Carlisle Sale

[Duncan MacIntyre]

The Scottish and Borders Group have just had a reminder from Kay Darnbrook about the forthcoming sale in Carlisle:-

"just a reminder to anyone with cattle for sale the entries for
Carlisle Sale close on Monday 8/8/11. Your cattle don't have to be
halter broken for the sale but if you want to enter them for the show
(£255 in prize money) they would have to be. If you want to enter but
haven't rec'd an entry form please contact Heather @ H & H 01228
406230. We had a good sale last year lets try & better it this year."

The sale is on Saturday 17th September. Last year was the first year for a long time any Dexters have been sold there, and it was a great success, average female prices marginally above the Melton sale that year, and quality of animals generally very good. It was good to see a good sale that I think on the whole pleased both sellers and buyers, I hope we can build on that success.

Duncan

[SteveM]

Duncan, is there going to be a get together on the friday evening like last year, travelling over after work on friday evening.

[Duncan MacIntyre]

Hello Steve,

yes there is a get together planned for the Friday night, at the "Auctioneer", same venue as last year. I think it will help if anyone planning to be there contacts Kay Darnbrook at planetreedarnbrooks@tiscali.co.uk with numbers. I don't know timing but probably about 7.30? I can't quite remember when we got under way there last year, a bit of a rush for me as I was trying to get any Dexters already in inspected that night.

I do hope it is as successful as last year - good numbers, good quality, and I think for the most part prices fair to both buyer and seller.

Duncan

[Duncan MacIntyre]

Latest update from the organisers

"DEXTER CATTLE ANNUAL SHOW & SALE
A t Carlisle Auction, Borderway Mart, on Saturday 17th September 2011.
Show commences at 9.00am, sale to follow.
For details please contact Harrison & Hetherington , Tel no 01228 406230
Telephone bids will be accepted, by arrangement with the auctioneers.
Over 80 head of cattle entered to date"

So it sounds like a busy sale, the catalogue should be up soon on H & H website I think.

Entries include about 12 bulls, about 60 cows and heifers, and about 12 steers. The entries represent a good variety of blood lines, anyone with a shopping list would be well advised to do some homework as there will be a lot of animals to look at.

Duncan

[SteveM]

The carlisle sale and the number of dexter entries gets a plug on the stackyard website.

http://www.stackyard.com/news/2011/08/b ... attle.html

good to see the breed and entries getting lots of publicity.

Hope to see some of you at the sale.

[Duncan MacIntyre]

Yes it is good to see the publicity going out, has gone as a press release to quite a number of newspapers and farming magazines.I'll paste on here updated info including the get together the night before. I hope to see folks there but will maybe still be inspecting entries at midnight - great to see such a healthy entry.

DEXTER SHOW & SALE

Borderway Mart, Carlisle
Saturday 17th September
Over 80 cattle entered
Telephone Bids will be accepted by prior arrangement with the Auctioneers if prospective purchasers cannot attend the sale.

We have booked a room at the Auctioneer Pub, next door to Borderway Mart, Rosehill on Friday evening from 6.30pm for anyone wanting to come and have a bar-meal and a chat the evening before the sale.

For further details and Catalogues:
Contact Heather Pritchard at Harrison & Hetherington
01228 406230
www.livestock-sales.co.uk


Duncan

[Duncan MacIntyre]

This link should take you to the catalogue for this sale, lots of poultry, sheep, and small numbers of other cattle but the Dexters will be far and away the biggest cattle section.

http://www.livestock-sales.co.uk/2011/r ... /0917.html



There looks to be a good variety of breeding there, and it should be almost all from 4 yearly TB testing areas, so if you are looking for stock, consider a trip to Carlisle.

Don't forget the get together on the Friday night, see earlier posts.

Duncan

[Denise]

Hi Duncan -I've also posted it up on the DCAI site (Australia) in case any of our members are travelling !
Regards

[Duncan MacIntyre]

Well, it will be interesting to see how many Aussie visitors we have, I will be leaving Isle of Bute tomorrow middle of the day to get to Carlisle before the entries start arriving.

Looking forward to seeing everyone, either in the mart or at the do on Friday night in the "Auctioneer"

Duncan

[Duncan MacIntyre]

Unofficial averages for the Carlisle sale are bulls 5 sold average £634, top £980 (Burnside Deacon); cows 22 sold, average £453 top £1100; heifers 28 sold average £349, top £750 (Harron Francesca); overall female average £395. Female average last year was £406, only 5 animals were unsold though a number were not forward.

Duncan

[Pennielea]

Reassuring prices and good to see that good animals fetch a premium price.

Ian

[clacko]

i thought the prices in general were a pretty poor average, if you take into consideration the top prices, it must mean that several animals sold for little money. the beef trade is on fire at the moment and after reading jacqui parkes very interesting article in the bulletin WHAT PRICE A DEXTER.."a worn out barren cow is £449.29p (dw 213.6kg @£2.08 per kg", then it makes you wonder who the winners really are, in this case it seems like some of the purchasers. i wasn't at the sale so can't comment on the quality. paul

[Duncan MacIntyre]

As an inspector I was happy with the quality of the animals present. Entries did not have to be halter trained and quite a number were subject to "visual inspection" only as it was not possible to do "hands on" safely. A crush was available had we had serious reason to handle any. All were in good bodily condition, good health, and there was no suspicion that the sale was being used as a "dumping ground" for poor quality animals. Possibly no serious "show stoppers" but a great many respectable practical cattle.

Some of the larger animals undoubtedly did sell very cheap and it would be possible to turn a good profit next week by hanging them up, but not all the lower priced animals went for slaughter.

The auctioneer worked hard to get maximum money for them, though it would have been good to see more. Several purchasers are now new Dexter owners, and some animals, including the show champion on the day, are going to Ireland.

The average price for females is only a few pounds less than last year,despite entries being about double, so all in all I think a reasonable sale. The average quoted is by my calculations, and is for all females including heifers down to 13 months old. Average price for cows is £453, which is not that different from Jacqui's figure.

This is also only the second year of making an effort to have a significant sale in Carlisle.


Duncan

[clacko]

my comments were not having a pop at you or the carlisle sale, but more in general,
we went to melton and took an bull with us that didn't sell in the ring, the prices were pretty poor in general also and i don't think the buyers were bidding for what ever reason. some of the cattle that went through were in my opinion pretty poor and some were good, if i was a first time buyer of dexters and went to the sale to view the animals on offer i would have had serious doubts about the animals i was seeing and may well have gone home empty handed. when we brought our first dexters from melton i think there was 50 odd for sale and the only unhalterd ones that sold was the ones that failed inspection which was very few, i think i paid 390 and 380 for the two heifers we brought and they were in the bottom end of the prices.

[Duncan MacIntyre]

Hello Paul,

I did not think you were "getting at" me or Carlisle, I usually know when I am being got at. I just think that for current times we did not too badly. Unhaltered cattle were allowed in, and there is a certain amount of fear that low quality animals would be dumped as has happened elsewhere, but this was not the case. We were afraid that last years good entry (40 something I think) would not be repeated - entries were doubled, though a few not forward. We were afraid the buyers would not be there, but at the end of the day only 5 were unsold. Lower prices were MOSTLY but not all, for younger smaller animals. The bottom end is always the dealers bid, but I think no matter where you are they over compensate for the standard slaughter charge for the small carcase and we never feel we have got a good butchers price.

If anyone else who was there likes to comment that would be good, just in case I am wearing my rose tinted specs again. I was of course pleased to see Burnside Deacon get the fancy rosette, though I hasten to add other inspectors looked at him. I had not seen him since I sold him at 18months - he was a credit to the seller Barry Marshall. I was also buying for someone else and think I got a few good buys. I spoke to a number of sellers afterwards and most were tolerably happy.

It is always difficult to strike the right balance inspecting animals for pedigree sales, too strict and the sellers are badly upset, too lax and the sellers do not have the assurance they were looking for. We seem to have good relations with the auctioneers in Carlisle, some elsewhere do not support inspection and the result, I am told, is dumping of very poor animals. Top show quality animals at auction sales are probably a rarity.

Duncan