| 2013-11-26 |    |
Christmas Dairy Show Produces Mart Record Price
A new mart record price of £3,950 for a dairy animal was set at the Christmas Craven Dairy Auction at Skipton Auction Mart. (Mon, Nov 25)
It fell to the Newbirks pedigree Holstein herd of David and Claire Lawson, of Mill Farm, Arthington, the most prolific dairy champions at Skipton this year, who bagged yet another title - and all-time price high for them personally at a recognised dairy auction - with their first prize newly calven heifer.
Christmas dairy cheer. Pictured at Skipton’s annual festive Craven Dairy Auction are, from left, Kathryn Dewhurst, of Deosan, Brian Moorhouse and the reserve champion, the title winner and exhibitor Suzy Lawson, judge Stephen Coates and BOCM Pauls’ Phil Coleman
From the Newbirks Jazz family, with five generations of VG or EX behind it, the superbly bred daughter of the legendary Genus sire Picston Shottle was shown by the couple’s daughter, 19-year-old Suzy Lawson, who has been milking the family dairy herd since March this year.
Three weeks-calved and giving 34 litres, the victor was the subject of lively bidding, before being knocked down for a new Skipton record high to Stephen Jeanes, of the Birks Farm pedigree dairy herd on Glusburn Moor, of which his son Edward is at the helm.
Lawson breeding lines are popular with the Jeanes family, who have bought previous Skipton champions from the Wharfedale dairy farmers. “We know they are good,” commented Mr Jeanes Snr, who said they would again breed from their latest acquisition, utilising tried and tested top-notch AI dairy sires.
The Christmas dairy fixture attracted an outstanding three-figure entry of 106 dairy animals, described by show judge Stephen Coates, of the Bailmoor Holstein herd in Baildon, as “a fantastic array of cattle right through from maidens to milkers, with an outstanding group of heifers.”
He again turned to the newly calven heifer class for his reserve champion, the second prize winner from Craven Dairy Auction regular and multiple past champion Brian Moorhouse, of Hesper Farm, Bell Busk. His home-bred Holstein Friesian, a month calved and giving 33kg, is by the Semex sire Rietben Tee Off, out of a strong cow family. She sold for £2,400.
The Stainbank pedigree herd of Robin Jennings in South Stainley presented the third prize newly calven heifer, sold for £1,850 to WP Grattan, of Brimham Rocks, while Robin’s cousin Andrew Jennings, who runs the Abbeyhouse pedigree herd at Fountains and was the 2012 Christmas show champion, again chipped in with the second prize newly calven cow, which headed the pedigree prices at £2,020 on joining Wick Williams, of Nantwich.
The first and third prize newly calven cows both came from South Yorkshire vendor Philip Penrose, of Silkstone, Barnsley. The victor topped the commercial cow prices at £2,150 on joining Mark Goodall in Tong, while the third in class sold for £2,100 to the Wilson farming family from Penrith.
There was clean sweep of the prizes in a standalone show class for newly calven Brown Swiss heifers for mart regulars David and Pauline Brown, of Ramsgill, which sold to a high of £1,720 to Wick Williams, at an average of £1,640.
The Browns also presented the first prize in-calf heifer, a pedigree Brown Swiss sold for £1,480 to B Haigh, of Oxenhope, with the second and third prizes falling to black and whites from Kelbrook’s Henry Wilson. The runner-up sold for £1,350 to MR&GP Beresford, of Halton West.
RE Ayrton & Son, of Eastby, stepped forward with the first prize maiden heifer, sold for £980 to Laycock’s Samatha Sugden.
Alan Throup, of Silsden Moor, had the pick of the young stock trade when selling a brace of ten-week-old heifer calves, one of them the third prize winner in the maiden heifer show class, for £500 each to TH Gibson, of Kendal.
Also notable at £2,180 was the top price newly calven commercial heifer from Calton’s Robert Crisp, which joined John Howard in Carleton.
Pedigree newly calven heifers averaged £2,134 and pedigree newly calven cows £1,960, with the selling average for commercial counterparts £1,845 for heifers and £2,123 for cows. In-calf heifers averaged £1,005.
The fixture also featured a dispersal sale of 30 in-milk dairy heifers and cows – predominantly Holstein Friesian with a number of Swedish Red-cross - on behalf of Peter North, of EH North & Son, based at Calverley House Farm, Calverley, who is going out of milking. They sold to a high of £1,900 twice at an overall average of £1,522 per head.
Skipton Auction Mart’s dairy auctioneer Sam Bradley noted: “Trade, although a little tentative at the start, soon warmed up, with the majority of vendors receiving a strong trade. All in all, a great day and further proof that we can sell big numbers - and sell them well.”
The Christmas show was again supported by regular sponsor BOCM Pauls, joined by Deosan Farm Intelligence..
