Peter Baul champion again and top price at Craven Dairy Auction
Bishop Thornton’s Peter Baul bagged back-to-back Craven Dairy Auction titles at Skipton Auction Mart. (Mon, Feb 10)
Fresh from a championship and reserve double at last month’s second show, he returned to claim top spot at the February opener with another newly-calven heifer, the only entry from his renowned Ravensgate herd at Watergate Farm.
His Ravensgate Dalliance Shiela 164 is by the Genus sire, Wilder Dalliance, out of Ravensgate Folio Shiela 5, whose own dam has given 10,000 litres across all of her five lactations to date, is still milking well at home and is again in calf for the sixth time.
Twelve days calved and giving 32 litres, Mr Baul’s latest frontrunner sold for top price of £2,180 to regular buyer Brian Blezard, of Ribchester, who has now notched up a notable hat-trick by claiming all three champions at this year’s dairy shows.
Judge Richard Throup, who runs the 100-milker Dalesbred pedigree dairy herd on Silsden Moor, awarded the reserve championship to his first prize newly calven cow from Calderdale’s John Midgley, who runs a commercial herd at Dean House Farm, Ludendenfoot.
The fourth generation dairy farmer was standing overall reserve in the dairy arena for the first time at Skipton, though he has won plenty of top honours with his pigs at the mart’s Christmas primestock shows. His fortnight-calved 40-litre third calver by a home-bred stock bull sold for £1,700 to C&JR Terry & Son, of Fountains.
Edward Fort, who runs the Silmoor pedigree herd at High Bracken Hall Farm on Silsden Moor, stepped up with the second prize heifer, Silmoor Armistice Peach 2, calved for 17 days and giving 26.5 litres. By the home-bred Silmoor Fever Peach, she made £1,920 when claimed by Alan Middleton on behalf of the Hartleys in Beamsley.
Robin Jennings’ Stainbank pedigree herd in South Stainley consigned four newly calven heifers, his run topping at £2,100 for one also sold to the Hartleys, another which stood third in its show class falling at £1,720 to Cowling’s Martyn Jennings.
The ten milkers stalled for sale met a sharp trade for better sorts, pedigree entries averaging £2,050 and their commercial counterparts £1,737, producing an overall heifer average of £1,841.
The mart says more dairy cattle are required to help fulfil buyers’ requirements with a good regular attendance of both local and travelled purchasers. The next show and sale is on Monday, February 24.
The same morning’s weekly rearing calf sale attracted 58 head, which sold to a high of £385 for a British Blue-cross heifer from Mike Longster, of Fellbeck, whose solid run of youngsters also included the top price £370 bull calf, another Blue-cross.
Blue heifers averaged £319, with buyers actively competing for the top end to go for bulling. Limousin-cross entries peaked at £275 for a bull calf from Gavin Herd, of Hebden.
Of the natives, all Aberdeen-Angus bulls sold around the £250 mark, while Angus heifers were away around £200, James Wellock, from Eshton, topping both sections with a bull calf at £260 and a heifer at £215.
The strongest black and white calves sold from £40 to a top of £60 for a bull from Silsden Moor’s Edward Fort, with an overall section average of £41.