Weekly Sales News – 26th May 2020

Top price per kilo – 282p – D Isaac; Top price per head – £118 – Miss K Tucker

Report on trade: Over 1,000 new season lambs penned this week for the first time this season and they have now fully taken the place of the hoggets for mainstream supply of lamb in the trade. Best lambs and the heavier lambs were a stand on trade from last week with many making in excess of 250p per kg to top price of 282p from D Isaac once again, topping the market now two weeks running. Another pen of note was some superb 43kg Charollais lambs at £117 from Miss K Tucker. Heavier offerings from T Masters really rung the bell with just under 200 lambs selling to average over £112.

Another very mixed entry of hoggets saw all sorts on offer and about 800 penned in total. Once again the best sold exceptionally well providing they are good meat and have no erupted teeth. Best meated heavy hoggets sold to £116.50 form T Husk and many more of these category made over £110. Hoggets with erupted teeth sold from £70 to £85.

It would be greatly appreciated if you could “help us to help you” by arriving earlier to assist with appropriate sorting and penning of sheep. Lairage facilities are available from 2 to 6pm every Monday and we can accept stock from 6am every Tuesday.

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 small entry this week as we had more than anticipated last week. Today did also follow the end of the Muslim festival of Ramadan which did not help the trade for the meated ewes but best ewes still sold to £80. Grazers were selling from £45 to £65.

Top prices included Suffolk crosses to £80 from D Isaac, Texel crosses to £90 from J Hooker & Son, Charollais to £100 from G Tucker and Romneys to £70 from D Wimble.

Report on trade: Again best cattle were making in excess of 190p per kg with a smart Limousin cross heifer topping the market at £1127 (200p) and cattle with weight grossing well up to £1269 (190p) from W Alexander (Shoreham). A run of well fleshed handyweight heifers from A J Thompson & Sons looked well sold making from 184p to 189p with an Aberdeen Angus cross at £970 (185p) and Simmental cross up to £1003 (188p) while a heavyweight Blonde cross steer grossed £1134 (175p) from G L Boulden & Sons.

This was a disappointingly small entry and more handyweight butcher type cattle could be sold at similar prices.

Auctioneer: Elwyn Davies 07710 803901

Report on trade: An increased entry of cull cows met another exceptional trade with 11 individual buyers competing strongly for all on offer. Beef cows topped at £1151 (155p) for a Limousin cross from L Smith and dairy Friesians made to £1059 (146p) from Oncoland Ltd. The sale produced favourable averages of 127.6p for beef cows and 114.7p for dairy cattle – these are seriously competitive prices and more could be sold at very favourable returns.

Top prices include for beef cows Charolais £1318 (154p) B A & P T Heath; Limousin cross £1100 (125p) Burden Bros and £1151 (155p) L Smith; Charolais cross £1060 (144p) Burden Bros; Lincoln Red £1047 (146p) A W Vincent and Aberdeen Angus £1018 (146p) M A & F W Owen.

For dairy cows Friesians made £1132 (133p), £1096 (135p) Oncoland Ltd, £1064 (137p) W F Farms and £1040 (133p) P J Forknall; Guernsey £1068 (130p) W G & T A Manford and Ayrshire £917 (126p) J Howie.

Bulls sold included Limousin £1397 (138p) Burden Bros; Aberdeen Angus £1374 (115p) Burden Bros and Simmental £1283 (112p) P C Coleman.

Report on trade: Although the entry of stores was a very mixed selection this was a very decent entry for the time of year.

The sale was well attended and buyers competed for the range of cattle on offer with smart continental cross yearlings topping at £985 for Blonde cross steers from M A Piper & Son Farms while stronger sorts sold in excess of £1000 notably up to £1085 for Limousin cross steers from A J Strand & Sons.

A run of top quality purebred Sussex heifers attracted interest for breeding and sold exceptionally well at £1120, £1070 and £930 from J C & C Lewis.

Report on trade: This second sale of the season saw more cattle penned and plenty of customers (all carefully “socially distancing”) looking to buy cattle to graze and particularly youngsters to breed. Several herd dispersals and major reductions were a feature of the female sale and well received.

Bulls sold first with A J Britton’s 2 young, and worked, Limousins making £970 and £1,000 and an older South Devon £1180. Strong demand for females saw Southwood Farm’s young Hereford cows and calves make to £1,180 (5 averaging £1074); R Fiddler’s dispersal of Sussex and Lincoln Red cows and South Devon cross calves make to £902.70 and incalf cows to £780; F S Husk sold a 2013 born Limousin cow and calf for £1200; Mrs  L M Howard sold hard working cows with Charolais calves to £1,000 and then £960 and £900; Boty Farms top call of £1350 for a strong Aberdeen Angus x Friesian heifers and strong November born calf and the Brightling families offerings making £1,300 and £1,280 for British Blue and Aberdeen Angus cross cows with calves from P G & N L and Mr & Mrs R & J Brightling respectively.

33 couples averaged £985.

Report on trade: A smaller entry than usual but still vendors were rewarded with a strong trade.

Some fantastic quality calves on offer in the continental section. A small but quality entry of Bulls sold to £300 with top honours being shared between Wanstall Farms with a suckler bred Blonde cross and W S Furnival Ltd with a dairy cross Limousin. Wanstall Farms again topped the heifer section with a Blonde cross to £290 while other heifers were a little easier on the week but still a firm enough trade.

Only one native calf was on offer this week which was a Sussex bull from W G & T A Manford selling for £70.

Dairy sired calves remain a stand on trade from the previous fortnight with J Howie topping the trade at £140. Generally these calves were smaller than the previous sale but look as well sold if not better.

A small entry of weanlings once again this week. A run of 6 mths TB Edge cattle from J Skinner & Son sold to £300 for a British Blue steer, an Aberdeen Angus steer from the same home sold to £290 and a pen of three nice Aberdeen Angus heifers made £300. Some smaller TB Low Aberdeen Angus heifers from Langdon Farms sold for £120.

Hobbs Parker and Ashford Livestock Market

We are the South East’s principle livestock market selling over 255,000 head of cattle, sheep and pigs in 2019.

Weekly sales throughout the year of all classes of stock, principally on Tuesdays, run by a fully professional team of auctioneers and support staff provide an unmatched level of service and commitment to the livestock farmer in the area. Come and see us on market day soon and bring your livestock for us to sell.

Important – please remember the “Stop, unload and go” policy still applies to all our livestock sales – vendors and hauliers are not permitted in the penned area of the market. Social distancing is also extremely important – please remember “2 metres”

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

Relief farm worker required – for general livestock duties including milking, feeding, calf rearing and general husbandry. Would suit a self-employed person but position is flexible located near Dartford. Please call Iain on 07738 445530 for more information.

Wanted – 2 Male farm kittens, any colour bar white. Ashford area. Ring Richard Wood 07710 803902

Wanted – Sheepdog puppy required. Ashford area. 01303 812775 (evenings only)

For Sale – 5 working collie puppies, 4 dogs and 1 bitch, ready end of May. North Kent. Ring 07979 802044

Message from Peter Barker of Barkers Animal Health

Barkers Animal Health retail store here in the market is open for collections on a Tuesday. Please pre order so goods are ready for you – 07880 946983  

Help and support from The Farming Community Network

Farming Community Network (FCN) volunteers regularly attend local livestock markets and whilst we cannot be present at sales currently, our helpline is still open from 7am to 11pm every day, staffed by people who understand farming.

FCN is a charity and voluntary organisation that helps farmers to stay resilient. We provide practical and pastoral support to those experiencing difficulties in England and Wales.

During these challenging times we are encouraging everyone to think about their own physical and mental health and that of their families and staff.

We can help with contingency planning against the backdrop of the Corona virus outbreak and our FarmWell website (www.farmwell.org.uk) offers a wealth of free information about managing change and maintaining personal wellbeing.

The FCN helpline can be reached on 03000 111 999 or via email at help@fcn.org.uk. Confidentiality is assured.

Local Agricultural Show and ploughing match dates and news

Agricultural shows in the region which are now cancelled include Royal Norfolk, Suffolk, Surrey County, Kent County, South of England, Heathfield, Singleton Rare Breeds and Aylsham (Norfolk). Sadly Moreton in Marsh (Gloucestershire) have now finally cancelled and the Bath and West and Royal Cornwall have both now cancelled from their rescheduled dates.

The Weald of Kent and East Kent Ploughing matches have now both been cancelled for this year.

Message from the secretary of the Weald of Kent Ploughing Match reads as follows: It is with great regret that the Chairman and committee of the Weald of Kent Ploughing Match Association feel we have had no choice but to cancel the 2020 Plough Match due to the restrictions in place and the risk surrounding Covid-19. This was not an easy decision, but the Association feel it is the correct decision to make to ensure the health and safety of all involved.

On a positive note, we will be running the Growing Crop competition and the Hop competition this year, so if you would like to get involved with those competitions do pop me an email and I can send you the entry forms.

Also, there will be a group of committee members dedicated to running our social media platforms. The aim is to increase our following but we are also keen to promote all our trade and suppliers as well. We will be uploading content more regularly as well as trying to run small, light-hearted competitions, so if you would like us to promote your company, please send me any up-to-date content and if you would like to donate any prizes for our competitions that would be more than welcomed.

We would like to say thank you for your ongoing support and we look forward to seeing everyone at next year’s match in 2021.

Liz Copping, Secretary. 07872 501951. lizcoppingWKPMA@hotmail.com