CALVES & WEANLINGS

An entry of 98 weanlings and reared calves sold to a fast and animated ring side of buyers, all keen to secure replacement stock. Bull calves sold to a top price of £600 on three occasions for Charolais x bulls from JH Towers & Son, Tunstall who sold others at £590 and a Limousin x at £560. Other strong bull calves sold to £510 for British Blue x from W Conder & Son, Gressingham who sold others at £490. Younger bull calves sold to £440 for a British Blue from Messrs Dennison, Ulverston with others at £430 from A Pickthall, New Hutton, £410 from HJ Robinson & Son, Preston Patrick and £390 from JW&TE Sharp Ltd, Lyth. An eye-catching entry of month-old Blonde calves from R Heath, Bootle sold to £240. Native sired bull calves sold to £450 for a Hereford x from W Conder & Son with Aberdeen Angus x also achieving £450 from JH Towers & Son, Tunstall. Younger native bull calves sold to £265 for a month old Aberdeen Angus x from WB Winder & Co, Broughton in Furness.
Heifer calves sold to £480 for British Blue x and Limousin x from JH Towers & Son who also sold others at £470. W Conder & Son sold British Blue x at £420, with JW&T Sharp Ltd selling British Blue x to £390 on three occasions. Younger heifer calves sold to £285 for British Blue x from HJ Robinson & Son, Preston Patrick with others to £275 from FB Dunning & Son, Orton.
A small entry of weaned calves sold to £620 for British Blue x heifers from JW&J Collin, Barnard Castle who sold others at £590 and £580. Weaned British Blue sold to £490 for steers from WB Winder & Co, Broughton in Furness with Aberdeen Angus at £480 from the same home.

CAST COWS

Another strong entry of 70 cull cows sold to an overall market averaged of 196p/kg, with over half the entry being dairy bred cows. Beef cows sold to 229.5p/kg for a Hereford x from G&ID Postlethwaite with Limousin x selling to 219.5p/kg from D&P Johnson, Dalton in Furness and Bazadaise also achieving 219.5p/kg from MP&CE Buckley, Ings. Medium beef cows were generally 195-210p/kg with most going for further feeding. Heavy weight dairy cows sold to 219.5p/kg for a Holstein Friesian from Jenkin Cragg Farms, Kendal. Others were at 207.5p/kg from Messrs Dennison, Ulverston with others regularly achieving 190-205p/kg, parlour types 175-190p/kg with the leanest sorts 155-170p/kg. Top grossing cow today was Holstein Friesian from C Preston, Millom which achieved £1744 with beef cows selling to £1666 from CR Alderson & Son, Kirkby Stephen.
OTM heifers sold to 239p/kg for a British Blue x from JA&J Harper, Sedbergh. It was a Fleckvieh from R&J Dodgson, Natland which topped the sale at £1554.
A large entry of OTM steers saw Limousin x from S&M Cooper, Leece sell at 259.5p/kg and 1663. A consignment of over age Highland steers from the IOM saw a top price of 214.5p/kg with others at 211.5p/kg, 209.5p/kg and regularly achieving 190-205p/kg. Top grossing Highland steer which achieved £1294 with others at £1269 and £1263.
A single cull bull sold to 169.5p/kg and £1720 for a Luing from SM Watson, Ulverston.

STORE CATTLE

The store cattle sale commenced with the show and sale of the young handlers over wintering competition cattle. North West Auctions would like to congratulate all the young handlers taking part, they were a real credit to themselves. The judging was in the capable hands of Miss Fiona Jowett, Bradford who did an excellent job. Awarding the prizes as follows:

Class 1- Gross Profit Margin
1st B Dodgson, Spital Farm- £640 (selling for £1490)
2nd J Winn, High Underbrow Farm- £510 (selling for £1690)
3rd K Aiken, Moss House Farm- £490 (selling for £1500)

Class 2- Highest Average Daily Weight Gain
1st J Winn, High Underbrow Farm- 1.07kg (selling for £1690)
2nd B Dodgson, Spital Farm- 1.03kg (selling for £1490)
3rd R Aiken, Moss House Farm- 1.01kg (selling for £1700)

Class 3- Presentation and Handling Skills
1st M Beresford, Angerton Hall Farm- £1190
2nd K Aiken, Moss House Farm- £1500
3rd R Aiken, Moss House Farm- £1700

Class 4- Best Female Animal
1st R Aiken, Moss House Farm- £1700
2nd B Dodgson, Spital Farm- £1490
3rd H Dodgson, Spital Farm- £1380

Class 5- Best Male Animal
1st J Winn, High Underbrow Farm- £1690
2nd M Beresford, Angerton Hall Farm- £1190
3rd J Beresford, Angerton Hall Farm- £1540

Champion- R Aiken, Moss House Farm

Reserve Champion- J Winn, High Underbrow Farm

The Grass Day show had the best entry of quality cattle seen to date at Junction 36, which we congratulation our vendors for turning out such high-quality cattle. We would like to take this opportunity to thank our sponsors North West Limousins, The Milking Parlour Ice cream, Murray Farmcare and Cornthwaites Group. The pre sale show was in the hands of Mr Matthew Brown, Bridlington after much deliberation he awarded the results as follows:

Class 1- Limousin Steer
1st S Procter, High Biggarsbank- £1620
2nd RH&C Ayrton, Ouzelthorn Farm- £1680
3rd M&L Preece, High House- £1310

Class 2- Limousin Heifer
1st N Cooper & Son. Troughton Hall- £2500
2nd N Cooper & Son. Troughton Hall- £1520
3rd JA&KJ Allen, St Annes Farm- £1490

Class 3- British Blue Steer
1st N Cooper & Son. Troughton Hall- £1120
2nd EM Winspear, The Coach House- £1320

Class 4- British Blue Heifer
1st RH&C Ayrton, Ouzelthorn Farm- £1660
2nd N Cooper & Son. Troughton Hall- £1400
3rd N Cooper & Son. Troughton Hall- £1600

Class 5- Any Other Breed Steer
1st SJ&NS Wood, Causeway Farm- £1045

Class 6- Any Other Breed Heifer
1st SJ&NS Wood, Causeway Farm- £1065

Champion- N Cooper & Son. Troughton Hall
Reserve Champion- RH&C Ayrton, Ouzelthorn Farm

70 buyers were present from North Wales, the Midlands, South Scotland, as well as strong attendance from the Northern counties, ensuring a fast trade was seen from start to finish with all cattle selling well above expectations.
An outstanding Limousin heifer from N Cooper & Sons, Broughton in Furness sold to the sales top price of £2500. A massive interest was seen for N Cooper & Sons heifers, which were fit to bull with British Blue heifers from this good home selling to £2000. Strong dairy bred British Blue heifers from KG&LM Park, Witherslack topped at £1800 with a full pen from the same home selling to £1760. An outstanding run of home bred cattle from RH&C Ayrton, Abbeystead saw a pair of Limousin bullocks sell to a top of £1750. A keen interest was seen for all bulling heifers today at Junction 36 with these regularly selling at the £1550-£1700 mark. Yearling bullocks saw a top of £1620 from S Proctor, Selside with the best end yearling bullocks selling at the £1450 to £1580 mark. Yearling grazing bullocks were regularly £980 to £1100, with nice yearling grazing heifers £950 to £1100. All cattle sold averaged £1110, ranging from 6 to 29 months.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the vendors and purchasers for the patience with todays sale and their continued support at North West Auctions.