Trade ‘tremendous’ at Craven Dairy Auction finale
Quality, if not quantity, was the order of the day at the final Craven Dairy Auction of 2013, the December show and sale at Skipton Auction Mart, when 11 of the 17 milkers met a tremendous trade on achieving £2,000-plus on Monday.
The title fell to a Dales ‘milk man’ who is no stranger to success in the dairy ring at Skipton. Robert Crisp, of Nelson House, Calton, bagged another championship with his first prize newly-calved home-bred Holstein Friesian heifer by the Genus sire Garrison, who has been responsible for all Mr Crisp’s show champions and other commercial prize winners throughout 2013.
Pictured at the final Craven Dairy Auction of 2013 are, from left, BOCM Paul’s Phil Coleman, Andrew Jennings and the reserve champion, the title winner and Robert Crisp, and judge Stuart Verity.
Seven days calved and giving 25 litres, Mr Crisp then went on to secure top price in show of £2,450 when joining Cheshire buyer Wilmot Blockey, of Tarvin, near Chester, who was returning to Skipton to source more first-rate milkers.
Mr Crisp also sold two further newly calved heifers at £2,400, a further acquisition by Mr Blockley, and £2,200 to Chris Harrison, of Elslack.
The Lawson family from Arthington, Otley, the most prolific Craven Dairy Auction champions this year, sold a newly calved pedigree Holstein heifer at £2,350 to regular buyer James Kayley, of Halton West, while local vendors Jeremy Taylor, of Broughton, and Bell Busk’s Brian Moorhouse each achieved £2,320 with heifers. The respective buyers were Brian Blezard, of Ribchester, and Mr Blockley again.
Bishop Thornton’s Peter Baul was also to the fore with another newly calved heifer at £2,250, which joined Mark Goodall in Tong, Bradford. In addition, Mr Baul made a clean sweep of the prizes in the maiden heifer show class, with the red rosette winner heading the class prices at £920. All three prize winners sold to Raymond and Robert Johnson, of Felliscliffe, Harrogate.
The reserve championship was awarded to the second prize newly calved heifer from the Abbeyhouse pedigree herd of Jennings Farmers in Fountains, Ripon. Shown by Andrew Jennings, the 26-days calved runner-up, giving 34 litres and home bred by the Semex sire Charpentier Magot, made £2,100 when falling to Cowling’s Martin Jennings.
The same vendor also chipped in with the third prize newly calved heifer, which became another Mark Goodall purchase at £2,080.
Barden’s Ian Parkinson presented the first and second prize newly calved cows, with the red rosette winner heading the class prices at £1,980 on joining Tim Green in Wigan, and the runner-up selling for £1,880 to Thornton-in-Craven’s David Berry.
Nidderdale’s David Brown, of Longside, had the third prize newly calved cow, a Brown Swiss second calver, which sold for £1,950 to Linda Metcalfe and her son Robert, of Brearton, Otley. Mr Brown’s three pedigree Brown Swiss entries averaged £1,735 per head, with the fixture producing an overall average for newly calved heifers of £2,350, newly calved cows £1,886.67 and bulling heifers £910.
BOCM Paul again sponsored, with Clitheroe’s Stuart Verity acting as judge. Next year’s opening Craven Diary Auction is on Monday, January 13.
Dairy-bred entries were also in demand at the same day’s rearing calf sale, again the final one of the year, with all standards considerably dearer than previous weeks. A number of fresh faces at the ringside also produced good demand for continentals, with even the plainer sorts hard fought over.
Top price of £365 fell to a Limousin-cross bull calf from Burnley’s Alf Townsend, while the pick of the heifer calves at £340 was a British Blue-cross from RL Wright & Son, of Airton. Church Farm Enterprises in Burton Leonard had the top price £148 black and white bull calf.
The 67-strong entry saw continentals average £286 a head, native breeds £170 and black and whites £82. CCM’s opening seasonal calf show in the New year is on Monday, January 6.
CCM Auctions