Livestock & Dairy: Bakewell Market

A bumper day in Bakewell with no fewer than 245 vendors consigning stock which totalled 772 cattle and 2,280 sheep.  Trade was respectable in all sections with plenty of highlights to report.

There are regulatory changes ahead to do with vet attestation.  Please see the detailed page included in this report.

The store cattle section had yet another increased entry with some 434 head on offer.

Trade very much as last week with top figures steers to £1,640 and averaging an eye watering £1135.

Heifers sold to £1,600 with the average £1,016 the first time it has exceeded £1,000 and surely a market record.  Feeding bulls sold to £940.

The finished cattle department was well supported with 147 on offer and a decent trade to match.  Top figures 324p and £2,233 with the average for the 63 heifers at 264.9p.

In the OTM section it is clear that farmers are weeding out possible passengers before winter.  There were 112 on offer, top figures 226p and £2,005 with the average looking healthy at 169.8 pence and the per head average back up at £1,091.

A larger entry of 79 calves saw bulls to £425 and heifers £400.

In the sheep department entries were good despite recent rain.

There were 1,581 lambs which looked well sold with top figures 326p/kg and £159.14 per head.

The SQQ average was 262.0p/kg with the overall which includes the very heavy lambs coming out at 264.5p.

The cull sheep section attracted 592 head with ewes to £180 to average £92.52 for a very mixed sample.

FORTHCOMING FIXTURES

Thursday 21^st September: Thursday Lunchtime Sheep Sale

Friday 22^nd September: Store Lamb Sale, Bakewell

Friday 22^nd September: Hungary Lane Farm, Sutton Bonnington, LE12 5NB

Thursday 28^th September: Farm Sale at Semi Bungalow Farm, Walsall, WS8 6LP

Friday 29^th September: Sale of Theaves & Ewes, Bakewell

Saturday 30^th September: Ram Fair, Bakewell

Saturday 30^th September: Farm Sale at Brook Farm, Little Packington, CV7 7HN

112 Barren, OTM and Feeding Cows overall average 169.8p/kg or £1119

(Auctioneer Oliver Hiles)                    

Average up 5 pence!

A superb trade this week with nicely over 100 cows on offer and all the regulars at ringside looking for numbers.  Demand is certainly high at present with cow meat very much in vogue.  If you have cows to sell, now is the time with trade improving weekly.  Best sorts today comfortably over 200p with a young Limmy from Bolshaw Partners at 222p and older cows (11yrs) at 220p for Messrs Bennett and a big Charolais for Geoff Stevens at £2005 (208p/kg).

Results:

Gross Prices:

65 Black & White and ex dairy cows ave 157.3p/kg

Trade better with a higher than usual percentage of B/W’s today as more ex-milk cows find their way to Bakewell to enjoy the trade.

10 best today over 174 up to 186p

Holstein types 160-170p

Leaner Parlour Cows 140-150p

Smaller Cows 130-140p

Only a few under £120p

The best today:

 3 OTM Bulls

9 OTM Steers

146 FINISHED CATTLE ave 251.9p/kg

(Auctioneer Oliver Hiles)

A bumper entry of cattle this week with a few extra buyers at ringside looking after the regular jobs and a couple of additional butcher buyers wanting the plumbs.

33 Young Bulls ave 223.1p/kg

Not quite the quality of last week but generally a similar trade.  Ben Jones had the best trio at 283, 278 and 277p/kg for his Blue x Dairy bulls with big lads from David Goddard up to £1908.  8 Herefords to 215p/kg, Angus to 220p and 9 B/W’s to 215p/kg.

Results:

Gross Prices:

51 Steers ave 254.8p/kg

A super entry with plenty of quality throughout the sale with well fed cattle commanding a distinct premium and looking the best sold.  Stan & Geoff Evans topped the bullocks with Limmy types to 315p (£2123) with two others at 300p at 293p.  Clive Bacon had 311p and David Brentnall 300p/kg.  16 Natives today with Herefords to 270p, Angus to 269p, Longhorns to 270p and Belted Galloways to 227p and 5 dairy steers saw Friesians to 222p and Holsteins 211p/kg.

Results:

Gross Prices:

63 Heifers ave 264.9p/kg

Like the steers a much improved average on a very good day in the clean ring.  All the best cattle comfortably over 300p with lovely Limmy sorts from HE Reddish winning the day and selling for 324p to RW Walmsley, Quality Butchers at Catterton, York.  Stan Evans had 320p for his heavyweight £2144 and Don Lownds also 320p (£2041).  16 Natives had Angus to 300p and Herefords to 272p/kg.

Results:

Gross Prices:

STORE & BREEDING CATTLE – (Auctioneer Alastair Sneddon)

Another steady increase in numbers with 434 on offer this week.

Plenty of buying power in operation and a good solid trade from start to finish.

It is worth noting that both steers and heifers averaged over £1000 a remarkable state of affairs.

There were no Breeding Cattle this week for some reason, but had there been any demand would seem to be strong.

There were 18 Feeding Bulls, to include:

 226 Steers ave £1,135

Some marvellous cattle in the entry both as individuals and bunched,

Plenty of interest at all price levels.  Angus crosses attracting particularly strong competition, but overall, an excellent day’s trading.

Sample Results:

190 Heifers ave £1,016

A grand mix of cattle in the entry to suit all requirements.  Particular interest in Angus crosses, but all sold well as the following results will demonstrate.

Sample Results:

79 CALVES (Auctioneer Ivor Lowe)

An increased entry met a slightly easier trade with plenty of people looking but trade certainly a little more cautious.

A smart Limousin Bull topped at £425 closely followed by a B Blue at £420, whilst heifers saw Limousins to £400 and Charolais to £250.

Black & Whites a similarly strong trade to last week to a top of £265 and overall average of £80.

Bulls

Lim                      £425     J Bradshaw & Co, Stockport

B Blue                 £420     RE Poyser & Son, Onecote

Char                    £315     J Shirt & Sons, Tideswell

Blonde               £300     SG Potter, Bonsall

Fries                    £265     C Shirt, Over Haddon

Hfrs

Lim                      £400     M Gregory, Perrydale

Char                    £250     J Shirt & Sons, Tideswell

B Blue                 £235     PL Boam, Monyash

Hfd                       £215     D Fotherby & Sons, Wormhill

1585 Lambs, 592 Ewes & Rams & 103 Store Sheep (Auctioneer Peter Oven)

A very good entry of 2280 sheep included 1585 lambs.  Despite a wet night Bakewell was very busy right from the start and trade outstanding for all types.  Best butchers lambs sold to 326p/kg and top gross of £159.14 with an excellent overall average of 264.54p/kg.

Leading Prices: –

Averages:

592 Cull Sheep

A good show of 592 cull ewes and saw a flying trade especially for the half meated types.  Best Texel ewes sold to £180/head with 12 pens selling over £150/head.  Best Texel rams sold to £172.

Ewes to £180                Ave £92.52

Rams to £172               Ave £153.00

Store Sheep

A special entry of 103 store ewes attracted brisk bidding with Dorsets to £119, Texel to £118, Suffolk to £115 and Mules to £104.