The Calverts made a clean sweep of the prizes in the show class for newly calven cows. Their runner-up, Calton Bon Air Mary, by the Semex sire Karona Bon Air and giving 50-plus litres after also calving for the fourth time, sold for £1,250 to SM Liddle & Sons, of Huby.

However, it was the third prize winner, Calton Mario Marqui, by Mario Xacabeo, out of a dam with 13 generations of VG or EX behind her, that proved their leading performer. The third calver, giving 30 litres, headed the class prices at £1,650 when joining the Tewitt Hall pedigree dairy herd of the Sharp family in Oakworth.

Mr and Mrs Calvert, who now have a brace of Craven Dairy Auction championships under their belt, plus two reserve championships, sold five newly calven cows in total at what represented the third portion of their ongoing dispersal sale. They still have around 80 dairy cows at home, with some quality newly calven heifers still to come forward.

Show co-judges, brothers Malcolm and Stephen Abbott, of Dacre, Harrogate, awarded the reserve championship to the first prize newly calven heifer from first-time Craven Dairy Auction exhibitors, brother and sister Sam and Louise Wood, who trade as KT Wood & Son at Broadwood Edge Farm, Holcombe, Bury.

The three weeks-calved heifer, giving 28 litres, is by the Woods’ stock bull, a well-bred Braedale Goldwyn son, and she proved the day’s star when topping the  trade at £1,820 and returning to Lancashire with regular buyers Alf and Andrew Townsend, of Southfield, Burnley.

The Woods family brought three newly-calven heifers on their first ever visit to Skipton and were also rewarded with the third prize in class with a Picston Shottle granddaughter, again three weeks calved and giving 29 litres. She sold for £1,700 to another regular buyer, Mark Goodall, of Tong, Bradford.

The Woods are third generation dairy farmers and while all three Skipton entries were commercial dairy cattle, they also run the Alderwood pedigree Holstein Friesian herd, established in the 1950s. They are currently milking 110 cattle and also run Wood Family Dairy, bottling their own milk and delivering it to customers across Bury and Rossendale.

Eric and Sally Wellock,from Oakworth, were responsible for the second prize newly calven heifer, which sold for £1,480 to local buyer John Howard, of Heslaker.

In the show class for in-calf cattle, first and second prizes were awarded to entries from the Oxenclose pedigree herd of I Oliver & Partners in Darley. They both sold well at £1,380 and £1,160 to the same buyer, Gargrave’s David Shuttleworth.

David Leeming, from Burnt Yates, was also represented by four newly calven heifers and two second calvers, as he conducted the second part of his commercial dairy herd dispersal sale. His entries topped at £1,420 for a heifer bought by D Clarke, of Hampsthwaite.

The 23-strong entry saw supply and demand finely balanced around the ring. Pedigree newly calven heifers averaged £1,460 per head and their commercial counterparts £1,372, with newly calven cows averaging £1,440. Show sponsors were Shepherd Agri, NMR and VG Energy.

Blue youngsters lead calf trade..



British Blue-cross youngsters again led the trade at Skipton’s weekly rearing calf sale, with top price of £515 falling to a heifer from EB&JR Worthington, of Ramsbottom, with another Blue-cross from James Kayley, of Halton West, heading the heifer calf trade at £380. The overall Continental-cross average was £355.58 per head.

Gargrave’s HJ&K Blackwell sold a Simmental bull calf at £425 and were also responsible for the top price native heifer calf, a Hereford at £190. The native average was £165 per head.

Black and white prices peaked at £170 for a bull calf from JG Hall & Son, of Gargrave, averaging £82 per head overall. Attention now turns to the seasonal calf show this coming Monday.