Winterburn champion heifer bags £2,600 top call at CCM Dairy Auction
Trade was swift for October’s first Craven Dairy Auction show and sale at Skipton Auction Mart,
when prices peaked at £2,600 for the champion, a black heifer calved on September 22 and already giving 36kg as part of the local 120 cow robot-milked herd of Mark Smith and team at Winterburn, Picked out by judge Martyn Jennings, of Cowling, she headed to ringside regular Mark Goodall in Tong, Bradford. (Mon, Oct 11)
The Aireburn pedigree herd of Bell Busk’s Brian and Judith Moorhouse again figured among the prizes when consigning the second placed heifer sired by Hartley and from the herd’s high fat yielding Helena family. She made £2,220 when joining another regular dairy buyer Brian Blezard at Ribchester.
Martin Petch, again travelling down from Great Ayton, saw his 43kg heifer by Doorman make £1,850 and she was one of the three heading home with Mr Goodall. Heifers in milk averaged £2,233 overall.
Barden’s Ian Parkinson stood reserve champion when selling the last of his 2021 crop, a third calved very youthful cow for £1,600, while Alan and Jack Wilson, from Green Hammerton, continued their dispersal with a five-strong run - an in-milk fifth calver, three in-calf cows and an in-calf heifer. Trade for those in calf to Limousin, Saler and Holstein was swift and the quintet found new homes among four new owners, with the batch averaging £1,310.
Show sponsors were National Milk Records (NMR), Skipton NFU and Mulberry Farming. Some of the many potential buyers present returned home empty handed and CCM’s dairy sales co-ordinator Sarah Liddle says more dairy cattle are required for future fixtures, the next being on Monday, October 25.