Smithfield champion fetches 10,000
02 December 1998
Smithfield champion fetches £10,000
By FWi staff
THE Smithfield Show supreme champion was sold for £10,000 at Earls Court this morning (Wednesday), during the traditional end-of-show auction attended by the Queen.
Clansman, the 480kg Limousin-sired steer from Lanarkshire, won the Kings Cup at Smithfield this year and the reserve at Perth a few weeks ago.
The beast was sold to Old English Meats, and the money will be donated to the Scottish Agricultural Benevolent Fund, said owner Archie MacGregor.
There was a also large amount of interest in the reserve champion Hot Stuff from Derbyshire. The 457kg heifer sold for £3,200.
The Aberdeen Angus show champion steer weighing 633kg went under the hammer at £4200.
All nine Aberdeen Angus cattle were purchased by the Waitrose supermarket chain, with prices starting at £750.
“For the past 7-8 years we have supported the Aberdeen Angus breed,” said Heather Jenkins, central buyer for Waitrose.
“We are pleased to support this breed and shall continue to do so.”
Charolais cattle also sold well, with prices starting at £560 for a 515kg heifer.
The top price paid for the breed was £880, for a 567kg steer from Perth.
But a number of Limousin cattle failed to achieve the returns producers had hoped for.
The first-prize winner at the recent Scottish Fair, a 396kg heifer from Lanarkshire, was taken home unsold when she failed to achieve more than £1150.
The top price paid for a Limousin was £1800 for a 623kg steer from Northern Ireland.
Commenting on the morning, auctioneer David Laggat of United Auctions said that he was very pleased with the £10,000 achieved for the champion.
“It was a lovely animal,” he said.
The quality was good, and the price was good for the top end of the prizewinners, he added.
“These animals sold well,” he said. “But the value of cattle further down the line reflected the state the trade is in at the moment.”
That sentiment was echoed by Paul Barwood, who was bidding for cattle at the auction.
“Some of the bullocks were not dear,” he said. “By the time they are killed the carcase could be cheap.”