Store Cattle

The weekly sale of Store Cattle at Lancaster continued to see the trade remain very strong as confidence in the beef industry continues to grow. This week the trade topped at £1330 for British Blues from JM & AG Swarbricks, Out Rawcliffe with other ones selling to £1310 from R & DM Rossall & Son, Pilling. Native cattle always created plenty of demand with Angus’ selling to £1290 from J & H Davis, Cabus with other Angus bullocks selling to £1270 from H Hesketh & Son, Longton. Charolais bullocks sold to a top of £1240 from DE & SM Moorhouse, Natland with Simmentals selling to £1230 from JW Atkinson, Bentham. 15% of the Bullocks forward sold in excess of the £1200 mark.

The heifer trade this week topped at £1240 for British Blues from R & DM Rossall & Son, Pilling with other British Blue heifers selling to £1180 from K & DE Woodhouse Ellel, followed by Angus heifers to £1170 from SH & LE Birkett, Nether Kellet and other Angus heifers to £1160 from K & DE Woodhouse. Limousin heifers peaked at £1160 from WT Eastham & Sons, Goosnargh. Plenty of pens of strong heifers sold in excess of the £1100 mark.

This week black and whites sold to a top of £1140 from D & K Swarbrick, Out Rawcliffe. Other black and white bullocks sold to £1060 from C Pemberton, Kingsley with others from the same home selling to £1040. Also achieving £1040 for black and white bullocks from ME & J Swarbrick, Stalmine.

There have been some impressive averages in the store ring today that saw all Angus bullocks average £1145, Limousins £1144 and British Blues £1125. The heifers saw all Angus’ average £1005.

Cast Cows

The weekly sale of cast cows saw an increased entry of 134 forward with the trade remaining very buoyant, although there was a slightly less market average of 129p/kg due to the larger number of parlour cows forward. This week the trade topped at 189.5p/kg for British Blue cast steers from TJ Robinson, Milnthorpe. This was closely followed by OTM Heifers selling to 184.5p/kg for Limosins from TE, JA & SA Carruthers, Underbarrow with Angus’ from FA Brown & Son, Burton in Lonsdale achieving the same price. OTM Black and white heifers sold to 164.5p/kg twice from H Halhead & Son, Nether Kellet and C & AJ Woodhouse, Millom. Black and white OTM Heifers regularly sold around the 160p/kg mark. Beef cows this week sold to 159.5p/kg numerous times with best dairy cows regularly selling in the 140p/kg range.

This week cast cows sold to a top of £1245 a head for black and whites from JS & KM Wilson & Son, Helsington with others from the same home selling to £1158. Other dairy cows sold to £1195 from H & SD Cornthwaite & Son, Nateb, £1128 from J Bargh & Son, Heaton with Oxcliffe, £1114 from L Burrow & Sons, Lower Tatham and £1101 from AW & AM Park & Sons, Ellel. Many more dairy cows regularly sold over the £1000 mark. Beef cast cows saw Charolais top at £1212 from GR Bargh & Co, Caton. Hereford cows sold to £1143 from GJT & V Parkinson, Preesall and £1132 for Bazadaise from EW & A Bradshaw, Stalmine.

A good number of cast bulls forward saw 7-year-old Blondes selling to 154.5p/kg or £1575 from MJ Whitwoth, Mount Pleasant with Angus bulls selling to £1346 from JF & J Hewitt & Family, Nateby with black and white bulls selling to 119.5p/kg or £1190 from JS & KM Wilson & Son. Young bulls sold to a top of 169.5p/kg for Simmentals from Barlow Bros, Croston.

Calves & Stirks

Lancaster held an additional mid-month sale of Stirks with there being strong demand. There was an entry of 136 forward selling to a continued strong trade. Leading the way this week were 10-month-old Charolais bullocks selling to £820 from DC Miller, Claughton on Brock with heifers from the same home selling to £740. Hereford bullocks at 8-months-old from A & R Partington, Horwich sold to a top of £800. Yearling Limousin heifers sold to £785 from Alan Thompson, Carnforth with Limousin bullocks from the same home selling to £780. Limousin bullocks this week topped at £785 from WJ & E Woodhouse, Nateby. British Blue bullocks topped at £770 from A & L Gardner, Quernmore who sold British Blue heifers to £750. November 2019 Hereford bullocks peaked at £725 from R & A Jolleys, Cabus.

There is always plenty of demand for native bred cattle in Lancaster with SM Rigg, Barningham Richmond making their lengthy journey worthwhile selling to a £720 for Shorthorn bullocks. In general, the trade continues to be as sharp as it has done this season with plenty of grazing bullocks and heifers still selling in excess of £600 for a much younger offering of cattle today.

Black and white cattle met plenty of demand today with September born British Friesian bullocks selling to £510 from R & J Parkinson, Preesall. This was followed by November born bullocks selling to £430 from CR & A Baxter & Son, Morecambe. All black and white bullocks averaged £411.

There was a reduced entry of 40 calves forward seeing the trade continue to be as strong as ever. Weanlings British Blue bulls topped the market at £460 from GH Sanderson & Family, Catforth. Angus bull calves peaked at £420 from J & G Thornley, Roseacre with month old suckler bred Charolais heifer calves selling to £415 from M & C Booth, Kentmere. Heifer calves topped at £400 for British Blues from J & G Thornley. British Blue bulls peaked at £385 from AD & R Milner, Claughton on Brock with Angus bull calves selling to £350. All British bull calves forward averaged £356 and all Angus bull calves averaged £336. Limousin heifer calves topped at £345 from W Stamper, Chipping. Once again, plenty of calves selling in around the £300 mark.

Weanling Black and white bull calves sold to £200 and £195 from RT Halhead, Cockerham with may born Friesian bull calves selling to £188 and £170 from WN & D Smith & Sons, Cockerham with other Black and White bull calves to £162 from AD & R Milner. Plenty of good quality black and white rearing calves sold between £120 and £150. All Friesian bull calves averaged £111.