Weekly Sales News – 7th September 2021

New Season Lambs – Top price per head – £136.50 – P & C Burden: Top price per kilo – 276p – T Lyle & Ptns & C A Worley Farming Ltd

Report on trade: A slightly smaller entry of lambs were on offer this week but quality was definitely high and demand strong which returned one of the best trades in the country with an average of 248p per kg, 15p ahead of many other centres on Monday.

Weight really did pay this week, as it always seems to do nowadays, with several pens breaking the £130 price barrier to a top price of £136.50 from P N & C Burden with the West & East Sussex journeymen P Gorringe & H G Allen & Son also achieving £136 and £135 respectively. Another run of note from Friday Street Farmers sold to average in excess of £120 for some very well finished lambs off just grass.

In the export section this week, numbers were down on recent weeks but the best from T Lyle & Ptns and also C A Worley Framing Ltd both sold to 276p. As we have been suggesting for a number of weeks now, finished lamb numbers are dwindling and the trade is strong so it makes sense to sell now.

Important: Please keep us informed regarding numbers for the Tuesday market so we can notify the buyers.

Auctioneer: John Rossiter

Report on trade: A few less cull sheep were penned this week and trade is slightly harder than in recent weeks with a number of leaner sorts on offer. These are finding homes with the grazing buyers at a good level still very keen for supplies.

Best meated continentals still made well in excess of £100 to a top price of £147 from J W Chadwick with a close second taken by C D & J Bishop at £140. The middle quality ewes would be have been less money this week with over fat and part meated sorts just slipping below £85 for the first time for a while.

Top prices included continental ewes to £147 from J W Chadwick, Suffolk crosses to £115 from S C Gammon and Romney ewes to £108 from M & D Prebble.

Report on trade: Demand continues to outstrip supply and 4 pens of Texel crosses offered made £74.50 to £82.

Please remember your store lambs are best offered and sold in our Friday sales from now on.

This Friday we will pen 6,500 store lambs and over 1,500 breeding sheep

Report on trade: Finished cattle remain in short supply and continue to sell at record prices. A run of smart Limousin cross heifers from W S Furnival (Brookland) took the pick of the trade at 257p per kg plus with the best £1486 (266p) and £1479 (267p) closely followed by Limousin cross steers and heifers at £1436 (244p) and £1331 (247p) respectively from W Alexander (Shoreham).

Dairy bred cattle were equally well sought after with a run from A J Down attracting prices in excess of 230p with Limousin x Friesian steers £1497 (235p) and £1347 (239p), British Blue x Friesian steers £1453 (235p), Limousin x Friesian heifers to £1381 (235p) and Hereford x Friesian steers looking well sold up to £1555 (231p).

Cattle with weight grossed well with Limousin cross steers £1609 (224p) and £1541 (238p) from Bullock Down Farm while Aberdeen Angus cross heifers topped the native entries at £1371 (229p) from W S Furnival Ltd and £1355 (232p) from G Stokes.

More cattle wanted to satisfy exceptional demand.

Report on trade: We saw another step up in prices this week with an extraordinary trade for a better show of cows with more flesh on offer and less plain lightweights. We penned mostly dairy culls today with just 11 beef cows. In these a Limousin cross cow from F Sole & Son hit the high note at 220p (£1183) whilst a well bred British Blue cow (13 yrs) sold to 170p (£1246). Fleshed Simmental cross cows from W Hurley made 179p, 164p and 155p. Best of the dairy youngsters made to 174p £1110 from J W Boyd & Sons Ltd whilst decent cows were readily over 140p topping at 144p £1128 from Huddlestone Farmers and 143p £1247 from M A & F W Owen. Nothing under 100p and that included the leaner and plainer!

Beef headlines were Limousin cross 220p £1183 F Sole & Sons; British Blue 170p £1246 (Non FA) F S Husk; Simmental cross 179p 164p 155p £1184 £1117 £1112 W 6Hurley; Hereford 143p £876 (Non FA) S J Taylor and Sussex 140p £970 (Non FA) K Hawes.

In dairy lines Holstein Friesian heifers 174p £1110 J W Boyd & Sons Ltd; Holstein Friesian cows 144p 138p 133p £1128 £1126 £995 Huddlestone Farmers, 143p 133p £1246 £1117 M A & F W Owen, 138p £1038 J W Boyd & Sons Ltd, 138p 136p 134p 130p £1155 £1054 £1010 R Torrance & Son, 136p (2) £1117 £1008 R & J Ledger and 138p £1057 Kingcott Dairy.

Report on trade: This was an exceptional trade for store cattle with price reflecting the strong returns available for the finished cattle. Strong stores topped at £1100 for 22mths British Blue x Friesian steers from P R Lanham with aged Beef Shorthorn steers to £1020 from E T Ledger & Son.

The highlight of the day was a run of 57 continental and Aberdeen Angus cross beef bred yearlings from R Brown & Daughter. As per usual the run attracted lots of interest from past customers and the Aberdeen Angus cross steers sold exceptionally well up to £1070 with the heifers to £860 and Blonde cross steers selling at £970.

Other smart cattle included 16mths Limousin cross heifers £1040 from Miss C Shelbourne and £930 from D J Miles. 10mths Sussex cross bulls made £860 from J C Loveridge.

More store cattle wanted over the coming weeks.

Report on trade: Small entry of breeding cattle forward today saw a British Blue cow with British White calf making for £890. 3 Pedigree Sussex heifers from K Hawes sold for £990.

Report on trade: With the smallest entry in the pens for a long time the story with the pig trade is a complete contrast to the demand for sheep and cattle. The current pig and pork trade is gloomy wherever you look. Supply of pigs to kill is well above demand here at home at the present time.

In the finished pig pens there were no real top grading pigs. 60p to 110p per kg covered all pigs sold with C Higgins seeing one pen of 3 grossing £97.

One cull pig was penned which made 24p.

The store pig pens were empty.

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

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

Mark Cleverdon (Pigs) 07741 845230

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

Tom Hamplett (Calves, weanlings, breeding cattle & rams) 07966 104532

** Hobbs Parker are pleased to announce they will be attending both the Weald of Kent and East Kent Ploughing matches and are sponsoring the East Sussex match **

The Stockpot Café at Ashford Market – fully reopened

Normal service has now resumed with the usual full range of eat in meals, snacks and drinks.

It was good to see the “Seniors” breakfast club meeting reconvened and continuing on Tuesdays!

We would respectfully ask that masks are still worn when queuing and away from a table in this area.

Bovine TB Test Dates

It is very important that the date (first part of test) is recorded on cattle entry forms for all cattle sold from TB1holdings. Any recent whole herd test dates from TB4 holdings must also be recorded. This information is critical to purchasers who may be required to test animals again and who will wish to avoid the risk of a false positive by testing again within the 60-day period.

Please advise of test dates when making cattle entries for cataloguing from TB1 Holdings.

Coronavirus Policy Update

The Livestock Auctioneers Association (LAA) welcomes the Government announcement that Step 4 of the Covid-19 road map will proceed as planned in England on Monday 19^th July. As the majority of legal restrictions end in England the Government guidance emphasises personal responsibility.

We have been extremely grateful of the support of buyers, vendors, hauliers and staff during this difficult and challenging period while restrictions have been in place over the last 15 months.

While we are delighted to welcome back farmers to the market, we encourage all our clients to remain vigilant and take the necessary precautions to continue to help protect public health. At Ashford Market, we will be following Government recommendations as from Monday 19^th July.

In particular we ask that you:

• Wear face masks in enclosed spaces and crowded areas including the cattle ring, sales office counter, reception and while queuing for or being served at the Stockpot counter.
• Use of sanitising and hand washing facilities

This policy will continue to help keep everyone safe and reduces the risk of our customers and staff having to self-isolate and will help to make sure we can keep the market and Stockpot open.

Thank you for your help with this

Please note if you do not 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

South East Farmer and Farm Machinery magazines

The September edition of this popular regional farming magazine is now available here in the market. Hobbs Parker is a regular contributor to the editorial content.

In addition, our Property Consultants Outlook for Autumn 2021, is included with this month’s publication and again are available here in the market. Articles from our Property Consultants team and Planning Consultants make interesting reading for all landowners and occupiers.

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

Required – Herd Manager for the Torry Hill Estate, Sittingbourne, Kent. A herd manager is required to manage a traditional pedigree Sussex herd in the North Kent Downs AONB.

Accommodation provided. Contact recruitment@torryhill.co.uk for further details.

For Sale – Litter of Spaniel cross Collie puppies for sale please call 07944 398818 / 01622 842105.

Romney Sheep Breeders news

The recent edition of the breeders Society newsletter, produced by breed secretary Julie Lukehurst, is available here in the market. For all society information Julie can be contacted on 07538 938425

Local Agricultural Show and ploughing match dates and news

Swale & District Ploughing Match – Saturday 11^th September at Greenway Court, Hollingbourne, Maidstone. For more information ring Chris Hildyard 01795 470556 (email chris@georgewebbfinn.com) or Andrew Mew 07759 320496

Weald of Kent Ploughing Match – Saturday 18^th September at Honey Farm, Munday Bois Road, Pluckley, Ashford, TN27 0SU (by kind permission of the Gwillim family). Full details available from Secretary Liz Copping 07872 501951or on www.wkpma.co.uk

** Hobbs Parker are pleased to confirm they will be attending this event **

East Sussex Ploughing Match – Saturday 25^th September at Priesthawes Farm, Nr Stone Cross, Pevensey (by kind permission of Mr Chris Wadham) – Full details available from Secretary Paul Croft 07752247469 or Croftjpcroft@aol.com

** Hobbs Parker are pleased to confirm they are supporting this event **

East Kent Ploughing Match – Wednesday 29^th September at Upper Venson Farm, Eastry near Sandwich CT13 0JH (by kind permission of the Ledger family. Full details available from joint secretaries Sarah Ledger on 07802 974 838 or Lorna Astbury on 07538 547 010 or www.ekpma.co.uk

** Hobbs Parker are pleased to confirm they will be attending this event **

Heathfield Agricultural Show Press Release

The 2022 Heathfield Agricultural Show, to be held on 28^th May, will be the 75^th anniversary of this much loved local agricultural show.

The Show Council have not been inactive during the past two years of cancelled shows.  They have ploughed ahead in moving the Show forward from being a Society to a Company Limited by Guarantee.  By doing this they have protected the interests of the Show members and moved forward in keeping in step with current legislation.

To celebrate the new Heathfield Agricultural Show name, they have today launched a competition to find a new design for the Show logo. Design entries are welcome from everyone (Ts & Cs apply).  Full details will be found at: www.heathfieldshow.org.

“We are looking for an exciting new branding for the Show that will reflect all that is loved by our visitors, trade stands, competitors and supporters.  The Show is known for supporting its local agricultural environment and people so it would be brilliant if somehow somebody could encapsulate this into a logo”, commented Nicola Magill.   “I am already getting excited in anticipation of the entries we will receive.”

“The winner will become part of the Show Story and the logo they design will be one we can use for many years into the future.”

Please contact the Show Secretary Secretary@heathfieldshow.org for further information.

Help and support from The Farming Community Network

A recent report by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) states that agriculture has the worst rate of fatal injuries of all the major industrial sectors.

Just three weeks after Farm Safety Week, the HSE has reported it has been notified of a further 4 fatalities on farms, including the death of a 3 year-old boy.

Usually there are simple actions workers can take to reduce risk, for instance.

1. Making sure to switch off the power to vehicles or machinery before attempting to carry out repairs.
2. Keeping people, especially children, away from moving vehicles.
3. Using the right equipment for working at height.
4. Ensuring, where possible, that cows with calves are not in fields with well used footpaths.

Risk management is a vital part of all work on farms, every job needs to be thought though and correct safety measures put in place.

Guidance about managing livestock, reducing the risks to children and the public and maintaining farm vehicles and machinery is available on the HSE website.

If you have been affected by a farm accident or are worried about farm safety in general or perhaps struggling with the pressures of a delayed harvest this year, please contact FCN via our telephone Helpline (03000 111 999) or e-Helpline (help@fcn.org.uk) or perhaps speak to one of our volunteers in the market.

Forthcoming store and breeding sheep sales

Monday 20^th September

Catalogued ram sale and the annual show and sale of South East Texel Groups breeding females and rams at 3pm

Friday 24^th September

Store lambs and breeding sheep

Friday 1^st October

Romney Day sale of ewe lambs, ewe tegs and breeding ewes together with Romney Sheep Breeders Society show and sale of pedigree rams

Friday 8^th October

Store lambs and breeding sheep

Friday 15^th October

Store lambs and breeding sheep including catalogued ram sale

Friday 29^th October

Store lambs and breeding sheep

Friday 12^th November

Store lambs and breeding sheep

Friday 26^th November

Store lambs and breeding sheep

Friday 10^th December

Store lambs and breeding sheep

Sales generally commence at 11am unless advised otherwise