They secured another in a long line of title wins with their first prize newly calven cow, Newbirks Blueblood 910, by the renowned and much utilised Genus dairy bull, Bassingthorpe Bossman. The 14 days-calved second calver, which came to market giving a productive 48 litres, had also given 10,200 litres as a heifer at 5.8% butterfat.

Tapped out as champion by regular Skipton dairy buyer Aubrey Greenhalgh, of Preston, the milk-rich cow went on to sell for joint top call of £1,980 to another frequent purchaser, Brian Blezard, of Ribchester.

Also making £1,980 was the second prize 30kg fortnight calved heifer from John Ireland, of Thorpe Bassett, near Malton, which sold locally to another familiar face at the dairy ringside, Heslaker’s John Howard.

Standing reserve champion with the first prize newly calven heifer was another former multiple past champion, Mark Smith, who runs the Brackenlea commercial herd at Rookery Farm in Winterburn.

His 16 days-calved 25-litre Brackenlea Snowy Grunter 7 was, like Mr Smith’s recent Skipton victors, by the all-white dairy bull Aireburn Snowy, a top performer on the herd since being acquired from her local breeders, Brian and Judith Moorhouse, of Bell Busk. The overall runner-up sold for £1,600 to JC Marshall in Dacre.

The third prize newly calven heifer from Calton’s Robert Crisp sold for £1,420, again to Mr Howard, while the runner-up in the newly calven cows show class from Barden’s Ian Parkinson made £1,520 when joining Beamsley’s Alan Middleton for his family-run JP&KE Hartley trading partnership.

With 13 newly calven entries forward, pedigree heifers averaged £1,742 and their commercial counterparts £1,512, with newly calven cows averaging £1,666.66.

Calvert calves top weekly sale
At the same morning’s weekly rearing calf sale, the quality of the 69 head forward was not as strong as previous weeks, with many of the best calves being held back for the annual Christmas show.

However, the better end still found a ready market, with David Calvert, of West Marton, seeing the best of the trade with two strong British Blue bull calves at £370 and £380, a Limousin bull calf at £350, along with a £260 sale for a young Limousin heifer.

Native entries topped at £275 for an Aberdeen-Angus bull calf from Flasby Estates, with a lesser quality turnout of black and white youngsters selling to a high of £65 for a bull calf from Oakworth’s Samantha Sugden.

Continental-cross entries averaged £213.69 per head, natives £125 and black and whites £32.40.

Near £1,500 top for prime cattle
The weekly prime cattle sale of 22 under 30-month entries produced a top gross and by-weight price for the one and only entry from F&B Smith, of Westhouse, Ingleton, a 540kg British Blue-cross steer sold to regular buyer, Countrystyle Meats Farm Shop in Lancaster, for £1,498 or 277.5p/kg.

Trawden’s Jim Baines had a 605kg Limousin-cross steer at £1,436, which sold to Stanforths Butchers in Skipton, while heading the heifer gross prices were Threshfield brothers Charles and Richard Kitching with a 595kg Limousin-cross sold for £1,490, or 256.5p/kg, to Keelham Farm Shop for its Skipton store, with its sister shop in Thornton due to receive a 595kg Limousin-cross heifer sold by Malham Moor’s Bill Cowperthwaite for £1,455, or 244.5p/kg.

The leading price per kilo heifer was a 530kg Limousin-cross sold by the Critchley family, from Hutton, and claimed by another regular retail buyer, Hamlets Butchers in Garstang at 256.5p/kg, or £1,359.

There was another very good attendance of retail butcher buyers, with Keelham again having the largest haul of six, followed by Countrystyle Meats with five, Stanforths claiming four and three for Ellisons Butchers in Cullingworth.

A light entry of 11 cull cows produced firmer trade across all classes, with the overall selling average up 10p per kilo on the week at 92.52p/kg, or £592.10 per head. The top price performer at £960 and 145.5p/kg was an Aberdeen-Angus cow from Hurries Farm in Otterburn.

Prime lamb trade up 8p per kilo
Monday’s lighter turnout of 2,797 prime lambs produced an upturn in trade, which lifted 8p per kilo on the week to produce an overall selling average of 175.58p/kg, or £77.39 per head.

The smart end were again in ready demand, trading to a top per head and per kilo price of £109, or 272.5p/kg, for a 40kg Beltex-cross pen from Jim and Christine Scrivin, of Elslack, claimed by regular buyer Vivers Scotlamb in Annan.

Malham Moor’s Bill Logan also caught the eye with a 42kg pen sold at £108, or 257.1p/kg, to Paul Watson in Hellifield, with Whalley father and son, Richard and Mark Ireland, champions at the previous three monthly prime lamb shows, selling 39kg lambs to £97.50, or 250p’kg, these also falling to Vivers.

Both the above were again Beltex pens, with a total of 444 Beltex-crosses levelling at 210p/kg and a good list of other smart pens selling from 220p to 250p/kg. Outside these, handy weighted lowland-bred lambs proved good to sell all day, the next grade of better skinned three-quarters bred Texels making 190p-210p, a good first cross 185p-190p and most others around 180p.

Heavier lambs were a touch dearer on the week, the best end making 200p, or £95-£100, nice sorts 180p, £85-£94, and commercial types 160p-170p, £79 - £84.

More hill-bred lambs were on parade, with Mules also a shade dearer at 150p to 160p, heavier 46kg-plus lambs making £72-£77.50, topping at £80 for a pen from Whitby regular Mike Allen, with handy weight 42-44kg lambs trading at £66-£70. WA&A Booth, of Feizor, did well with a pen of 36 50kg lambs at £76.50 each.

Horned lambs were also dearer, the better end of wethers making 150p to 160p and peaking at 164.9p’k, or £61, for Swaledales.

Tighter numbers of cast sheep, 232 in total, produced a slightly improved trade, with cull ewes averaging £52.42 per head and selling to joint tops of £92.50 each for Texel pens from John Mellin of Black Lane Ends, and Lothersdale’s Geoff and Margaret Booth. Cast rams averaged £73.50.

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