Weekly Sales News – 2nd July 2019

New seasons lambs: Top price per kg – 226p – MB Farms & GH Dean & Co: Top price per head – £104.50 – D J Morphett

Report on trade: A smaller entry of lambs on offer this week and despite the down turn in the reported prices in recent days, trade maintained a good level throughout in Ashford, with a good entry of quality finished lambs on offer in all weight brackets. In terms of the gross returns, the best sellers are certainly the heavier offerings with lambs from 43kgs upwards selling between £95 and £100 with a super run of lambs from the Georgetti family breaking the £100 barrier 3 times and making up to 222p per kg for their heavy lambs. Smarter continental cross lambs  were all selling in excess of 200p with a lovely run of almost 300 lambs on offer from GH Dean & Co which sold to a top price of 226p.

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 small entry of ewes on offer this week, as appears to be the case nationally and this has helped the trade a little, in particularly for the better meated sorts. Best sorts sold in excess of £80 with a strong run of ewes from Ashfords favourite Sussex haulage team, Rosie and Bonnie, selling to £85 twice and £80. Cull rams from J H & A H Godden topped £86 and more ewes could be sold without any adverse effect on the trade.

Top Prices – Suffolk crosses to £85 from Miss R Russell with continentals from the same home also selling to £85 and Mules made to £68.50 from D Howard Farms

Report on trade: A very decent trade for a small entry of cattle with smart Limousin cross heifers topping the market at £1124 (205p per kg) while continental cross steers grossed well at £1266 (200p) and £1236 (200p) respectively from W Alexander (Shoreham).

More commercial sorts made 175p to 185p notably heavy weight continental cross steers at £1217 (177p) from E T Ledger & Son Ltd and £1207 (178p) from A & M Lyon and a Limousin cross heifer at £1106 (188p) from A J Thompson & Sons.

Auctioneer: Elwyn Davies 07710 803901

Report on trade: A similar trade for a reduced entry of cows with quality in short supply. An Aberdeen Angus cross cow topped the market at £665 (117.5p) from Castle Hill Farmers while a South Devon grossed well at £826 (114.5p) from G Symons.

The majority of dairy cows were on the lean side with an overall average of 85p and made up to £930 (104.5p) for a Guernsey and a fleshed Holstein Friesian to £880 (111.5p) both from W G & T A Manford

Please do not hesitate to ring at anytime for marketing advice.          

Report on trade: 2 late 2018 born South Devon heifers made £320.

A few more cattle are booked for next Tuesday (9^th July)

We have potential customers keen for store cattle – please contact us, if you have cattle to sell, for advice on suitable dates.

Report on trade: A 2008 born South Devon cow with may born heifer calf made £900.

We expect 2 consignments of cows and calves on Tuesday 23^rd July

Please remember it is essential we have an early indication from all sellers of stock numbers you wish to sell week by week – we phone and send text messages to buyers and agents every Monday evening and an accurate indication of numbers coming forward is essential with many buyers travelling substantial distances to attend

Ashford Market Lairage arrangements

Please note our official time for delivery of stock on Monday’s is 3pm to 6pm. Please advise the auctioneers office or any of the livestock team if you require this facility.

For up to date information on all livestock sales please contact

Elwyn Davies (Cattle & Sheep) 07710 803901 or 01233 861263

Peter Kingwill (Cattle & Sheep) 07795 200357

Martin Crowhurst (Cattle & Sheep) 07710 803903 or 01797 343936

Simon Husk (Cattle & Sheep) 07885 968077 or 01304 842393

Mark Cleverdon (Rams, Breeding Cattle and Pigs) 07741 845230

John Rossiter (Sheep, Machinery plus commercial vehicles) 07557 392903

Tom Hamplett (Calves) 07966 104532

Summer events / meetings in the area of interest to farmers

Tendring Show – Saturday 13^th July –  Lawford House Park, Bromley Road, Lawford, Nr Manningtree, Essex. CO11 2ND. All show enquiries to 01206 231821 or www.tendringshow.co.uk

Singleton Rare Breeds Show – Sunday 14^th July – Weald and Downland Museum, Singleton, Chichester. Full details available from the museum on 01243 811348.

Southern Shears UK – Sunday 14th July – Copford Sawmill, Dern Lane, Heathfield, East Sussex. TN21 0PN. Southern Shears UK is a sheep shearing competition set up to achieve the following aims – to promote the skill and craft of sheep shearing and wool handling, to hold an annual competition; to promote and encourage an interest in wool and to encourage co-operation in the local farming community. For all details and entries please contact Mary Masters on 01273 517824.

The Southern Rover Owners Club will also be at Southern Shears come along and see what our members get up to.
If you have a 4 x 4 give it a go on our scenic drive or passenger one of our members in theirs. We will also have our junior trials vehicle on site for the kids to have a go.

South East Farmer and Farm Machinery magazines

The July editions of these popular regional farming magazines are now available here in the market. Hobbs Parker is a regular contributor to the editorial content.

RABI, Young Farmers Clubs, 91 Club, Kent Herdsmans Club and FCN news

RABI – copies of a summer newsletter are available here in the market.

Cream Tea and Garden tour – Thursday 8^th August at Hole Park, Rolvenden TN17 4JA at 2.30pm. Tickets £15 from Charles Tassell or Sheila Adams 07783 398439

For further information on all RABI events in Kent ring Charles Tassell – 01622 858733, 07973 412179 or email charles@tassell.co.uk

Kent Herdsmans Club

For all details on Herdsman’s Club events please contact Chairman Alan Jull 07708283220 or Jo Masters 01580 240568.

Ashford Cattle Show summer competitions

Sheep flocks. Competition, sponsored by Wilkins Kennedy (Accountants) and Hallett & Co (Solicitors), has now been judged.

This years competition was judged by Gurney White. It was a long day and we thank you all who gave up their time to show Gurney and Marie Prebble (steward) around their flocks. There was a range of entrants this year and some new ones. The judge commented on the flocks looking well this year, with those on permanent pasture doing well on old lays. Congratulations to winner Larry Cooke and two sons Michael and Joe with runners up Dylan Isaac & Holly Chandler.

Pedigree class: 1st W Cooke & Son (Farmers), Rye, 2nd Langrish Farmers, Beckley, 3rd P Boulden, 4th A Head, 5th C D & J Bishop.

Commercial Class: 1st D Isaac & H Chandler, 2nd P Francesconi, 3rd Langrish Farmers, =4th A & H Edmonds & J Hickman, 6th Ben Corrie, 7th M & D Prebble, and8th A J Jull

Champion flock: W Cooke & Son (Farmers)

Beef herds. Competition sponsored by Michael Owen (Animalscan) and Nick Bates.  Judging is planned for August. For details and entries please contact Charlie Bull 01797 230503 or 07825 665498 email: bull_herd04@btinternet.com

Crops. Competition sponsored by Agrii (Agronomy services). This competition has now being judged. Please contact Tim Porter 07557 200611email: tporter_esq@hotmail.com

Remember this year’s pre-Christmas event is on Monday and Tuesday 26^th and 27^th November

Hobbs Parker Auctioneers and Car Auctions run over 200 auction sales every year

Our next Auction Sales include……

Classic Car and Vintage, Veteran and Modern Tractors plus Rural Bygones sale

Friday 12^th July at 10.00am

A special sale of classic and vintage cars, vintage, veteran and modern tractors plus rural bygones.

Commercial Vehicles

Thursday 18^th July and 1^st August at 3.00pm

A wide selection of up to 40 vehicles are generally offered in these sales

Collective Machinery & Equipment sale

Friday 16^th August 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 a large selection of miscellaneous items.

Monday 6^th May Bank Holiday Bumper Car Auction Sale.

Chilli Farm Machinery sale

Saturday 28^th September 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.

Something a little different – a article reproduced with permission from Alisdair Houston, Scottish farmer – the content is self explanatory.

“APOLOGIES for the length of this, but I’m finding myself more and more agitated (sick of it would be closer to the mark) by the misrepresentation and the ‘bandwagon-jumping’ that’s going on regarding the effect of ‘eating red meat’ on climate change. Listening to the news, you would be forgiven for believing that red meat production is a major factor.

I accept that there are different beef production systems worldwide and some of those will undoubtedly have a higher carbon footprint than others. Hauling (irrigated) feedstock long distances to intensive feedlots, or deforestation to create relatively poor quality cropping land to produce feed for beef animals would be examples.

But let’s consider for a minute what a great deal of beef production worldwide and certainly the UK industry actually does.

Wetter parts of the world including most of the western and a lot of the northern parts of UK are simply not suitable for large scale arable or vegetable crop production. It’s just not going to happen. But these areas are great for producing grass, often on land that has other limitations like gradient, soil depth and quality to make it of little use other than for grass (or trees that we can’t eat.)

Grassland is universally recognized by scientists as an important carbon sink and, unlike trees, most of the carbon it captures is stored underground.
Solar energy (in short supply in Gretna Green this month) makes this clever green stuff grow, and efficient herbivores such as sheep and cattle convert that solar energy into protein and energy that humans can eat and digest.

Added to that virtual cycle is a second one: the grazing habits and the dung produced by these grazing animals improves fertility naturally and sustainably whilst supporting an eco system of bugs and beasties which in turn supports bird life and other ecological diversity.

So grass based beef and lamb systems such as most of UK enables us to eat protein produced by animals that are eating grass that is powered by rainwater and sun and is capturing carbon in areas that are unsuitable in any event to grow other crops whilst benefiting the environment in other ways at the same time. That doesn’t sound like a planet-killing food production system to me.

But the media sound bites that we are hearing daily would make most people feel guilty about buying red meat. There appears to me to be an abject failure by media to look at the more nuanced reality. It feels like a classic case of ‘a little knowledge is a dangerous thing’, treating all production systems as one and misrepresenting to the public in the process.

But let’s not put all the blame on others. All of us in our own industry must face up to our own responsibilities. Responsibilities not just to ensure high animal and ecological welfare systems, but to communicate much better. We can’t blame others for not knowing what they don’t know. Into that vacuum has moved misinformation. So I urge all farming organisations including unions, associations and breed societies and individuals to get together, get organised and spend some proper time and money communicating the positive story about what we do. Not by telling people what to do, but by getting the science out there about what we do. It’s probably the single most important aspect facing our industry long after the B word has settled down. “