Livestock Champions to Judge Borderway Agri-Expo
2011-05-30

The organisers of Borderway Agri Expo, Harrison & Hetherington have announced the judging panel for their annual event to be held in Carlisle on Friday 28th October. The experts who will be awarding the prestigious £10,000 Prize Fund are well known champions in their own right – Archie MacGregor, John Robertson and Andrew Atkinson.

Archie MacGregor will be judging
the main cattle classes

Archie MacGregor, of Allanfauld Farm, Kilsyth, near Glasgow, will be judging the main cattle classes, and is no stranger to the show ring himself. He has also judged at many of the UK’s leading livestock events including UK Smithfield, Beef Expo and the Irish Christmas Show in Belfast. He says “I first started showing in 1975 and we have bred four Smithfield champions of our own. Until recently we showed our own livestock at the Scottish Winter Fair and several of the summer shows. I visited the Borderway Agri-Expo last year and was very impressed with the event and am delighted to have been invited to judge.”

The MacGregors have been farming since 1926, consistently producing prize winning stock from their herds of Charolais and Limousin Cattle and 1200 Blackface Ewes, 200 Mule ewes and 40 pure Texels. The Charolais herd was established on their 1400 acre farm in 1970 followed by the Limousin Herd in 1985 and Archie now farms with his son.

Judging the Baby Beef Classes will be John Robertson who farms at Newton of Logierait, Ballinluig, Pitlochry. His own suckler herd is a mixture of British Blue and Limousin cattle and he also has 650 ewes, mainly Texel Cross. Focusing on breeding top quality commercial cattle, John has had many successes in the showring, including Champions at Smithfield and the Scottish Winter Fair.

Speaking about his role at the event he said, “I have judged the Baby Beef Class at the Scottish Winter Fair in the past so I am looking forward to going down to Carlisle to judge at Agri-Expo 2011, and it is a real honour for me to be invited. I will be looking for the style and class needed for a nice butcher’s animal rather than extreme muscle.”

The main sheep classes judge is from South of the Border. He is Andrew Atkinson from Croft House Farm, in Felliscliffe, Harrogate, Yorkshire. A regular purchaser at Harrison & Hetherington’s Kirkby Stephen Auction Mart, Andrew finishes in the region of 10,000 hoggs and between 500 and 1200 cattle. Andrew who has judged at the Royal Smithfield Show twice and other Yorkshire shows says, “This is the first time I have taken part in the Borderway Agri-Expo and based on its reputation I know there will be some fantastic sheep classes. During the judging I will be scanning the ring for full-fleshed animals with supreme carcase quality.”

The show also puts on a special class for North of England Mule ewe lambs and this has attracted enormous interest at the previous events. This years judge will be Mike Allan who runs a farming enterprise near Cleveland, North Yorkshire

Harrison & Hetherington are the appointed auctioneers for all major beef, dairy and sheep breed societies throughout the UK and operate 7 livestock marts in the region. The Agri-Expo is a big event on the agricultural calendar, attracting over 500 cattle and over 130 pens of sheep and more than 150 trade stands. It attracts 10,000 visitors from across the borders and the UK. Launched to showcase the region’s finest livestock, the Borderway Agri Expo is now one of the leading events of its kind in the UK. Given the standard of animals at the show, it is vital that the judges are also of the highest calibre.

Commenting on this year’s event Harrison and Hetherington’s event organiser and Operations Director, David Pritchard said:

“This is our fifth Agri- Expo event here at the Borderway Exhibition Centre and we are absolutely delighted to welcome such a prestigious panel of judges. The show has a vital role in showcasing some exceptional quality livestock from across England, Wales and Scotland. Each year we are building on our successes and this certainly would not be possible without the support of our livestock breeders, exhibitors, sponsors and the farming community.”

The individual shows at the 2011 Borderway Agri- Expo will include the National Suckled, Calf & Primestock Show, National Prime Sheep Show, National Breed Society Calf Shows for Aberdeen Angus, British Blue, Hereford and Beef Shorthorn, Simmental and a Special Mule Sheep Show. Up and coming champion breeders will also be encouraged with a series of competitions for young farmers.

Away from the livestock ring, the trade stands, educational exhibits and machinery demonstrations will show farmers the latest techniques and equipment for increasing the efficiency of livestock breeding.

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