Peter Baul’s
Ravensgate pedigree dairy herd in Bishop Thornton claimed its fourth
championship of 2016 at Skipton Auction Mart’s opening November Craven Dairy
Auction. (Mon, Nov 7)
Mr Baul, who
trades as M Baul & Partners, saw his first prize 26 days-calved, 32-litre Holstein
Friesian heifer, Ravensgate Verve Sparkle 252, by the Genus dairy bull,
Ballycairn Jose Verve, go on to be crowned champion by show judge Wick Williams,
of Nantwich in Cheshire, who then claimed his chosen victor for £1,650.
Standing
reserve champion was the second prize newly calven heifer and another in a long
list of Skipton prizewinners from Malhamdale’s Robert Crisp, who runs his commercial dairy herd at Nelson
Farm, Calton.
Like all his recent entries,
Mr Crisp’s runner-up was by a Picston Shottle son, out of a daughter of
Garrison. Both are Genus sires. Eleven days calved and giving 30 litres, the
reserve champion sold for the day’s leading price of £1,700 to regular buyers Alf and Andrew Townsend, of Southfield,
Burnley.
Brian Moorhouse’s Aireburn
pedigree Holstein herd at Hesper Farm, Bell Busk, had the third prize heifer,
Aireburn Endo Baby, by his home-bred bull, Aireburn Endo. Just a week calved
and giving 25 litres, she joined brothers Stephen and Malcolm Abbott in Dacre,
for £1,400.
Father and son Keith and
David Downs, of Milnerfield Farm, Bingley, consigned four home-bred newly
calven heifers, which all sold well at £1,650, £1,620, £1,400 and £1,300.
A healthy turnout of 28
milkers met a good trade, with keen interest in middle of the road heifers.
Pedigree newly calven heifers averaged £1,377 per head and their commercial
counterparts £1,318. Maiden heifers averaged £466.67.
It was encouraging to
see much more enthusiasm ringside, which bodes well for the Christmas Craven
Dairy Auction, on Monday, November 28.
Skipton’s
weekly Monday rearing calf sale saw black and white youngsters among the
68-strong turnout sell to an improved trade on the week when averaging £44.50
per head, with an eye-catching high of £130 for a bull calf from Lothersdale’s
Geoff Booth.
