Ten days calved and giving 28 litres, Mr Crisp’s latest leading performer then went on to claim top price in show when selling for £2,100 to show judge and regular Skipton dairy buyer, Andrew Townsend, who farms with his father Alf in Southfield, Burnley.

Mr Crisp, who sells all his fresh calvers at Skipton, arrived with another strong hand of five newly calven heifers. He also claimed third prize in this show class with a similarly bred entry, which made £1,680 when joining another regular buyer, Mark Goodall, of Tong, Bradford.

The second prize newly calven heifer and reserve champion came from Georgina Fort, champion at the opening October Craven Dairy Auction, who runs her own small dairy herd at her father Edward’s High Bracken Hill Farm on Silsden Moor.

Shown by Georgina’s husband, David Minish, the pedigree heifer, Hawbank Ballisto Buttergill, by the Genus sire De-Su Ballisto, was bought at Skipton last August out of Andrew Ayrton’s Hawbank dairy herd in Embsay. Returning 18 days calved and giving 30 litres, the overall runner-up fell for second top call of £2,050 to William Oldfield, of Gisburn.

Handy heifers sold away nicely, with father and son commercial breeders, Tony and James Swires, from Town End Farm, Stainburn, between Harrogate and Otley, selling a brace at £1,700 and £1,650. Newly calven heifers averaged £1,541 per head overall,

First prize in the newly calven cows show class was awarded to third generation Dales dairy farmer Ian Parkinson, of Holme House Farm, Barden, his second calver selling for £1,780, top price in class, to Richard Sutcliffe, of Queensbury. Newly calven cows averaged £1,363.

Rearing calves sell to £480
At the same day’s weekly rearing calf sale, the standout performer at £480 was an exceptional British Blue-cross bull calf from September show champion Alan Middleton, who trades with his family as JP&KE Hartley at Lane House Farm, Beamsley. It fell to Richard and Thomas Atkins, of Oakworth.

Overall, the 52 youngsters forward were a touch dearer on the week, with black and whites calves averaging £64.59 per head and trading to a top of £120 for an entry from dairy show judge Andrew Townsend, who also sold a Simmental-cross heifer calf at £350 and a Longhorn bull calf at £190.

Chris Watson, of Horton-in-Craven headed both the Limousin bull and heifer calf prices at £300 and £240 respectively, with regular vendor Fred Houseman, of Church Farm Enterprises in Burton Leonard, again chipping in with the £295 top price Blue-cross heifer calf.

Native calves were again good to sell, with seasonal buyers boosting the trade and helping to push Bolton Abbey-based Graham Hayton’s Aberdeen Angus steer calves to a high of £450.  

The next rearing calf show is the Christmas fixture on Monday, December 11