Ayrtons take title as rearing calf shows make welcome return at CCM Skipton
Rearing calf shows made a welcome return at Skipton Auction Mart on Monday for the first time since January and bridging the gap to lift the title on resumption were local husband and wife, Andrew and Louise Ayrton, of Bower House Farm, Eastby. (Mon, May 17)
The couple – Louise is responsible for calf rearing and feeding – saw its first prize British Blue-x bull calf tapped out as champion by Hellifield show judge Tom Panter. Born mid-April and by the young Genus test sire, Numero Uno, out of a Hawbank dam, the victor sold for £430. The third generation tenant farmers, who run a 230-strong Holstein Friesian dairy herd, also consigned the second prize Limousin-x bull calf, by their own stock bull, Oxford. It sold for £420.
Multiple past title winners, the Sowray brothers - Shaun, Peter and Paul - who run their Holstein Friesian dairy herd at Bowes Green Farm, Bishop Thornton, again did well when picking up five tickets in total, chief of which was their first prize and reserve champion Limousin-x bull calf, by a bull acquired two years ago from the Houseman family in nearby Burton Leonard. It fell for £470.
A solid turnout of 66 calves comprised 25 Blue bulls, 20 of them out of Friesians averaging £443. Heading the section at £465 was the third prize winner from the Hartley farming partnership in Beamsley.
Limousin bull and heifer calves were much dearer on the week, with multiple buyers for quality goods. Clitheroe’s D Rawsthorne sold suckler-bred Limousin-x bulls to £580 top call twice, plus another at £540, along with the top price same way bred heifer calf at £520.
The Pickersgill family, from Hawksworth, picked up a brace of red rosettes with both Limousin and black and calves, the latter topping its section at £190. The overall black and white selling average was £109.
Of the natives, Aberdeen-Angus bulls sold well, the Walmsley family, from Harrogate, topping at £395 with their first prize six-week-old bull calf.