Weekly Sales News – 4th February 2020

Top Price per Kilo – 249p – M & R Morton; Top Price per Head – £129 – N & D Attwood

Report on trade A bigger entry this week with over 2,000 finished sheep penned and an improved trade to go with it throughout. A great number of sheep sold in excess of £100 and to a great top price of £129 from N & D Attwood who consistently top the roll of honour with their fantastic heavy weight Charollais hogs.

Many export grade lambs were on offer this week with the average weight forward being greatly less than we would expect to see at this time of year, but despite this, the overall average price achieved was £15 and almost 50p per kg up on the corresponding week last year. The lighter weight categories were topping at around 240p with top spot taken by M & R Morton at 249p, with A J Skinner & Sons selling well finished export lambs to 247p.

Special Notice As of next week, February 11th, the sale of finished sheep will commence at 09.30am. This sale will be followed by Store Sheep, cull ewes and breeding sheep in that order.

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 smaller entry of ewes this week and a slightly improved trade for those on offer. Best ewes on offer are still making up to £100 with a few men looking at the leaner ewes to farm on again – things must be drying up !! Grazing ewes were selling from £35 to -£55 with meated sorts £70 to £100.

Continental ewes to £100 from N & D Attwood, Suffolk crosses to £97.50 and Mules to £85 from C Moss & Sons and Romneys to £68 from A Barr & Son.

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.

Report on trade: Another top trade with all best stores selling readily in excess of £80, medium sorts £70 to £75 and only very small plainer sorts below £60.

2 Consignments of breeding sheep were penned. 100 in lamb Romney ewes from K Brundle made from £93 to £96 and a pen of crossbred £86.

If you have stores to sell you would be well advised to take advantage of these strong prices and give the buyers time to finish before the end of the season.

Please keep in contact with entries week by week so we can inform potential buyers.

Report on trade: Another competitive trade throughout with customers in attendance for all the various qualities of finished cattle offered. Buyers were keen for those leaner sort with potential for further finishing.

A run of smart Limousin crosses from W Alexander (Shoreham) took the pick of the trade with heifers £1,172 (208p per kg) and £1,060 (204p) and steers £1,239 (202p). Slightly lesser sorts made around 190p notably a Blonde cross heifer £1,199 (194p) from P W & P Sim, Blonde cross steer £1,019 (189p) from G L Boulden & Sons and a Simmental cross steer £1,125 (188p) from W J Hurley.

Several native bred cattle were on offer and well received with purebred Sussex steer £1,125 (188p) from L Stevens & Sons and Aberdeen Angus cross heifer £1,153 (178p) from R Price & Son. A run of leaner heavy weight continental crosses sold well attracting both buyers for the slaughter and further finishing sectors. The best Limousin cross steers £1,110 (210p) and £1,125 (198p) with heifers up to £1,119 (204p)

OTM cattle made up to £1,032 (180p) for Simmental cross heifers from W  J Hurley.

Report on trade: Another very good trade for all grades and classes of cows. Reasonable numbers of each with a high proportion of Sussex cows which met tremendous demand from grazing and feeding men. There are very few meat cows coming forward but all well sold both from the beef and dairy herds.

Younger beef cows to feed made 110p to 130p per kg, a few meat cows 120p to125p if assured and 110p to 115p if non assured. Assurance status making little or no difference on feeding types.

Beef crosses included Aberdeen Angus (non FA) 128p and £733 K Bugden, 119p £835 M A & F W Owen and 112p £963 (non FA) Barfrestone Court, (non FA) and 112p 111p J C & P C Dallaway; Simmental cross 126p £973 W Hurley and 110p £1,050 (non FA) Barfrestone Court; Sussex 127p, 124p J & S Harmer, 119p, 116p, 114p Maytum Wharf Farm, 117p, 114p, £810 Raveningham Farms and 117p H & J Noakes

Daily culls were a very good trade for all grades with some bottom end types looking very well sold. As always more meat wanted. Holstein Friesian 113p, 108p £938, £909 J Warnock & Son and 110p £871 J E Scutt & Son.

Overage Simmental cross steer 48 mths and 128p £861 and a Limousin bull 98p £1,068.

Report on trade: We can report good demand for couples with Vexour Pedigree Herds offering 3 young cows with last autumn’s calves on which made to £1300 for a Charolais and £1170 for an Aberdeen Angus. A 17 mths maiden Hereford heifers made £700.

We expect over 300 head to be penned for sale next week (11^th February)

Report on trade: Last sales improved trade appears to have not been a one off however there is still a long way to go back to the trade of 12 mths ago.

A mixed bag of continental cross calves were on offer this week with a couple of real superstars to lead the trade. Bulls sold to £300 for a British Blue from J E Scutt & Sons. Most selling in the £120 – £170 region with a handful of top quality higher and with smaller second graders less to reflect age and shape. Heifers to £220 for a British Blue from F W Hamlyn & Son, a couple of other stronger types around £190 but on the whole a lot of younger and smaller types offered.

A few more natives than anticipated this week with some keen interest from all sides of the ring. Bulls to £200 for a Hereford from Goddard & Son, plenty selling for £140 to £170 including a good run of Sussex from F W Hamlyn & Son. Goddard & Son again topped the heifer section with a Hereford to £200, although plenty of second grade smaller native heifers forward which reflects in the averages.

A little more bite to the black and white trade as per the previous sale. A couple of older rearing sorts in the pens with a Danish Red from Kingcott Dairy topping the trade at £90. Most black and whites made £20 to £30 with the bobbies generally £10  to £15.

A firm trade in the weanling section with some 6 mth continental steers to £540 from N P Miles. The same vendor sold continental heifers of a similar age to £400 and native heifers to £380.

A few enquiries from potential buyers of weaned calves are starting to come in, please do contact me if you have any to sell.

We remind all calf sellers and buyers of the information below

Calf sellers and buyers should be aware that welfare regulations state that while an animal can be sold at 7 days old if they are offered at under 10 days old they cannot be transported more than 100km from the market. Buyers are notified from the rostrum when these calves are offered.

From a sellers view it is best not to present calves at under 10 days old to avoid possibly restricting the number of potential bidders for your stock.

Report on trade ** Please note finished and cull pig sales will commence at 9am from Tuesday 18^th February **

Report on trade: This was a sale with a mixed quality entry penned. We can report just a little more “bite” in the trade but no individual buyers came with any big order books. Cull pigs again met a good demand and stores were better sold than a fortnight ago.

The better finished pigs on offer made 80p to 98p per kg with 50p to 70p covering most of the rest. S Scott & Son saw their regular run make 76p to 98p and averaged £74.60 gross (an improvement of £20 on a fortnight ago all be it for heavier pigs).

Cull pig supply and demand has settled and for a large entry buyers produced a fair trade. Sows made to 70p and boars 60p.

In the store pens 3 lots plus and in pig sow were entered. Shapey young pigs £32 from R Vidler and the in pig sow made £145.

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

Hobbs Parker Auctioneers livestock sales catalogues are always available online on the auctioneers pages of our website www.hobbsparker.co.uk All entries are listed on these regularly updated pages

Ashford Livestock Market has its own Facebook page where news and reports are now being posted on a regular basis www.facebook.com/AshfordLivestockMarket/

Hobbs Parker Auctioneers email a livestock market short report on the afternoon of every livestock sale day. To receive this email report you need to log on to the auctioneers pages of our website www.hobbsparker.co.uk and click the link to email alerts.

To ensure you continue to receive the email it should be opened on a regular basis.

Events / Meetings in the area of interest to farmers

T Denne & Sons are holding a “Making Forage work for you” workshop on Wednesday 26^th February in the Amos Hall, Ashford Market, TN24 0HB at 9.30. Speakers will be Nick Green and Andrew Bourne (T Denne), Alan West (Sheep Farmer) and David Gurney (Corteva). Lunch will be provided at approx 12.30. Please RSVP by 21^st February to nickgreen@tdenneandsons.co.uk or ring 01233 720871.

Hay, Straw, Fodder and Forage Crop for sale and / wanted

For Sale – 2,000 Conventional bales of 2019 made meadow hay. Barn stored and local delivery available. East Kent Ring 07802 636427.

For Sale – Top notch barn stored round and mini-hesston bales 2019 hay. Bulk whole oats in half tonne bags also available. Delivery arranged. East Sussex. 07768 771933.

For Sale – 100 2019 Haylage bales from a Kent farm. Contact 01303 893183 or 07775 794556

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

Wanted – experienced livestock farmer requires a small quantity of large rectangular bale feeders. Maidstone area. Ring Paul on 07976 92168

Ashford Cattle Show News

Congratulations to all trophy winners who attended the presentation evening recently.

The AGM will be held on Wednesday 4^th March at 6.30pm here in the Market.

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

RABI

Farmhouse Breakfast Season

Wednesday 12^th February – Stockpot, Ashford Market, Ashford TN24 0HB

Thursday 20^th February – Dog & Duck, Plucks Gutter, Canterbury CT3 1JB

Thursday 27^th February – Kent Showground, Detling ME14 3JF

Thursday 23^rd April – 10^th Anniversary dinner to celebrate Great British Beef week (and St Georges day) in the Amos Hall, Ashford Market. Guest speaker Minette Batters, NFU president.

For further information on all RABI events in Kent ring Charles Tassell – 01622 858733, 07973 412179, email charles@tassell.co.uk or contact the regional co-ordinator Sally Field on 07799 798441 or email sally.field@rabi.org.uk

Kent Herdsmans Club.

Monday 10th February at 7.30pm – our AGM followed by a talk “Hard Yakka” about Frances Moskovits visit to Australia at the Conningbrook Hotel, Ashford

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

Ashford Young Farmers – For all details on Ashford Young Farmers please contact Amy Langdon at amy.langdon1234@hotmail.co.uk.

Good news !! Ashford Young Farmers are launching a new Junior section with a meeting on Saturday 15^th February – a BBQ at Hope Farm, Wittersham 1 to 4pm. For more details contact Amy as above or find Ashford YFC facebook page.

Tonbridge Young Farmers – Debbie Broad and friends in the area have reopened this club.

For all details of plans for the future please contact the Broads through Debbie’s Facebook page or email tonbridgeyfc19@gmail.com

Stockperson Wanted

To calve 120 head of Suckler cows in East Yorkshire for approximately 10 weeks. For more information please contact Richard on 07889 882422

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

Sunday 16^th February – South East Hunts Club, Charing – 12.00

Sunday 1^st March – Southdown & Eridge, Godstone – 1pm

Sunday 22^nd March – Old surrey, Burstow & West Kent, Penshurst – 1.30pm

Saturday 28^th March – Crawley & Horsham, Parham – 1.45pm

Saturday 11^th April – Ashford Valley Tickham, Charing – 2pm

Monday 13^th April – Aldington Races, Aldington – 2pm

Saturday 18^th April – Old surrey, Burstow & West Kent, Penshurst – 2pm

Saturday 25^th April – Chid, Lec & Cowdray, Parham – 2pm

Sunday 3^rd May – Mid Surrey Farmers Drag, Godstone – 1pm

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, Weanlings & Rams) 07966 104532