Ashford Market Report – Tuesday 18th February 2025

Sheep Sales Reports

Finished Hoggets –2,268 Sold

Auctioneer: John Rossiter 07557 392903

Top price per kilo – 376p kg – S B & A E Martin.
Top price per head – £175.00 – N & D Attwood.

A similarly sized large entry to last week, and trade on a par with averages throughout the rest of the country, and with our own figures last week. The lighter weights are the easiest to sell at the moment with the ethnic trade strong as we move towards Ramadan, but the heavier sheep and their home-based trade just a little slower than it has been. It is an uncommon return to the older days when we saw 42kg and 50kg lambs making almost the same amount of money per head. Across the country there are more hoggets coming on to the market this week with improved weather giving the arable farmers slightly itchy feet as they want sheep off and cultivators in. This has not impacted the trade overall, but it certainly is keeping it level and more sustainable than we saw at this time last year. Top of the tree was S B & A E Martin, again, at 376p kg for some smart handy weighted hoggets but price in the lump was topped at £175 for N & D Attwood for strong Charollais hoggets at 55kg.

33 – £124.00 (376p kg) – S B & A E Martin
34 – £118.00 (347p kg) – S B & A E Martin
35 – £125.00 (357p kg) – S B & A E Martin
36 – £130.00 (361p kg) – S B & A E Martin
37 – £132.00 (357p kg) – S B & A E Martin
38 – £138.00 (363p kg) – S B & A E Martin
39 – £142.00 (364p kg) – S B & A E Martin
40 – £139.50 (349p kg) – D G Long
41 – £142.50 (348p kg) – I Lucas
42 – £150.00 (357p kg) – S B & A E Martin
43 – £152.00 (353p kg) – S B & A E Martin
44 – £153.00 (348p kg) – S B & A E Martin
45 – £168.00 (373p kg) – P Gorringe
46 – £154.00 (335p kg) – Shaun Wickens
47 – £158.00 (336p kg) – P Gorringe
48 – £158.00 (329p kg) – S King
49 – £164.00 (335p kg) – Shaun Wickens
50 – £165.00 (330p kg) – S J Reeve & Sons
51 – £162.00 (318p kg) – K T D Axell
52 – £175.00 (337p kg) – N & D Attwood
53 – £169.00 (319p kg) – Shaun Wickens
54 – £168.00 (311p kg) – P Gorringe
55 – £170.00 (309p kg) – P Gorringe
56 – £164.00 (293p kg) – P Gorringe
57 – £164.50 (289p kg) – M Homewood
59 – £160.00 (271p kg) – H G Tompsett & Sons                 

Averages (p/kg) 

Standard 32.1 to 39 kgs – 557 – Top 376, Average 343.0
Medium 39.1 to 45.5 kgs – 909 – Top 373, Average 322.1
Heavy 45.6 to 52 kgs – 620 – Top 360, Average 311.1
Other 52.1+ kgs – 181 – Top 356, Average 296.3

Store Hoggets – 1,048 sold

Auctioneer: John Rossiter 07557 392903

Top price per head – £137.00 – P G & N L Brightling.

Over 1,000 penned this week and the quality of these has now just started to slip away as we move on through the season, with March just around the corner and a focus moving towards the 2025 lamb crop. Quality strong stores still sell very well when they are on offer and these topped at £137 this week form P G & N L Brightling. Strong stores are all over £120 head with really only long term types below the £100 level. Overall average £99 head.

Cull Sheep – 556 Sold

Auctioneer: James Cook-O’Connell 07780133678

Top price ewes: £200.00 – Wey Street Farm LLP & The North School YFC. – Ave. £115.63

A strong trade again with plenty of scanned ewes forward leaving consistent numbers in the pens week on week. The best ewes regularly £130 – £160 to a top price of £200 for smart Texels from both Wey Street Farm and North School YFC. Medium sorts £90 – £120 on most occasions with leaner grazing types £50 – £80 throughout with only very few sold below these figures. Please do inform me of any large consignments of ewes that you intend on selling in the coming weeks with the trade solid and numbers wanted to satisfy buyers demands.

Top prices included:

Texels to £200 – Wey Street Farm & North School YFC, Suffolk cross to £189 – G H Dean & Co, Zwartbles to £180 – F de Boer & Partners, Charollais to £144 – W F Kirk,
Mules to £140 – W J Hurley, Romneys to £140 – S Wren.

Cattle Sales Reports

Finished Cattle –  36 Sold

Auctioneer: Peter Kingwill 07795 200357

As dear as we have seen the finished cattle as extra retail butchers joined the fray to secure quality beef. Congratulations to all but particularly to William Alexander, and David Latham, for being the first to break through the £4 level and creating a New Record Price with a superb Limousin x heifer going well past realising 414p, £2357. Only moments later Sean Marsh and D W Ferguson took Sussex (New Native Record) and Limousin heifers to 408p and 405p. Many other well-bred beef cattle 360-399p, £2000- £2600, topping at £2668 for a British Blue x heifer from Leggat Farming.
Short of dairy bred this week with Alan Down`s British Friesians to 347p, £2044.
Natives on fire with Sussex steers to 392p, £2212, heifers to 282p, £2117 from Stephen Furnival. Angus heifers 367p, £1906 Dan Mackelden Ltd; 365p, £2267 J & A Lyon; 364p, £2326 W S Furnival; 364p, £2217 B G & M A Tomsett. Devon steer 363p, £1921 Leggat Farming.

Top Steers

W Alexander (Shoreham) – Limousin cross – 399p (£2371)
D W Ferguson Ltd – British Blue cross – 394p (£1692)
W S Furnival Ltd – Sussex – 392p (£2212)
W Alexander (Shoreham) – Limousin cross – 386p (£2043)
W Alexander (Shoreham) – Limousin cross – 383p (£2066)

Top Heifers

W Alexander (Shoreham) Ltd – Limousin cross – 414p (£2357)
S Marsh – Sussex cross – 408p (£2099)
D W Ferguson Ltd – Limousin cross – 406p (£1944)
G L Boulden & Sons – Limousin cross – 399p (£2232)
W S Furnival Ltd – Sussex – 382p (£2117)

Average prices

Steers 200 to 550 kg – 6 – Top 394p – Ave. 365p
Steers 551 to 650 kg – 7 – Top 399p – Ave. 353p
Steers 651 kg + – 1 – Top 336p – Ave. 336p
Heifers 300 to 500 kg – 4 – Top 405p – Ave. 340p
Heifers 501 to 590 kg – 13 – Top 414p – Ave. 368p
Heifers 591 kg + – 5 – Top 364p – Ave. 353p

OTM Cattle and Cull Cows – 60 Sold

Auctioneer: Peter Kingwill 07795 200357

Can anyone have foreseen just how this sector has risen in the last 12 months, and more particularly in the last month?
Reasonable numbers today but certainly more feeders than meat cows in the entry and everyone fought over to secure!
Meat regularly 250-280p with plenty of cows over £2000 selling to £2224 from C & J Georgetti & Sons whilst feeding cows saw a NEW RECORD PRICE of 366p kg from Andrew Price for one of his purebred British Blues.
There is no other place than the live market to maximise your returns with the interaction between slaughter and feeding buyers ensuring greatest returns.
British Blue 366p, £2248 Price & Shelbourne; Limousin x 284p, £1701 G L Boulden & Sons, 282p, 277p, £2224, £2005 C & J Georgetti & Sons, 246p, £1841 S J Cobden; Angus x 271p, £1839 W & P New T/A Moorhouse Farm, 250p, £1422 D Hurst; Devon 260p, £2050 Gillshaw Farm; Hereford x 262p, £1491 D J Cornforth, 250p, 248p, £1884, £1671 E W & R E Hanks; Simmental x 261p, £1667 H & S Nesfield, 257p ,£2090 Parrett & Son, 250p, £1672 D J Cornforth; Blue x 260p, £2102 E W & R E Hanks,248p, £1859 W & P New T/A Moorhouse Farm, 242p, £1425 H & S Nesfield; Sussex 249p, £1814 Gillshaw Farm, 248p, £1694 A B Jones & Ptnrs; White Park 244p, £1132 Dr A Martin; South Devon 230p, £1641 H & S Nesfield.
Dairy culls at another level with prices for meat and feeders at record levels knocking on the door of £2000 for the best fed cows. Feeding Black and Whites hundreds of pounds in front of their slaughter value and it is time that some dairies living in La La Land started looking after the interests of their producers, concentrating on milk and its products, and let their producers and the legislation worry about the meat trade. More processing beef is required yet misguided milk contracts insist on slaughtering perfectly placed late lactation cows direct from the farm to an abattoir rather than them finding an opportunity to go to professional feeders ultimately bringing more processing beef to the industry. We all know the dictates come from retailers above who want less competition in the supply chain but surely this where the likes of AHDB, Red Tractor and the NFU should voice opinion in supporting their producers who pay levies and subs every week?
British Friesian 247p, £1960 Parrett & Son; 246p, 244p, £1841, £1802 R & J Ledger; Ayrshire 219p, £1344 J Howie; Holstein Friesian 203p, £1539 J Howie. Holstein Friesian feeders regularly 170-210p?
Overage (8) Superb!  Sussex OTM heifer 339p, £2302; Sussex OTM steer 316p, £1893; Angus OTM steer 311p, £1785; White Park horned 3yo+ steers 246p, 242p (2), 241p, £1340 (2), £1286, £1284.

Beef Cows – 42 Sold – Top 366, Average 242.1
Dairy Cows – 10 Sold – Top 247, Average 206.6

 

Store & Breeding Cattle – 130 Sold

Auctioneer: James Cook-O’Connell 07780133678

Another cracking trade taking prices to another level with buyers out in force proving demand is sky high, and showing great confidence going forward. Hard British Friesian steers 12 mths from Ian Lockwood to £880, followed by Angus x Friesian steers 15 mths from Stilwell Farms to £1050. A Boyd & Co had a smart run of young Limousin 8 – 10 mths which look very well sold with steers to £1120 and heifers to £1160. Farrant Bros Hereford crosses 12 mths showed well and topped at £1170 for the steers, with the heifers £965. Outwintered cattle from I D Machin saw Hereford x Friesian steers 20 -22 mths to £1400, Blue x Friesian heifers to £1580, Angus x Fr heifers £1540 and Beef Shorthorn heifers £1470. A run of strong Sussex steers 20 – 24 mths from Bosney Farm topped at £1590 with other pens £1400 and £1390. P M Langridge had Limousin cross heifers 18 mths to £1430 with forward Angus cross steers 21 mths from J & A Lyon to £1730.
The current level of trade we are seeing is fantastic and there is no doubt that this live market trade is the way forward.
Please do inform me of any cattle you intend on selling in the coming weeks with a larger number already entered for Tuesday 25^th February.

Calves – 74 Sold

Auctioneer: Peter Kingwill 07795 200357

A really good mix of young fresh calves, older almost weaned types and some stronger 6-9 mths hard done stirks met an enlarged company of buyers who fought strongly pushing prices to a higher level.
All grades in demand showing the increased confidence in the rearing sector as store prices continue to strengthen and the finished trade goes from strength to strength.
Quality stronger British Blue x calves from Oncoland readily over £400, topping at £435 for bulls, and £430 for heifers. Fresher 2-4 week Blue bulls £200-£350 selling to £358 from D Murdoch & Sons; £345 from J W Boyd & Sons. Blue x heifers right up there with £315 D Murdoch & Sons; £305 J W Boyd & Sons.
Very few Angus with a nice medium bull from J W Boyd & Sons at £340; smaller heifers to £150 Appleton Farms. A few Black and Whites generally £40 – £70.
Weaned Calves (21) Plenty of interest in these hard youngsters as we get the year going. Hereford x Friesian steers 8-9m £475 Stilwell Farms; Angus x steers 4 mths £460 Oncoland; Angus x steers 6-9 mths £455, £390 Stilwell Farms.

Bull Calves

British Blue cross – 25 – Ave £298.28 – Top £435.00 – Oncoland Ltd
Limousin cross – 1 – Ave £70.00 – Top £70.00 – M S Clifford-Baynes
Aberdeen Angus cross – 3 – Ave £193.33 – Top £340.00 – J W Boyd & Sons Ltd

Heifer Calves
British Blue cross – 15 – Ave £225.93 – Top £430.00 – Oncoland Ltd
Aberdeen Angus cross – 3 – Ave £98.33 – Top £150.00 – Appleton Farms Ltd
Bull Weanling
Aberdeen Angus cross – 1 – Ave £460.0 – Top £460.00 – Oncoland Ltd
Holstein – 2 – Ave £189.00 – Top £208.00 – Oncoland Ltd
Holstein Friesian – 2 – Ave £170.00 – Top £170.00 – Oncoland Ltd

Steer weanling
Aberdeen Angus cross – 10 – Ave £435.50 – Top £455.00 – Stilwell Farms Ltd
Hereford cross – 6 – Ave £460.83 – Top £475.00 – Stilwell Farms Ltd

Forthcoming Auctions

Tuesday Livestock – 25th February 2025

Regular Weekly Market with a sale of Store and Breeding Cattle

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