Weekly Sales News – 4th January 2022

Top price per kilo – 307p – G P King: Top price per head – £163.00 – Mrs V McDonald

Report on trade: A good entry for the first sale of the year and a very good trade to match, despite quite varying quality on offer. Trade has been quite volatile over the past 2-3 weeks of Christmas trading, but all this should now be ironed out and back to normality for the new year. The export trade is buoyant and the level of demand in the home trade is where we have never seen it before. This coupled with an undeniable national shortage of finished hoggets, equates to a trade that we have never seen at this time of year with averages of over 270p kg becoming the “norm” and prices approaching £150 hd regularly.  Top of the tree today were G P King, and Mrs V McDonald, with hoggets at 300p kg and £163 hd respectively but both I Lucas and J F Windibank sold hoggets over £3 and H V Link Partnership, M Wickens, J F Windibank and Rex Smith over £138 hd. Overall the entry averaged £119 and the SQQ quotation was 278p/kg.

Auctioneer: James Cook O’Connell

Top Price Ewe – £155.00 from D J Morphett (Ave. £93.00): 

Top Price Ram – £155.00 from A & B Carlton

A larger entry on offer this week with a greater percentage of well fleshed ewes in the pens, which will be the case over the next few months with a lot of people now scanning and selling their empties. We had a large entry of Romneys on the day from S E Lane & Partners to £121, N A Balcomb & Son to £120, W Cooke & Son to £119 and A J Thompson & Son to £111. Continental ewes were also forward in good numbers from S Husk to £152, H V Link Partnership to £150, N A Balcomb & Sons to £147 and Mrs V McDonald to £134. Leaner ewes looking very well sold with majority ranging from £60-£90.

Top Prices included:

Continentals to £155 from D J Morphett

Suffolk x to £136 from M R Woodroofe

Mules to £118 from S Husk

Romneys to £121 from S E Lane & Partners

Auctioneer: Peter Kingwill 07795 200357

Report on trade: A very good start to the New Year with a decent entry of quality fleshed cattle and a wholesale meat trade keen to restock after Christmas and the New Year. Concerns over difficulties with processing staff and covid isolation do not seem to be a problem yet.

The catering sector clearly has difficulties, but retailers will find themselves busier during this period of Plan B!

The very best heifers 240-265p kg with Limousin cross heifers from W Alexander (Shoreham) and D W Ferguson Ltd both selling to 267p (£1506 and £1426 respectively). Fewer steers this week with quality suckled bred Limousin from W Alexander (Shoreham) to 257p, £1565. Well fed dairy bred cattle from A J Down sold to 224p, £1546 for Limousin cross steers and 225p, £1336 for Limousin cross heifers.

Aberdeen Angus cross heifers sold to 223p from F Sole & Sons and up to £1277 from P W & P Sim & Son. Friesian heifers to 215p, £1141 from T Castle & Son. Strong Simmental cross Friesian bull at 194p, £1403, and a British Blue cross Friesian bull to 210p, £1278.

Report on trade: A tremendous number of cows forward with which to open the New Year and rates fully maintained, if not a little stronger for the meat cows. A strong attendance of buyers for all grades and prospects in these strange times look good and strong.

Mostly feeding cows amongst the beef cows but a few strong meat cows generally 145-165p kg. feeders with age on their side and shape and strength to come, were readily 140-175p kg. Plenty of interest in long term lightweight feeding cows at 120-140p.

Limousin cross 174p, 164p, 159p, 156p, £1006 J C Loveridge Agri Contracting Ltd; Sussex 169p, £733 Bowes Lyon Estate; 150p, £912 Rideout Agri (Non-FA); 149p, 147p, 136p, £1143, £1104 J G & D G White; British Blue cross 157p, 144p, £1127, £1083 R A Wade; Aberdeen Angus 164p, £1032 J T Miller (Non-FA).

More trade for the Black & Whites particularly for the lean half fleshed types which looked well sold. Best young well shaped cows from Debden Court Ltd to 158p, 147p and 142p kg; with a well-shaped Danish Red at 164p, £1071 from W F Farms. The majority of fleshed cows 120-135p.

British Friesian 158p, 147p, 142p, £1033 Debden Court Ltd; Holstein Friesian 135p, 125p, £1069 J W Boyd & Son; 128p, 126p, £958 Huddlestone Farms; 127p, £1077 P J Forknall.

Overage Sussex heifer 184p, £1101 N A Balcomb & Son; Overage Sussex steers 207p (2) £991 Bowes Lyon Estate.

Aberdeen Angus stock bull well sold at 117p, £1107.

Auctioneer: Peter Kingwill 07795 200357

Report on trade: A decent entry of store cattle with which to start the New Year and plenty of attendance around the sales ring. Prices firm for all grades and showing good confidence for the coming season with the beef trade in a good place and plentiful supplies of fodder.

Native Bred

8-9 mths Aberdeen Angus bull                          £570                       Gann & Brown Ltd

8-10 mths Sussex steer                                      £585                       Bowes Lyon Estates

8-10 mths Sussex heifer                                    £560                       Bowes Lyon Estate

8-10 mths Sussex heifer                                    £525                       Rideout Agri

21-22 mths Beef Shorthorn steer                      £940                       Emily Wood

21-22 mths Beef Shorthorn heifer                    £950                       Emily Wood

20 mths Aberdeen Angus cross steer             £1020                    Kent Wildlife Trust

A good start and more could be sold each week to demanding purchasers.

Auctioneer: Mark Cleverdon 07741 845230

Report on trade: Rideout Agri (East Sussex) offered a good run of 9 young in calf Sussex cows (back to a Sussex bull) which made £840 tAuctioneer: Mark Cleverdon 07741 845230 £940 bar one.

Auctioneer: Mark Cleverdon 07741 845230

Report on trade: Despite the small entry enough potential buyers were present supporting the sale. The settled good returns available in the store and finished cattle rings gives those buyers confidence to bid well for calves and prices remained strong.

Six local dairy farms sold calves with W G & T A Manford, R & J Ledger, Hickson Bros and P J Forknall all selling calves at £300 plus.

Please keep in touch with our auctioneers with intended entries – we use text messaging to advise expected entries on the Monday evening before sales.

A reminder that we are able to offer calves from Arla vendors under 56 days old subject to a declaration being signed by the purchaser, any queries on this please do get in touch.

Cattle Producers, Please Note – Revised Advice

Inconclusive Reactors – all IRs from high risk or edge areas that have had a negative (clear) result on retesting remain restricted on their holding for the rest of their life and can only move direct to slaughter or an approved finishing unit (AFU).

In a low-risk area if there has been a TB breakdown (i.e., with reactors) then again any IRs that subsequently have a negative test are still only allowed to go direct to slaughter or an AFU, however if only IRs are identified in a low risk area herd test then no movement restrictions are placed on those animals if they subsequently re test negative (clear).

Should any low-risk area producer have any doubts, about the position please do not hesitate to contact Peter Kingwill.

Cattle Passports

We remind producers that on no occasion should the details on a cattle passport be changed other than by returning it to BCMS.

If details are incorrect return and advise BCMS, or advice the auctioneers on market day without writing on the passport.

Notices – Des Heathcote, Egerton

Family and friends have asked us to report that Des sadly passed away recently. Well known in the local community and farming circles Des also worked for Hobbs Parker car auctions for a period in the 1980’s.

Hay and Straw register

For a small charge we are quite happy to advertise your hay, straw, and fodder for sale in this register which will now run until early May for further details please ring our auctioneers office on 01233 502222.

For Sale – Freshly dug fodder beet available in large quantities in the Ashford area. Can be delivered. Ring 7764 273798

For Sale – 3,000 conventional wheat straw bales from the Ashford area. 07876273254

For Sale – Conventional baled and 4 string big bales meadow hay on a farm in the Ashford area. Can be delivered. Ring Michael on 07715651766 or 01233 820261

For Sale – large quantities of hay, hayledge and straw in the Ashford area. Ring 07707 879642

For Sale – large quantities of top-notch feed and bedding – Round bale naked hay, Round bale wrapped haylage, Mini Hesston bales naked hay, Round bale wrapped silage, Round bale naked wheat straw, Round bale naked barley straw, Round bale naked oat straw, Whole Wheat and barley in crane bags, Logs of all varieties, shapes, sizes and prices.

All from our own Red Tractor certified farms (with full field traceability) and keenly priced ex farm or delivered locally or nationwide. Richard Barnes (Farms) Ltd, Etchingham, TN19 7AZ.

01580 819000, 07768 771933

Southern Rover Club News: The Southern Rover Owners Club (SROC) are a long-established group of local enthusiasts covering Kent, Sussex, Surrey and Essex and are seeking areas of land for the occasional use of Land Rover based competitive motor sport. They are looking for any areas with rough terrain including scrubland, former quarries, and accessible woodland. The ground can include open grassland, hillsides and slopes, rocky terrain, and boggy areas. They normally visit each site once a year and have a scale of fees they pay, depending on the type of event held. References from existing landowners can be provided. All their events are run under permits and insurances issued by Motor Sport UK and are governed by technical regulations compiled by both the MSUK and the Association of Land Rover Clubs.

The format for events is that several short courses will be set out over rough terrain with drivers expected to negotiate each section from start to finish without incurring penalties. There are no time or speed elements involved. Events are similar to Motorcycle trials in nature. If you are able to offer any suitable land or would like to know more about the club or events, please email Graham Bridgland at competitionsec@sroc.co.uk. More information can be seen at www.sroc.co.uk