Harehills herd hat-trick at Craven Dairy Auction
Sally Wellock’s Harehills pedigree Holstein Friesian herd at West House Farm, Oldfield, near Oakworth, rattled up a hat-trick of consecutive championship wins at July’s second Craven Dairy Auction show and sale at Skipton Auction Mart. (Monday, July 16)
She won her latest title with another newly calven heifer from her long-established Akretta family of milkers. This one, Harehills Akretta 754, was by the Genus sire, De-Su Topsy, and came to market 16 days calved and giving 26 litres. Picked out by show judge Andrew Townsend, of Southfield, Burnley, the victor was bagged for £1,650, joint top price, by Robert Metcalfe, of Brearton, Otley.
For good measure, the West Yorkshire dairy farmer also presented two further prize winners from her four-strong line-up of milkers. One was the first prize newly calven cow, Harehills Magpie 629, by another Genus dairy bull, Autumn-Ridge Matson. The seven days-calved 36 litre third calver made £1,100 when also joining Gargrave’s Colin Whitelock.
The other was the third prize newly calven heifer, Harehills Lobelia 753, another well-bred eight days-calved daughter of De-Su Topsy. The 27 litre heifer was knocked down for £1,480, again to Mr Metcalfe.
Repeating his reserve championship success at the opening July show and sale was Wilson Stewart, who runs the Straidahanna Holstein Friesian pedigree herd at Low Hesket in the Eden Valley near Carlisle. His second prize 22 days-calved 30 litre heifer, Straidahanna Brady Barbara, also made joint top call of £1,650 when becoming a third Robert Metcalfe acquisition.
Newly calven heifers averaged £1,502 per head. Dairy auctioneer Sam Bradley noted: “With the continuing dry weather, future feed stocks are now beginning to become a concern, despite farm gate price increases in milk.”
Solid trade for rearing calves
A much larger turnout of 62 dairy-bred rearing calves at the weekly Monday sale sold for some heady prices, with an increased number of black and whites doing notably well to average £80.64 per head, with a top of £140 for a strong bull calf from the same day’s dairy show judge, Andrew Townsend, of Southfield, Burnley. He also sold Longhorn heifer and bull calves at £160 each.
Of the Continentals, the leading performers on price yet again were Church Farm Enterprises, of Burton Leonard, with British Blue-cross heifers at £430 and £420, along with a same way bred bull calf at £400. The overall Continental-cross selling average was £306.33 per head.
A solid contingent of native calves saw Aberdeen-Angus bulls not over priced when averaging £258.75 per head, with heifers a straight trade at £170 across the board. The top price native was a £265 Angus bull calf from Paul and Janet Bolland, of Airton. The section produced an overall average of £188.40.
The first sale of stirks in the new Stirton ring attracted a large crowd at the ringside and produced a straight trade for the 16 head on offer, with Lincolnshire vendor Alan Twell the standout performers on price when topping the sale at £600 with a four-month-old British Blue-cross steer, also heading the heifer stirk prices at £500 with both Blue and Limousin entries, plus another Limousin steer stirk at the same price. All entries averaged £478 per head.
Dalesbrad dairy reduction sale today
Dairy farmers and breeders are reminded that today (Fri, July 15) sees the much anticipated on-farm production sale of almost 180 head of dairy cattle from Allan and Susan Throup’s highly regarded Dalesbrad herd at Higher House Farm, Silsden Moor.
The Throup family first moved to the farm in 1939 and have always milked cattle, establishing the Dalesbrad herd in 1995, with numbers currently standing at an all-time high and buildings full to capacity – hence the reason for the sale, which comprises 115 milking cows and heifers, along with heifer calves and young stock.
It will be conducted from 11am by Craven Cattle Marts’ auctioneer Sam Bradley, joined by guest auctioneer Glyn Lucas, of Harrison and Hetherington. The catalogue can be viewed online at www.ccmauctions.com