Young bulls top £1,450 at Skipton sale

The inaugural Christmas show and sale of store cattle staged by CCM Auctions at Skipton Auction Mart was rewarded with a stout entry of over 400 head and robust trade for some quality entries.

 

Young bulls in particular proved strong in terms of both numbers and selling prices, with the turnout of 180 head averaging £930 a head across the board and 54 entries achieving four figure prices.

 

Top call at £1,450, and of the entire day, fell to a British Blue-cross from Joe and Nancy Throup, of Draughton, while David Broadbent, of Midgley, Halifax, sold two British Blue-cross bulls at £1,430, both claimed by multiple buyer Stephen Eastwood, of Emley, Huddersfield.

 

Victory in the show class went to a home-bred British Blue-cross youngster from Shiela Mason, of Keasden Head Farm, Clapham. By the Baron Du Bois Bauloye son Bringlee Bouncer, bred in Market Drayton, Shropshire by Graham Brindley, out of a Limousin cow, the red rosette winner fell to show judge Rob Matten, of Thirsk, at £1,420.

 

Mr Broadbent was again to the fore when presenting the second prize Blonde-cross young bull, a further acquisition by Mr Eastwood at £1,390. The third prize young bull, a Limousin-cross from Ian Townson, of Clitheroe, also performed well when knocked down for £1,400 to Gawthorp Bros, of Calverley, Leeds.

 

The top price pen of three Limousin bulls from Richard Harker, of Grayrigg Hall, Kendal, made £1,185 each when joining G Pinder in Pontefract. The overall Continental-cross selling average was £932.24 per head, with a native average of £673.33.

 

While the 229-strong entry of bullocks and heifers varied in age and size, strong cattle sold well and were slightly dearer than previous sales, while suckled calves easily kept up recent rates.

 

Both show classes were won by 18-month-old entries from the same exhibitors, Peter and Edward Fox, of Fox Farm, Withgill, Clitheroe. Their first prize British Blue-cross bullock was acquired from Anthony Rogerson’s Handlesteads herd at Chipping, Preston, while the class-winning Limousin-cross heifer was a product of the Harrison family’s Tailbert herd in Shap, Cumbria.

 

The two principals, both top price performers, became further Stephen Eastwood acquisitions at £1,290 and £1,240 respectively. The same buyer also paid £1,190 for the third prize British Blue-cross heifer from Jonathan Townley, of Clapham, and £1,100 each for the first prize pen of four Limousins from James Towler, of Grindleton.

 

Two further exhibitors doubled up in the prize classes. Andrew Bailey, of Eldroth, sold the second prize Limousin-cross bullock at £1,100 to Thompson Bros, of Pickering, and the third prize pen of four Limousins, each bought for £840 by A Coates & Son, of Hurst Green, Clitheroe. TWH Farming, of Wigton, sold their second prize heifer for £1,220 to John and Jean Bradley, of Giggleswick, along with the third prize bullock, another Limousin-cross, for £1,060 to Eileen Wilson, of Scorton, Richmond.

 

The second prize pen of three Limousins from David Pratt, of Silsden, made £895 per head when joining Derbyshire buyer Ernie Wardle in Monyash, Bakewell. W Stapleton & Son, of Hellifield, were responsible for the top price pen of three Limousin bullocks, which went under the hammer at £1,130 each, while Donald Sunderland, of Halton East, achieved £1,110 per head for the best-selling pen of three Charolais heifers.

 

Store bullocks sold to a Continental-cross average of £894.04 per head, with a native average of £706.77. Respective store heifer averages were £803.26 and £810.