London Beach Hotel, Tenterden. TN30 6HX. Limited to 100 tickets. Ring David Chantler 01622 850207

Kart Racing – April or May, date TBC. Buckmore Park. Ring Charles Tassell 01622 858733

Elmley Bird Sanctuary private tour and barbeque  – Sunday 14^th May. Emley, Isle of Sheppey. ME12 3RW. Ring Roger Pickard 01227 832045 for full details

Watch this space for details of more events next week and ongoing

Kent Herdsmans Club

Monday 10th April at 7.30pm – visit to Ovenden Tipper Services, Eythorne, Dover. CT15 4ND

For all details on Herdsman’s Club events contact Chairman Alan Jull 01304 852991 or Jo Masters 01580 240568

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Kent Wool Growers wool sheet distribution

Wool sheets will be available between 10am and 3 pm on Tuesdays 4^th and 11^th April. Further information is available from the Wool desk on 01233 648052

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Jon Chapman – Marathon man !!

Come Sunday April 23^rd our Jon will not be on his rostrum selling cars (or even in church!) because he has entered himself for the London Marathon.  As well as proving to himself, and all of us, how fit he is he will be raising money for Meningitis Research Foundation. Sponsorship forms to complete are available here in the market.

We all wish him well and look forward to hearing he has completed the course in a respectable time (for his age!)

Hobbs Parker Auctioneers and Car Auctions

run over 200 auction sales every year

Our next Auction Sales are ……

Commercial Vehicles

Thursday 6^th April at 3.00pm

Commercial vehicle sale

Land & Property

Wednesday 29^th March

Please contact James Hickman for more details

Pedigree Sussex Spring Show & Sale

Friday 7^th April

This is the Sussex Cattle Societies sale of breeding bulls and females

Horse & Saddlery Sale

Thursday 13^th April at 10am

Catalogues will be available about a week before the sale.

Entries expected of riding ponies, event horses and youngstock

New & nearly new saddlery & tack, grooming kit, yard equipment, rugs, harness Riding boots, show jackets, jodhpurs, body protectors, yard clothing & boots

Collective Machinery & Equipment sale

Friday 21^st April at 9.30am.

Catalogues will be available about a week before the sale.

Lots will include new & newly near mowers & garden machinery. New tools, farm & agricultural equipment, timber plus large selection of miscellaneous items.

Shenley Farm Machinery sale

Saturday 13^th May at 9.30am

Large entries of tractors, trailers, vehicles, arable equipment, haymaking equipment, tractor attachments & spares, livestock kit, garden machinery, workshop tools and a large and varied selection of rural bygones are expected

Local Agricultural Show News

Updated 21^st March 2017

Show launches new web page and on line entry system for 2017 Show for their event on Saturday 27th May at Tottingworth Farm, Broad Oak, Heathfield, East Sussex.

The Heathfield & District Agricultural Show’s new on line booking facility for 2017 is now up and running on its web site (www.heathfieldshow.org) for all livestock and horse entries.  The web site continues to be fully interactive allowing exhibitors to enter their classes, visitors to purchase tickets and members to join, on line.

Additionally, copies of schedules can be downloaded for all the classes be it Cattle, Sheep, Pigs or Horses, the Flower Show or Vintage Tractors.  All the information regarding these competitions are available on our web page and entry forms can also be downloaded to make paper entries if you prefer. The closing date for entries is 1st April for cattle, sheep and pig classes and 11th April for horse classes.   Please make sure your entries will be received at the relevant Section Secretary’s office by this date.

If you would like a hard copy of the Schedule please send an sae with a 1st or 2nd class stamp to the Show Secretary, Grants Cottage, Brightling, Robertsbridge, East Sussex TN32 5HZ and we will post one out to you.

The agricultural community around the Weald continue to suffer from bio security problems but we are hopeful that in 2017 we have made provisions to enable exhibitors to take part in the Show whilst adhering to all the restrictions.

The New Enterprise Zone competition is also accepting applications for free trade stand space.  New businesses who have been trading for less than a year can enter the competition.  All entrants will be invited to give a short presentation to the judging panel on why they think they deserve to win.  An on line application form is available on the Show web site.  This is a fantastic opportunity, please encourage people to enter.

The Country Ways area will be full of local artisans demonstrating their skills including a wheel wright, spinner, bee keeper and blacksmiths.  With the WI marquee being run by the Heffle Group and the Farmers’ Market selling all local produce and the Made in the Weald craft fair there will a huge demonstration of the produce of f our beautiful Wealden countryside.

The main ring attraction will once more be a show stopping event.  The Monster Trucks will be ripping apart cars in the main ring and Human Tractor pulling also being a feature of the day there will be lots to see and do on Show day.

Show schedules are also available here in the market for the South of England at Ardingley, West Sussex

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Hobbs Parker Car Auctions next special sale is their Spring bank Holiday extravaganza sale for all classes of vehicles on Monday 1^st May – well over 500 vehicles will be offered