• 14 thousand guineas (over 70 thousand zlotys) – that was the price achieved at auction on 14 October 2026 in Carlisle, England, for the most expensive Aberdeen Angus cow, born in 2017.
  • The Lawsons of Hallington South Farm sold 25 cows with calves and a bull at auction, and kept 10 heifers on the farm.
  • 1600 head of cattle at a single auction – the auction house Harrison & Hetherington holds sales every week.
  • About 75 percent of breeding and fattening cattle in the United Kingdom are sold through auction houses.

During our short trip to the United Kingdom, we had the opportunity to attend a cattle auction, focusing, of course, on breeding animals.

A herd from a 900-acre farm

The Lawson family runs Hallington South Farm, covering approximately 900 acres, or 364 ha. A significant part of its production is sheep farming, with a flock of about 1600 animals, while a herd of Aberdeen Angus cattle is also kept alongside it. 25 cows with calves and a breeding bull were sold at auction – 10 heifers remained on the farm.

Today we sold the adult part of our Aberdeen Angus cattle herd. The reason is my dad’s illness. Today was an emotional day, but we are very pleased that the top price was 14 thousand guineas and the average sale prices were also good, says Steven Lawson.

Speaking of prices, it is worth explaining the currency in which animals are traded here. Pedigree cattle are sold in Britain in guineas, a unit equal to 1 pound and 5 pence, so 14 thousand guineas is equivalent to 14 700 pounds.

The Lawsons’ farm focuses on pedigree commercial cattle, and the key breeding traits are those useful in commercial production.

We always try to breed good commercial cattle with a pedigree and an attractive appearance. The most important thing, however, is that the animals have traits desired in commercial production, the breeder emphasizes.

The business is based on selling breeding animals. The Lawsons also offer semen for artificial insemination, but breeding bulls are their main product. The next 10 bulls will go to auction in Stirling, Scotland, in February, with more to follow at an auction in Carlisle in May. In the past, the farm also exported animals abroad.

A few years ago, I think we had bulls in Romania. In the past, we exported our animals there, says Lawson.

Higher prices, but costs are rising faster

The situation for British livestock farmers is neither black nor white. Steven Lawson believes his farm is doing quite well at the moment. However, that does not mean they can rest easy. The biggest problem remains the rapidly rising costs of production—inflation is higher than the increase in cattle prices, so higher bills are eating into some of the gains from better prices.

I think that since Brexit, cattle and sheep prices have risen recently. However, rapidly rising costs of production are a major problem for agriculture. Inflation is higher than the increase in cattle prices. Personally, I think we are doing quite well at the moment, but we expect to lose a significant part of our subsidies. This will leave a large gap in farm budgets. I think this will affect farmers across the UK, says Steven Lawson.

Extreme weather conditions are an additional burden, making it significantly more difficult to manage the farm properly.

We had a severe drought. Winter was very wet, and then an exceptionally dry summer followed. The previous summer was also very dry. We are increasingly experiencing extreme conditions. Either it is very wet or very dry. This is making farm management increasingly difficult, adds the livestock farmer.

Weekly auctions and 1600 head of cattle at the market

Auctions at Harrison & Hetherington take place every week. According to auctioneer Scott Donaldson, on that day the offering included around 500 beef cattle, 400 young cattle, 300 dairy cattle and around 40 Aberdeen Angus breeding cattle. There were 1600 cattle in total at the market.

The company has a history of more than 100 years. It began with two auction houses in Carlisle, owned by Mr Harrison and Mr Hetherington, who joined forces.

In 1975, the company moved here, near the M6 motorway, one of the main routes in the UK. We have been operating at this location for more than 50 years, says Scott Donaldson.

The auction house record belongs to a Limousin animal that sold for 250 thousand guineas—which, if converted into Polish złoty, would be more than 1,35 million złoty.

Auctions remain the main channel for cattle trading in the UK, although the share of direct sales depends on the category of animal.

For cattle like these—breeding animals, beef cattle and young calves—the majority, around 75%, are sold through auction marts like ours across the UK. The situation is different for slaughter cattle. Around 75% of animals go directly to processing plants, while 25% go through the auction ring. We also conduct quite a lot of direct sales, but these probably account for around 25% of our business,” Donaldson explains.

Those emotions drive up the price, but what about us?

The sale of animals in the ring at the auction house in Carlisle illustrates a model that has been operating in the UK for decades: weekly auctions where breeders and buyers meet in one place, and the price of an animal is determined in front of everyone.

It is the atmosphere of the auction, competition among buyers, and excitement that can drive the price of the best animals higher than quiet negotiations in the barn would suggest. Price records are no accident, but the result of many years of breeding work; achieving them, however, would be impossible without the right setting. For Polish breeders, especially those selling pedigree breeding cattle, bringing this form of sale to our own market would be an interesting direction to consider.