Bishops do Welsh Winter Fair sheep double

Well, as predicted here earlier it was the unstoppable force of Andrew and Becky Bishop which took the sheep championship here at Builth Wells. And so in form is their team this season that they took not only the overall title (right in the photo below), but also the reserve championship (left on the photo below) and the overall carcass championship.

The couple’s leading pair of lambs, which netted them their fourth championship of the season and makes them unbeaten in championships since Smithfield last year, were a 100kg pair of Texel sired lambs by a homebred Beltex tup which is registered with the Texel Society, under an agreement between the two breeds, from their 1200 ewe flock. One of the pair had been a part of the winning live/dead team from this year’s Royal and Royal Welsh Shows, while the other was fresh to the show circuit.

Taking the reserve award were a pair of Beltex sired lambs which are by a homebred tup and tipped the scales at 99.5kg. These had earlier stood reserve in the Continental lamb section to the overall champions.

Andrew Bishop rashly told me earlier today that if he picked up the silverware here he woudl take a two year break from primestock showing and so far he’s staying true to his word and says once he’s attempted to defend his title next week at Smithfield he’ll be hanging up his white coat. However, he did say he’s willing to sell potential primestock lambs to other producers in future, so form an orderly queue ladies and gents, you read it here first!