Taking Stock

This year's Royal Highland Show kicked off earlier today, with judging in the beef and sheep lines dominating proceedings. First to the post in terms of championship judging were Scotland's leading native sheep and cattle breeds, the Blackface and the Aberdeen Angus.

Topping the line up in the Blackface was Archie and John MacGregor's shearling ewe from their Allanfauld flock.This one is byMcTavish and stood champion at Stirling Show.

The Angus meanwhile, were led by A Grieve's Carhulie Gainsay, a 2003-born cow by Better Star Auchtoforfar.

Elsewhere in the beef lines, the commercial champion was a Limousin cross heifer, Fancy This, from the Forsyth family, bred by Smallburn Farms, by Bailea Oberon.

Further judging in the cattle classes at this year's Royal Highland Show saw the Belgian Blue's judged by Tim Walwin of Shepton Mallet. Heading up his line was heifer Croft End Black Beauty from the Bellas family, this January 2006 born heifer is by Dafydd D'Ochain and out of Lismannan Sally.

Next up were the Belted Galloway's judged by John Hodge, Okehampton, Devon, making it a day for the south west judges!

Top spot here was Howemill Indigo, a September 2004-born bull from Sir Martyn Arbir.

A grey Friday at the Royal Highland Show saw the conclusion of the sheep judging and the dairy classes take centre stage among the cattle lines.

Topping the line in the Holstein classes was Herdstown Rachael from Almond Holsteins and Aubrey Paterson. This 1998-born cow is by Parker Aero Wade.

Meanwhile, the Ayrshire's were led by the Templeton family's 2003-born cow Knowe Brown Kate, this homebred entry is by Brieryside Centurian.

This morning sees the interbreed championships judged in all three of the major sections, beef, dairy and sheep at this year's Royal Highland Show and already exhibitors are out and about preparing their breed champions for the judges.

Interbreed competitions this year will be placed by Alan Fotheringham. Forgandenny, (beef), Ian Thomson, Peebles (sheep) and Andrew Dunlop Castle Douglas (dairy).

Few are willing to place money on where the championships will go and I'm not about to stick my head on the block either, but with three such experienced judges on parade this morning one thing is for sure, all entries will receieve a thorough inspection.

For all you beef enthusiasts out there wanting to know the full list of results from the Royal Highland Show see below.......Interbreed results will follow shortly.

Beef results

Beef Shorthorn M A Holmes' bull Holmeere Alastair; res, Messrs Playfair Farms' cow Tofts Beauty Princess.

Aberdeen Angus A R Grieve's cowCarlhurlie Gainsay; res, C Davidson's heifer Skaill Diana.

Galloway J and A Finlay's heifer Finmac Libby; res, W MacLean's bull Blackcraig Kodiac.

Belted Galloway M Arbib's bull Howemill Indigo; res, C Fletcher's cow Barwise Maggie May.

Highland A and H Kirkpatrick's cow Claggorn 6 of Glengarnock; res, S and M O'Hara's bull Brogach 1 of Culfoich.

As promised a full list of this year's winners in the sheep sections from the Royal Highland Show...........

Sheep results

Blackface A Macgregor's shearling ewe; res, W Ramsay and Sons' ewe.

North Country Sheep W and J Thomson's ewe; res, J Runciman and Sons' shearling ewe.

North Country Cheviot Hill Sheep Nicholson Farms Clebrig's shearling ewe; res, North Loch Naver Estates.

Border Leicester H Guthrie and Sons' ewe; res, J W Brown and Others' ewe lamb.

Suffolk S G Mair and Sons' shearling ewe; res, R H Wilson's shearling tup.

Cheviot A T Elliot's tup; res, J E Irving's tup.

Bluefaced Leicester J Thomson and Sons' ewe; res, A Fotheringham's tup lamb.

Jacob W Crowe's shearling ewe; res S Dodsworth's shearling tup.

Texel J Forsyth's ewe; res, J Forsyth's shearling ewe.

I would say there will be some celebrating in the Limousin lines this afternoon after the conclusion of this year's Royal Highland Show interbreed beef championship.

Having stepped out in a down pour of rain, judge Alan Fotheringham selected six fine animals for his initial interbeed draw, consiting of the Shorthorn, Charolais, Belgain Blue, Limousin, Commerical and Hereford.

Having paid plenty of attention to the Commercial, Limousin and Shorthorn, he finally tapped out James and Audrey Forsyth's Limouisn cross heifer Fancy This. Sired by Baillea Oberon and out of a homebred Limousin cross cow and was bought out of Thainstone Young Farmers overwintering sale and bred by Andrew Anderson of Smallburn Farms for £1700.

Having stood second in her class at Ayr, the Forsyths are unsure as to where Fancy This will be heading next.

Speaking about his champion, Alan Fotheringham told Farmers Weekly she was packed solid full of meat with a good loin and expertly presented in front of him today - "perfection on four legs!"

This year's Royal Highland Show interbreed sheep championship went the way of the North Country Cheviot three crop ewe from Jimmy and Willie Thomson, Hownham Grange, Kelso.

This ewe, from the family's 200-ewe flock of Park-type North Countrys is by Crookston Fine Star and out of a homebred ewe which is one of 130 Hownham Grange-bred ewes bought back in after they lost their entire flock to foot-and-mouth in 2001.

Jersey leader Wellhead Rocket Boo from the Wilson family, Cupar, Fife, took this year's Royal Highland Show interbeed dairy title making it a double, having clinched the same title last year.

Second calver Boo (VG89) is by Wellhead Remake Rocket and gave 5913 litres in her first lactation at 4% protein and 5.11% butterfat.

Standing reserve to Boo was the Holstein leader, fifth calved Herdstown Rachel 388 from Almond Holsteins and Aubrey Patterson.

Sired by Parker Aero Wade, Rachel has given 10,240 litres in 218 days of her fifth lactation at 4.7% butterfat and 2.98% protein, having given 12,866 litres in her previous lactation at 3.96% butterfat and 2.98% protein.

Well its a hectic week for the Taking Stock team, after a short day at Lincoln Show yesterday, we hot footed it north to Edinburgh for the Royal Highland and have pitched in here this morning to bring you all the latest news from the show.

For all those of you wanting to see what won we've created two picture galleries, one from Lincoln and one from the Royal Highland.

Results from both shows will follow shortly.......

Here are the sheep results from yesterday's judging at the Royal Highland.

Among the Blackface, the Ramsay family, Milnmark, Dalry, led the way, taking both the champion and reserve ticket, while the Thomson's last year's interbreed winners with their North Country Cheviot took the breed title again with a stylish shearling ewe.

Among the Suffolk's Robbie Wilson, Strathisla took the top prize with a tup lamb which no doubt is heading for the breed's sale back here at Ingliston in July.

Meanwhile, Robert Graham, of Graham's Dairies fame took the Berichon Du Cher championship.

Judging today includes the Swaledales which are already underway, we'll bring you the results as we get them.

For all those of you wanting to see what the champions look like, we've uploaded photos of all those we have into the Royal Highland gallery, more will follow as we get them....

Blackface W Ramsay and Sons' shearling ewe; res, W Ramsay and Sons' ewe.

North Country Cheviot W and J Thomson's shearling ewe; res, Queen Elizabeth Castle of Mey Trust's ewe lamb.

North Country Cheviot Hill W and J Thomson's ewe; res, C J and J M Symons tup.

Border Leicester W Young's ewe; res, J W Brown and Others' tup.

Suffolk R H Wilson's tup lamb; res, S G Mair and Sons' ewe.

Cheviot T G O Douglas and Co's shearling ewe; res, J Common and Son's tup.

Jacob W Crowe's shearling ewe; res, M Leithead's tup.

Ryeland A Hunter Blair's shearling ewe; res, S P and J Maddock's tup.

Berrichon Du Cher R and J Graham's ewe; res, I D Johnston's tup.

Lleyn N Lawrence's ram; res, N Lawrence's shearling ewe.

Commercial Sheep A Leggate's gimmer; res, J T Whiteford's prime lambs.

 More results and pictures to follow later as more judging is completed.......................

Click here for more pictures of champions and judging shots from the Royal Highland Show.  

Beef results

Native Groups Aberdeen Angus; res, Belted Galloway.

M&S Beefbreeder Swalesmoor Charolais' Swalesmoor Cannon; res, R Dick's Limousin Grahams Bonzo.  

Beef Shorthorn A C Holmes' bull Cairnsmore Thrasher; res, Major JPO Gibb and C M Gibb's cow Glenisla Carnation Rouge.

Aberdeen Angus M and S Wilson and Sons' bull Moncur Jacob Eric; res, J Russell Taylor GC Taylor Farms' bull Moncur Emperor G0888.

Galloway J and A Finlay's heifer Finmac Libby; res, W MacLean's bull Blackcraig Kodiac.

Belted Galloway T Rennie's bull Mosstonmuir Puzzle; res, C S Fletcher's cow Barwise Maggie May.

Highland C Cubbertson's heifer Kate 1^st Jedderfield; res, A A McIntyre and Son's heifer Morag Buide of Sair.

Hereford J A Cameron and Son's bull Baldinnie 1 Cranmore; res, J M Cant and Partners' cow Panmure 1 Plum.

British Charolais J A and M F McMillan's cow Dunesk Unesta; res, A B Hornall's bull Fallenich Bigboy.

British Simmental W and G Strachan's bull Strathisla Nuggat; res, W Young's cow Skerrington Rebecca 18.

British Limousin W J and M Mash's heifer Brockhurst Batik; res, H Emslie's bull Hartsideanew Argos.

British Blonde A J and C D Scott's bull Shapfell Bongo; res, J and H Clark's heifer Garngour Amanda.

British Blue K Watret's cow Broomfield Viven; res, M Telfer and H Claxton's heifer Newton Blues Candice.

Salers W Davidson's bull Polden Uri; res, G S McClymont's cow Cuil Shona.

Longhorn J Close and Son's cow Fishwick Donna; res, N Luckett's heifer Wellhead Gertrude.  

He's usually seen on the other end of the camera - Not quite first prize Wayne - but we're proud of you!

Another full day of judging at the Royal Highland Show has seen the remainder of the sheep championships resolved before interbreed judging tomorrow.

A chunk of my morning was spent happily watching my old friend Derek Ritchie judging the Hampshire Downs, thankfully we agreed on the results!

Leading the way in this breed was the ewe lamb winner, a showy, stylish and well fleshed entry from Messrs Fletcher, Northern Ireland. In my eye she'd be in for a shout in tomorrow's interbreed under John Morison.

Meanwhile, the Texels also spent much of the morning in the ring with their champion going to the female leader.

In the Charollais it was Herbie Kennedy's shearling ewe which took top honours ahead of the Paterson family's tup.

More pictures have been loaded into the Royal Highland gallery, so go and take a look and see where you're money's going for tomorrow's interbreed awards.

Texel S Renwick's ewe; res, Douganhill Farms' shearling ewe.

Charollais F H Kennedy and Son's shearling ewe; res, R and M Paterson's ram.

Shetland G E and J Meikle's ram; res, R Douglas' ewe.

British Rouge S Wilkinson's ram lamb; res, R Imlah's shearling ewe.

Beltex J L McMillan's shearling ram; res, J W Cowan's ewe.

Hebridean J Wilson's ram; res, A Martin and L Dunlop's shearling ewe.

Bluefaced Leicester D and J Cruikshank's shearling ram; res, A Brown's gimmer.

Scotch Mule J M Kerr's ewe; res, N and J McQuistin's ewe lamb.

Bleu du Maine W Baillie's ewe; res, W Baillie's ram.

Swaledale A Slack's ewe; res, J Bradley's ram.

Hampshire Down J and A Flectcher's ewe lamb; res, A McCarthy's shearling ewe.

Zwartbles M Campbell's ewe; res, C Scott's ram.

Taking the Ayrshire title at this year's Highland is L Davidson and Son's cow in milk Halmyre urr louise. She is by Badenheath Sir Lawrence and is homebred.

Standing reserve to her was M W and A Stevenson's Buttercup 50.

In the Jersey lines, J and I Wilson's Goodtime Paragon Folly took the title.

In the Holstein lines the championship went to Almond Silky Avis, a 2000-born cow owned jointly by Almond Holsteins and Longfordhall Holsteins.

While Almond Holsteins also had a hand in the reserve championship with Weeton Brandy Reba, a cow they own jointly with J Loftus, taking the honours.

For more pictures from the cattle and sheep lines click here.  

Following the completion of the breed classes yesterday, today will see John Morison take centre stage as he officiates in the interbreed sheep judging at 1230.

Having not seen all the breed champions out of their pens yet its difficult to make any predictions, but of those I have seen I doubt the Charollais and Texel will be far away from the top spot and the outside bet would be on the Hampshire Down ewe lamb to come close.

I'll keep you updated as the judging takes place, but in the meantime Chrissie will be keeping you up to date with the beed and dairy interbreed championships as they progress through this morning.

Results and pictures to follow and don't foget to check the gallery to see pictures of many of the breed champions....

Beef interbreed judging is well underway this morning, with United Auctions leading man David Leggat ready for action as judge.

We start with the junior championships followed by the teams and then the overall championships. I haven't seen all the champions but my initial guess would be the Charolais cow from Jimmy McMillan won't be too far away. I've not seen the Simmental bull as yet, but the word is he could be in for a shout as well.

We'll keep you posted................

If you've missed any pictures so far - check out our Highland gallery.  

Fresh from their win yesterday in the M&S Beefbreeder championships, Swalesmoor Charolais led by stockman Iain Campbell were in the winning line up this morning for the junior interbreed.

Under the eye of Ronald Sinclair, Orkney, Swalesmoor Cupid was tapped out ahead of the Simmental.

 By Goldies Uppermost out of Blelack Una, Cupid took the title in front of the Simmental exhibit from Iain Green's Corskie Valiant 2, by Strathisla Nuggat (a bull due out in the beef interbreed later this morning).

Having tapped out a hsort lead consisting of the Aberdeen-Angus, Galloways, Charolais, Simmentals, Limousin and Salers, David Leggat has selected the Limousin team to take this year's Royal Highland Interbreed Team award.

The team was led by Harry Emslie's bull Hartsideanew Argos, Bernard Mairs' cow Ronick Money and two heifers from Doug Mash, which are embryo heifers by Grahams Samson out of Ronick McAinsi born a day apart from each other.

The Aberdeen-Angus group took the reserve spot.

David Leggat's next job will be to select the overall interbreed champion of the show.

Well my prediction was right.......Jimmy and Margaret McMillan have taken the beef interbreed championship at this year's Royal Highland Show with his homebred 2003-born Charolais cow Dunesk Unesta.

By Oldstone Edbert and out of a homebred dam, Unesta has already stood interbreed champion at the Angus Show for the second year running and at Alyth last weekend. Shown by Jimmy's son Gordon, with Jimmy on the five month old bull calf, they plan to take her to the National Charolais show.

Taking the reserve spot was Buckinghamshire-based Doug Mash's two year old Limousin heifer Brockhurst Batik. Shown by Sarah-Jane Jessop and Dougie McBeath, the heifer has been at residence with the couple since March.

She is an embryo bred heifer out of a successful flush of Grahams Samson and Ronick McAinsi and will next head to the Royal Show.

Speaking about his champions David Leggat said the cow was an outstanding animal in a solid working condition with good bull calf at foot. "She moves well, looks good for her age and has a star appeal when she walked in the room.

"The Limousin equally had presence and a great carcass shape. She is a great example of the breed."  

For more pictures from the Royal Highland see our picture gallery 

Jimmy and Willie Thomson, Hownam Grange, Morebattle, Kelso, have just clinched their second sheep interbreed championship in a row at the Highland Show with a North Country Cheviot gimmer from their 250-ewe flock of Park-type sheep.

  By a homebred tup which is in turn by Erikstane The Laird which the Thomsons sold as a shearling last year at Lanark, the gimmer is out of a homebred ewe and she will now head home before going to the Border Union Show at Kelso in July.

Standing reserve to the North Country Cheviot was the Texel champion a three crop ewe from Stephen Renwick, Selkirk. This one was bred in the Warnock family's Watchknowe flock and is by a Watchknowe tup. Mr Renwick was in his first year of exhibiting at the Highland and runs just 20 Texel ewes. This ewe stood reserve at Border Union last year.

It was the Holstein that took the top honours in the dairy rings earlier ahead of the Ayrshire.

Show leader was Almond Silky Avis, the Silky Gibson daughter from Almond Holsteins and Longfordhall Holsteins.

Shown by Paul Rawcliffe of Almond Holsteins, the eight days calved eight year old is currently giving 45kg after her last lactation of 15,400kg. No stranger to the show ring she has won two reserve championships at the Royal Show along with top honours at the National Holstein Show in 2003. Her next outing will be the Royal Welsh Show.

Taking reserve spot was the Ayrshire from Laurence and Keith Davidson. Shown by Keith's daughter Katie who is pedigree dairy assistant at Harrison and Hetherington, Halmyre Urr Louise is currently giving 40kg and has already won interbreed at Ayr this year, as well as champion Ayrshire Calf in 2005. The plan is to now show her locally.

Both exhibits were complemented by judge John Loftus, Lancashire. "The Holstein has a super udder and looks fantastically well for her age, while the Ayrshire is much stronger than most Ayrshires showing a super udder and legs."