FARMING MATTERS: Farm sale attracts visitors from afar

I've been to a lot of farm sales over the years, and they are always interesting things to see.

Years ago a farm sale would involve the livestock and dead stock.

A special mobile auction ring would be set up and cattle and sheep would be sold on the day of the sale.

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These days animals are sold separately through private sales or at market, and farm sales deal only with the dead stock - the machinery, equipment and similar items.

Farmers and other interested buyers will travel from far and wide and on the day of the sale if there is something in the catalogue that takes their interest.

Mobile loos are set up and refreshments are on sale, as people can be there for hours .

We popped along to a sale recently because there was a quad bike sprayer for sale, and while there I enjoyed a very tasty bacon roll.

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The weather was not great on the day, cold, overcast and drizzly, but the car parking field was full of Land Rovers, pick up trucks, vans and lorries as interested visitors arrived to view the items laid out across the fields for inspection.

Included in the lots was an eclectic mix of tools, livestock, grassland and arable equipment, trailers, and tractors.

The items for sale tell a story of the farm’s history, but can also include lots from other farms.

Individual items at the sale we attended included calf pens, a couple of cattle crushes, toppers, spring tine harrows, a hedge trimmer, power harrows, a mole plough, tipping trailers, bale trailers, a quad bike, a four berth caravan, a bale spike, Merlo buckets, a yard scraper, sheep hay racks, fencing, chains and poultry feeders.

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The tractors on sale included four Massey Fergusons and a Ford New Holland.

I always think it must be a very poignant day for the family involved in the sale, watching their life go under the hammer.

Selling a farm is a very long process as there are so many aspects to it, and the day the dead stock is sold is just one of them.