David Booth back with a bang on Craven Dairy Auction return
Several years after his last Craven Dairy Auction championship success, Lothersdale’s David Booth returned to the fray in fine style when clinching both leading honours in the show arena with home-bred heifers at Skipton Auction Mart’s opening March fixture. (Mon. March 9)
Mr Booth, who runs the Shawdale pedigree dairy herd at Broomhouse Farm with his wife, Margaret, and daughter Jenny, saw his first and second prize newly calven heifers tapped out as both champion and reserve by judge Brian Moorhouse, of the Aireburn herd in Bell Busk, which has itself bagged multiple Craven Dairy Auction titles.
The victor, Shawdale Expander Dragonfly 17, by Stantons Expander, out of a dam from the milk-rich Dragonfly family with five generations of VG and EX behind her, came to market 20 days calved and giving 34 litres. She sold for £2,000 top price to regular West Yorkshire buyer Mark Goodall, of Tong, Bradford.
Mr Booth, who established his Holstein pedigree herd four decades ago and now milks 140 head on three robots, took the reserve championship with his ten days-calved 30 litre heifer, Shawdale Atwood Alice 45, by Maple-Downs-I G W Atwood. She made £1,700 when also claimed by Mr Goodall.
Standing third in the heifer show class was another local dairy farmer, Mick Blackwell, of Priestholme Farm, Gargrave, with a pedigree heifer bred in South Yorkshire from the Thurlstone-based Dickinson family’s Royd Moor herd.
The mart again points out that more dairy cattle are required for milking by potential buyers from a wide area. The next dairy show and sale is on Monday, March 23.
Only 23 calves were put forward as many vendors held off to bring large runs to next week’s show. The rearing calves sale saw a good run on Blue Bulls from Joss Lancaster, which twice topped at £335, with his heifers fetching £295.
Blonde heifers sold to £250 from Mr Whitaker to Mr A Brown of Gisburn, and Black and White Bulls topped at £58 at an average of £41.