Butchers stock up on best beef and lamb at Skipton show and sale

An outstanding British Blue heifer was chosen as supreme cattle champion at Skipton Auction Mart’s annual Christmas prime stock shows and sales.

Timos Ellie, a home-bred June, 2009-born daughter of the premier Belgian-bred Genus sire, Gitan Du P’Tit Mayeur, was exhibited by father-and-son William and Jonathan Timm, of Cote House Farm, Horsforth. Mr Timm Snr presented the supreme beef Christmas champion at Skipton in 2008 and reserve supreme champion last year.

 Their 575kg 2010 Skipton female and supreme champion, earlier chosen as the first prize home-bred animal, headed the show prices when selling for £2815 (£4.90/kg) to West Yorkshire wholesale butchers John Penny and Sons, Rawdon, Leeds.

Mr Penny also added to his shopping list when paying the second highest price of the day at £2066 (£4.70/kg) for the reserve supreme show champion, the first prize 14-month-old 440kg British Blue-cross heifer from Hailey Baines, Middop Farm, Gisburn.

Both the champion and reserve champion are destined for Bradford butcher John Summers, Druids Street, Clayton, who will mature the prize-winning beef in readiness for his customers’ Christmas tables. .

In the sheep section, the prime lambs supreme championship fell for the first time to Martin and Val Brown, Beechwood House Farm, Newton-le-Willows, Bedale, who were stepping up on their reserve supreme championship successes at Skipton’s Christmas shows in both 2008 and 2009.

 Their pen of three 51kg Beltex-cross lambs – unusually two of the lambs were from the same ewe – was the pick of the trimmed 40kg or more Continental lamb class entries and were also chosen as lowland champions and the best pen from a regular CCM vendor.

They sold by far the highest price in show at £500 a head (980.4p/kg) to Lancashire butcher George Cropper for his stall in Accrington Market, who also bought Martin and Val Brown’s first prize pen of 39kg Continental-cross trimmed lambs for £120 each (307.7p/kg).

The reserve champion pure-bred Beltex pen of 46kg lambs, also lowland reserve champions, came from Stephen Pepper, Windle House Farm, Oxenhope. The trio had earlier won the championship at this year’s Keighley Show and reserve championship honours at Countryside Live, Harrogate.

They sold for £140 a head (304.3p/kg) to Andrew Atkinson, Kettlesing, on behalf of his butcher brother Gordon, who runs Elite Meat in Starbeck, Harrogate. The business also acquired the second prize pen of 44kg Contintental-cross trimmed lambs from Ian Lancaster, Pendleton, Clitheroe, for £120 per head (272.7p/kg). They will be matured for ten days before going on sale.

John Summers Butchers also sourced champion prime pork, paying £206 a head (200p/kg) for the title-winning pen of three 103kg Large White-cross pigs from John Midgley,  Dean House Farm, Luddendenfoot, Halifax – the first time the Calderdale dairy farmer has shown porkers.

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