Mr Downs, who runs his long established dairy herd with son David at Milnerfield Farm in Primrose Lane, Bingley – the family have farmed there since 1902 – secured leading honours with their three weeks-calved home-bred 30 litre heifer. She sold for £1,900 to show judge Andrew Townsend, who farms with his father Alf in Southfield, Burnley. They are regular Skipton dairy buyers.

Mr Stapleton’s reserve champion – he trades in partnership with his mother Shiela at Gildersber Farm - was a 17 days-calved 27 litre heifer acquired from her Bolton-by-Bowland breeder DE Graveston. The daughter of Cattrona Baart sold for £1,950 to Mark Goodall of Tong, Bradford, another familiar face at the Skipton dairy ringside.

Mr Goodall also paid the day’s top price of £2,020 for a newly calven home-bred heifer from local commercial Holstein Friesian dairyman Mark Smith, of Winterburn.

Also selling well at £2,000 was the third prize newly calven heifer from the Bell Busk Aireburn pedigree herd of Brian and Judith Moorhouse. Their 16 days-calved 35 litre Aireburn Endo Knierke, by their former stock bull, Endo, who was also responsible for the Moorhouses’ champion at the previous Skipton dairy show, was out of Aireburn Windbrook Knierke and found pastures new with Ribchester’s Brian Blezard.

Young stock sold by James Kayley, of Halton West, met some stiff bidding, with the best bulling heifer reaching £850 and all three of his entries selling to the Sowray family in Bishop Thornton at an average of £800 per head. Silsden Moor’s Alan and Susan Throup sold a trio of heifer calves from their pedigree Dalesbrad herd to a top of £420 and an average of £403.30 each

With 18 head forward, milkers sold to an improved trade, producing an overall average of £1,611.67 for newly calven heifers. National Milk Records again stepped in as keynote sponsor.

Spence top price rearing calf double
The same day’s weekly rearing calf sale attracted 45 head and saw Richard Spence, from Sutton-In-Craven, top both the heifer and bull prices, the former at £470 with a Limousin heifer calf claimed by M Smith, of Warley Edge, Halifax, the latter with a British Blue-cross knocked down for £430 to Tom Watson, of Sawley.

Limousin heifers were good to sell, with three making over £400, while Blue heifers sold to a high of £385 for a straight calf from Wigglesworth’s Johnny Moon. The overall Continental-cross average was £337 per head.

Native youngsters were dearer again on the week, selling to a high of £295 for an Aberdeen Angus bull calf from the Briggs family in Guiseley, with Mr Moon also heading the native heifer calf prices with another Angus at £220. The overall section average was £242 per head,

Black and whites averaged £92.47 each, peaking at £215 for a bull calf from Stephen Marshall, of West End, who also headed the Limousin-cross bull calf prices at £355, a call equalled by the top price Simmental bull calf from John Blackwell, of Gargrave.

This coming Monday features CCM’s latest rearing calf show and sale, with numbers required across all classes.