Weekly sales reports from Hexham and Northern Marts

With a spread of cattle of all classes from across the region and further-a-field, the auctioneers were delighted to offer cattle from Northumberland, County Durham, Cumbria, Tyne & Wear, Teesside, North Yorkshire and Dumfries & Galloway, highlighting the undoubted attraction of the store ring at this centre.

A smaller, more mixed offering of older, forward cattle were presented and these topped at £1,440 for a superior, huge, red Limousin cross steer at 20 months from regular consignor to this centre and Knaresborough-based producer Mr Ian Thornton, Hay-a-Park. The longstanding North Yorkshire-based purveyor of well-wintered continental and native breed bullocks also sold Charolais to £1,390, Angus and Herefords both to £1,300 and saw his well grown run of 16 return at £1,281 per head.

Weekly consignors Messrs Herdman, Lunns House, County Durham, brought both well-bred Limmy cross steers and heifers on the day and sold steers to £1,430 and heifers to £1,390 to then see their run of four and three respectively return at a pleasing £1,363 throughout.

The heifer trade was topped by Harle Oliver, Matfen White House, with a very correct black Limousin cross lady that would equally suit a breeding or a feeding role, which climbed to £1,400 amongst his seven, which sold well beyond expectations to level at £1,262.

With the special monthly sale of native breed cattle due next week a number of noted consignments were presented this day and were not disappointed. Geoff Roddam, Blackcarts, Humshaugh, sold Angus Bullocks to £1,400 whilst Robin Hall, Kirkley Dam House, Ponteland, enjoyed his two best hitting £1,390 each. Returning to the Hexham ring after an absence of several years, Messrs Craigs, Tritlington Hall, Morpeth, were rewarded and saw their best black heifer at just 16 months of age scale to £1,250 whilst Brian Charlton, East Newham, sold a pair of thick sorts at £1,200 per head earlier in the day.

Dominating the middle age bracket of cattle this week and by far and away the highlight of the sale, was a simply superb run of 23 bullocks from Messrs Common, Low Ardley, Hexhamshire, at 12-16 months. Exceptionally well-bred, the cattle will be amongst some of the best offered for sale anywhere in the country at this time of year and Graham and daughter Gemma’s efforts were recognised and rewarded as their best ascended to £1,430 with many buyers vying for their offering. With more than half the run selling in excess of £1,300, the 23 bullocks went on to average a well-deserved £1,235 and cap a tremendous two weeks trading at Hexham for Messrs Common.

As has been the case since the turn of the year, it was the younger classes that truly rang the bell with these types certainly dearer on the week. A good number of return seasonal buyers were present at the ringside despite unfavourable road conditions and expectations were met and exceeded throughout the course of the sale.

Highlights in these younger classes were altogether too many to mention in their entirety, however standout was the tremendous pure bred Limousin heifer from Andrew Proctor, Swarland Old Hall at only 12 months which amazed the breeder and flew past his expected return to eventually sell at £1,380.

Messrs Marr, Old Ravensworth, once again reached the top ranks and sold another very well-shaped Limmy steer that changed hands at £1,370 at a similar age whilst Richard Johnson, West Wharmley, cashed a very smart Black Limmy heifer at £1,350 and next door neighbour James Forster, East Wharmley, topped the Simmental lines with a big, square steer that realised £1,280.

The benefits of consigning for sale at Hexham are evident and yet another farming family; Messrs Shepherd, Fullthorpe Farm, Thorpe Thewles, were delighted with their first consignment of cattle to this centre. The best of their Limmy cross steers at 11 months reached £1,135 whilst their Angus crosses by a registered sire topped at £1,120 with seven bullocks coming back at £1,086 for the Teessiders.

The quality of cattle within the youngest age bracket improve week on week at Hexham in terms of both quality and quantity. The very best of all suckled calf breeds drawn from across our region is available each week from the second portion of the catalogue and this week, saw the second consignment of Angus cross steers from Messrs Hall, North Farm, West Butsfield, top at £1,230, an increase on the week which delighted the Tow Law-based family.

Continentals also lifted and saw Northumbrian and Cumbrian cattle join the Durham entry of Messrs Hall in the upper echelons of the trade. David Teasdale, Grindon Hill, capped the Limmy trade at £1,200 for a well-grown and shapely bullock at just ten months and with another at £1,165 and his best heifer at £1,115 averaged £1,174 for his five sold on the day. Another David, this time Mr Milburn, of Wallend, Greenhead, also enjoyed a buoyant trade for his very well bred calves which scaled to £1,180 for steers and £1,020 for heifers to realise an average price on the day of £1,076 for the Brampton-based Cumbrian breeder of renown.

With over fifty mask wearing, socially distanced buyers in attendance at the ringside, the auctioneers at Hexham are confident of the trade over the coming weeks and are keen to discuss cattle entries with potential vendors; both new and existing from across the north of England and south of Scotland to maximise the return of cattle of all classes offered for sale through the store ring at this centre. If you have cattle to sell and would like to discuss how Hexham Auction Mart can benefit your business, call the team on (01434) 605444.

Leading prices;

Cattle 23 – 30 Months

Limousin x steers - £1360 Blackcarts.

Limousin x heifers – £1250 & £1230 White House.

Simmental x steers - £1370 Blackcarts.

Angus x heifers – £1200 East Newham.

Cattle 17 – 22 Months

Limousin x steers – £1440 Hay a Park, £1430 Lunns House, £1390 Low Ardley, £1380 Hay a Park, £1375, £1355 & £1350 Lunns House, £1320 Hay a Park.

Limousin x heifers - £1400 White House, £1390 & £1345 Lunns House, £1330 White House, £1300 Lunns House, £1280 Low Horton, £1230 West Wharmley., £1200 White House, £1170 High Loveladyshield.

Charolais steers - £1260 Hay a Park.

Charolais x steers – £1390, £1360 & £1330 Hay a Park.

Charolais x heifers - £1110 Raggetsyke.

Saler x steers - £1240 & £1200 Hay a Park.

Simmental x steers - £1300 & £1170 Blackcarts.

Angus x steers – £1400, £1370 (x2) & £1330 Blackcarts, £1300 Hay a Park, £1200 Kirkley Dam.

Angus x heifers – £1170 Tritlington, £1080 Espershields.

Hereford x steers - £1300, £1275 & £1260 Hay a Park.

Cattle 11 – 16 Months

Limousin x steers – £1430 Low Ardley, £1370 Old Ravensworth, £1345 (x2), £1325, £1320, £1315 (x2) & £1305 Low Ardley, £1290 Stotsfold, £1270 Grindon Hill, £1260 Greyside, £1255 Low Ardley, £1240 Old Ravensworth, £1225 Low Middleton, £1220 Low Ardley (x2), £1215 & £1205 Stotsfold, £1200 Low Ardley, £1190 Greyside & Low Ardley, £1180 Stotsfold & Low Ardley, £1170 Low Middleton, £1160 Low Horton & Greyside (x2) £1155 High Alderheads, £11550 Low Middleton, £1145 Old Ravensworth, £1140 Stotsfold & Lands Farm, £1135 Fullthorpe & Low Middleton (x2), £1130 Stotsfold & Greyside, £1125 Stotsfold, £1120 Grindon Hill, £1115 Fullthorpe & Willimoteswick, £1105 High Alderheads, £1100 Stotsfold.

Limousin x heifers – £1380 Swarland Old Hall, £1350 West Wharmley, £1215 Old Ravensworth, £1140 Greyside, £1100 High Loveladyshield, £1090 & £1075 Low Middleton, £1065 High Alderheads & High Loveladyshield, £1045 High Alderheads, £1040 Swarland Old Hall & Hawksteel, £1025 Thornley Hall, £1015 Land Farm, £1000 Swarland Old Hall.

British Blue x steers - £1195 Greyside, £1100 Stotsfold.

British Blue x heifers - £1085 Greyside.

Charolais steers - £1205 Rosebrough.

Charolais x steers - £1180 Greyside, £1135 Horncastle, £1075 West Shields, £1050 Thornley Hall & Horncastle.

Charolais x heifers - £1240, £1180, £1110, £1045 & £1000 Edlingham Newtown.

Simmental x steers - £1280 East Wharmley.

Angus steers - £1010 & £1000 Rosebrough.

Angus x steers - £1390 & £1360 Kirkley Dam, £1250 Tritlington, £1190 Kirkley Dam, £1150 Tritlington, £1120 & £1110 Fullthorpe, £1095 Low Middleton, £1050 West Butsfield.

Angus x heifers - £1250 Tritlington.

Beef Shorthorn steers - £960 Crook Hall.

Cattle 10 months and under

Limousin x steers – £1200 Grindon Hill, £1180 Wallend, £1165 Grindon Hill, £1160 & £1145 Round Meadows, £1140 Wallend & Willimoteswick, £1120 Wallend, £1100 Willimoteswick, £1070 Round Meadows, £1000 Thornley Hall & Willimoteswick.

Limousin x heifers - £1115 Grindon Hill, £1045 Willimoteswick & Hawksteel, £1020 Wallend, £970 Hawksteel, £920 Wallend.

British Blue x steers – £945 & £920 Slealands.

British Blue x heifers - £815 Glendue.

Charolais x steers - £1090 & £1030 Horncastle, £995 & £970 (x2) Thornley Hall.

Charolais x heifers - £865 Horncastle.

Simmental x steers - £1120, £1105, £1080, £1070, £1055 & £1000(x2) Oxclose.

Angus x steers - £1230 West Butsfield.

A tremendous trade was seen in the Hexham cast ewe & ram ring with an overall average of £91.04.

Topping the trade was a pen of eight Texel ewes at £159.50 from Messrs J Browell & Son, Quarry House.

Mules topped at £114 for a pen of six from Messrs W & JA Longlands, Rusheylaw.

Blackfaces sold to £108 for a pen of seven, again from Rusheylaw, with 17 from Messrs JE Woodman & Sons, Great Chesters, making £95.

More continue to be wanted to meet strong demand at Hexham. Jack: 07739440457.

Texel - £159.50 Quarry House, £152 Cornhills, £148 The Rock, £145 Middle Farm Cottage, £138 Quarry House, £136 Cornhills & Quarry House.

Texel x – £142 Agars Hill, £140 Ewesley, £136 Fell Lane, £134 Middle Farm Cottage, £132 Fell Lane, £128 High Eshells, £126 Cornhills, Matfen East Farm & Barrasford Green, £124 The Rock, East Greenridge, Great Chesters & Matfen East Farm, £122 Ewesley, £120 Cornhills & Low House Farm, £118 Agars Hill, £116 High Eshells, Middle Farm Cottage & Low House Farm, £115 Black Callerton, £114 Ewesley.

Suffolk x – £120 The Rock, £118 Hard Riding, £109 Fell Lane.

Leicester - £129 Quarry House, £128 Bridge End.

Charollais x - £108 Mill House.

Cheviot – £115 The Rock, £105 Barrasford Green, £100 & £96 Gairshield, £96 Barrasford Green.

Cheviot Mule - £119 & £112 Barrasford Green, £108 Cornhills, £105 Barrasford Green.

Mule – £114 Rusheylaw, £108 Agars Hill, £107 White House, £103 Tone Hall, £101 East Greenridge & Ewesley, £96 Low Chesterhope & Great Chesters, £95 Matfen East Farm & Low House Farm.

Blackface – £108 Rusheylaw, £95 Great Chesters, £89 Quarry House, £86 Carrick, £85 Ewesley, £82 Black Callerton.

Swaledale – £80 Kirkley House, £74 Bridge End.

Cast tups saw strong demand with a top of £148 for a pen of five from Messrs K Smith & Sons, East Greenridge.

Texel - £148 East Greenridge, £146 Middle Farm Cottage, £124 Low House Farm, £117 Middle Farm Cottage, £113.50 Bridgeford.

Suffolk - £111 East Greenridge, £100 Black Callerton.

Charollais - £130 East Greenridge.

Cheviot - £132 Tone Hall.

Blackface - £112 Tone Hall.

A reduced entry of Store Hoggs, due to wintery conditions, met strong demand with the whole sale averaging £104.67 for all breeds from Texel x to Hebridean.

The annual consignment of Texel tup hoggs from Messrs T Common & Son, Low Ardley, topped at £172 for a pen of three, with nine averaging £166.66.

A tremendous run of Beltex x hoggs from Messrs Richardson, Low Garth, topped at £146 for a trio. Their run of 42 Beltex x, Texel x and Mule hoggs averaged £115.07.

A pen of seven Blackface tup hoggs from the Dudlees Partnership, Otterburn, topped the section at £117.50.

Texel - £172, £168 & £160 Low Ardley.

Texel x – £140 Low Garth, £139 Bankfoot, £132 Agars Hill, £126 Wesley House, £125 Low Garth, £124.50 Fell Lane, £124 Bankfoot, £123 Wesley House, Black House & Fell Lane, £122 & £121 Hedley Park, £119 Bridgeford & Hard Riding, £118 Low Garth, £117 Redesmouth, £116 Thockrington (x2) & Hopesley House, £115 Agars Hill (x2) & Hopesley House, £114 Agars Hill, High Eshells, Black House & Hetherington, £113 Low West House & Thockrington, £112 Snitter, Hedley Park & Thockrington, £111 Bankfoot & Wesley House, £110 Hedley Park & Fell Lane.

Suffolk x – £123 Hownsgill, £119 & £118 Thockrington, £114 Houndsgill, £112 The Rock.

Beltex x - £146, £134 & £132 Low Garth, £132 Hownsgill, £128 Low Garth.

Blue Texel x - £118 & £106 Slealands.

Leicester - £102 Harsondale.

Mule – £96 Redesmouth, £95 Low Garth.

Cheviot - £86 The Rock, £76 Gairshield.

Blackface – £117.50 Dudlees, £96 Greyside, £87 Gairshield.

Swaledale – £79 & £76 Kirkley House.

A nice entry of butchers heifers selling to 225.5p for a Charolais x from Messrs FT Walton, Flotterton.

Charolais x Heifers - £1333.53, £1332.85, £1268.43 & £1251.53 Flotterton

225.5p, 224.5p (x2) & 218.5p Flotterton.

Limousin x Heifers – £1329.00 & £1318.65 Barker House

223.5p & 221.5p Barker House.

Another good entry of cast cattle at Hexham with more producers taking advantage of the competitive ring. With cows weighing well here, a large British Blue x cow from Messrs J Hunter & Sons, The Steel, sold to £1437.35.

Messrs WD & B Thompson, East Unthank, sold a stylish Limousin x cow to 169.5ppkg.

Cast Bulls, good to cash with a smart Simmental bull, selling to £1659.53 from Messrs W Walton & Sons, Dunns Houses.

Cows on the whole would be slightly sharper, remarkably and more could easily be sold.

Angus x - £1212.88, £1106.25 & £1084.10 The Raw

156.5p, 147.5p & 146.5p The Raw.

British Blue x - £1437.35 The Steel, £1287.65 Barker House, £1252.15 Rusheylaw

165.5p Allenshields, 161.5p The Steel, 158.5p Rusheylaw.

Beef Shorthorn - £1143.63 Brokenheugh, £1008.90 Sillywrea

148.5p Sillywrea, 145.5p Brokenheugh.

Limousin x -£1389.90 East Unthank, £120.13 East Butsfield, £1199.84 Brokenheugh, £1106.30 Tenter House

169.5p East Unthank, 150.5p Stotsfold & Sunniside, 149.5p Tenter House.

Limousin Bull - £1085 & 108.5p East Uppertown.

Holstein Friesian - £596.07 & £592.10 Peepy

95.5p & 89.5p Peepy.

Simmental Bull – £1659.53 & 163.5p Dunns Houses.

Simmental x - £1069.30 & 144.5p Barker House.

A smaller show of hoggs forward including a large proportion of heavy sheep returned an SQQ average of 279.6p (£122.22 per head).

All classes good to sell to a top of £155 for a pen of 42kg Texel hoggs from Watch Currock (369.1p)

Texel x – £155 Watch Currock, £150 The Hope, £145 Matfen High House & Butsfield Burn, £144 The Hope & Watch Currock, £143 Matfen High House, Butsfield Burn, Quarry House, The Hope (x2) & Watch Currock (PC Herdman), £142 Butsfield Burn, £141 & £140 Matfen High House, £139 Butsfield Burn (x2) & Watch Currock, £138 Butsfield Burn (x2) & Watch Currock, £137.50 West Shields, £136 Matfen High House, Aydonshields & Watch Currock, £135.50 Baal Hill, £135 Matfen High House & Butsfield Burn, £134.50 Baal Hill, £134 Aydonshields & Watch Currock (x2), £133 Middle Heads, £132 Butsfield Burn, £130.50 Rare Dean, £130 Baal Hill, £129.50 Middle Heads, £128.50 West Shields, £127 & £126 Middle Heads, £126 New Dotland, £125 West Shields (x3), Aydonshields & The Hope

369.1p Watch Currock, 365.9p, 340.5p & 334.9p The Hope, 323.8p Aydonshields & Middle Heads, 319.1p Aydonshields, 312.5p West Shields, 311.6 Watch Currock, 307.3p Middle Heads, 302.6p Quarry House, 300.0p New Dotland, 297.6p The Hope, 297.3p & 294.1p West Shields, 219.3p Watch Currock, 286.3p Middle Heads, 284.2p New Dotland, 284.1p Aydonshields, 283.0p Baal Hill, 282.2p Middle Heads, 281.8p Aydonshields, 279.5p Tenter House, 279.1p Matfen High House, 276.0p Butsfield Burn, 275.6p The Hope, 272.5p New Dotland, 270.0p West Shields, 269.8p Aydonshields, 269.3p, 267.7p, 266.3p & 266.0p West Shields, 264.8p New Dotland, 264.4p Middle Heads (x2), 264.0p Butsfield Burn.

Suffolk x – £141 & £137.50 Baal Hill, £134 Rare Dean, £130 Redesmouth & Rare Dean (x2), £128 Baal Hill

268.0p Rare Dean, 267.1p New Dotland, 266.7p Baal Hill, 263.6p & 254.9p Redesmouth, 250.0p Rare Dean (x2)

Beltex x - £120 & 279.1p Comb Hills.

Mule – £125 Tenter House, £122 Quarry House, £120.50 Great Chesters, £120 New Dotland, £118 Baal Hill, £116 Redesmouth

274.4p Baal Hill, 273.9p Great Chesters, 266.0p Tenter House, 265.2p Quarry House, 263.6p Redesmouth, 259.5p Quarry House.

Leicester - £127 & 249.0p Quarry House.

Hampshire x - £108 & 251.2p Comb Hills.

Cheviot Mule - £118.50 & £113 Quarry House

262.8p & 252.1p Quarry House.

Blackface - £136 & £124 Quarry House, £122 Tenter House, £121 Great Chesters, £120 Redesmouth & Quarry House, £117 Great Chesters, £112.50 New Dotland

275.0p Great Chesters, 271.1p Tenter House, 269.6p & 255.3p Quarry House, 254.4p Great Chesters, 250.0p Redesmouth & New Dotland.

Swaledale- £105 & 250.0p Baal Hill.