Top price and title for Jolly Holstein cows
Top price and title for Jolly Holstein cows
By Jeremy Hunt
LANCS dairy farmers Tom Jolly and Partners had cause for a double celebration last week, after taking the championship and making top price at the Lancaster Holstein Dairy sales.
The Jollys, who milk about 300 cows in their Fieldside herd at Great Eccleston, near Blackpool, began their run of success after collecting the supreme show title under judge David Booth.
Mr Booth, who runs the Feizor herd at Austwick, Lancaster, could find nothing to beat Fieldside Erica 401. From the herds prolific Erica family, this upstanding heifer calved three weeks ago and was giving over 33kg.
She is by the Comestar Leader son Weeton Magneto, who is out of the successful show cow Adamdale Starbuck Mag (classified Ex 95).
Her dam is Fieldside Erica 360th – a past champion at the Crewe Holstein sales – and her grand-dam is a VG classified daughter of Oak Ridges Gallant that has completed seven lactations reaching 10,700kg.
Erica 401 was bought by the judge for the top price of 2600gns.
Next highest at 2300gns was a smart Etazon Tonsen calved heifer from Mark Towers Aldingam herd at Ulverston, Cumbria. Aldingham Aida 8th stood top of the line in the younger heifer class and is out of the 10,555kg Aldingham Aida. Her grand-dam is the world-renowned cow Airport Ex that dominated the German show scene in the late 1980s. She was yielding over 34kg and goes to A Calvert of Gisburn, Clitheroe.
Milk quality was an added attraction of the impressive heifer Swallowbarn Pro Sjoukje. This Gelpro daughter from Mike Rollasons herd at Grange-over-Sands, south Cumbria, was giving 41kg.
Her dam is a high yielding Sunny Boy daughter with several yields over 10,000kg at 5.05% fat and 3.53% protein. Buyers were J T and E M Marrs and Son, Carlisle, who bought a wagon-load of nine cattle.
Cows peaked at 1350gns when J R and J Gorst, Quernmore, Lancaster, sold their Hindbrook Ivy PI 9. This 1998-bred daughter of Parker Aero Wade is out of a VG classified dam by Avondale Donovan and was bought by B Salisbury, Carlisle.
The same buyers were in action again at 1150gns to secure the winner of the cow class – Fieldside Ada 108th from the Jollys consignment. She is from three generations of cows that have all yielded over 11,000kg in 305 days.
Sale co-ordinator Claire Swale said: "It was a smaller entry for the time of year, but there was a swift trade despite the good weather. Two-thirds of the entries sold for 1000gns and over."
Averages Four cows £1134 and 35 heifers £1187 (Norton and Brooksbank with Lancaster Auction Mart). *