The inaugural monthly collective sale of pedigree and commercial dairy cattle jointly conducted by Gwilym Richards and Norton & Brooksbank was greeted with great enthusiasm with buyers in attendance from throughout the southern half of England and Wales.
The sale offered something for everyone from the very well bred pedigrees to the commercial milker with only 2 animals from the 131 forward failing to sell.
The sale got off to a roaring start with a superb consignment of registered calved heifers with tremendous natural milking ability from the 11,450 litre Kingsfoll herd of Simmons Farms Ltd at Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire. Their consignment of 7 heifers levelled at £1,906.50 with a best of 2,000gns paid for Kingsfoll Baxter Una sired by Baxter and out of a 13,380kg Shark daughter. She was the first animal to be offered and was one of six heifers purchased throughout the sale by Astridge Farm Ltd of Tenby, Pembrokeshire.
Top price was 4,000gns achieved for the calved heifer Holmead Talent Roxy 2 from R T & M S Cox, Shaftesbury, Dorset. The Ladino-Park Talent daughter from the great Roxy family was bred from 9 successive generations of cows in the top two grades. The buyer was P J Andrews of the Beneknowle herd at Plymouth Devon.
Second highest price was 3,000gns for Walkabout Shottle Rolls, a Picston Shottle sired heifer from Messrs E Gay, Axminster, Devon. She was purchased by M A Jeanes Farms Ltd of Bridgwater, Somerset, for their Birksfarm herd.
Buyers attended from 12 England and Welsh counties and as far afield as Bedfordshire, Cheshire, Devon and West Wales.
The next sale is on Tuesday 22nd February 2011 with many consignments already entered and further entries invited to the joint auctioneers.
Top Prices: Gns
Lot 10 Holmead Roxy 2 P J Andrews, Plymouth 4,000
Lot 36 Walkabout Shottle Rolls M A Jeanes Farms Ltd, Bridgwater 3,000
Lot 63 Llan Dolman Jill D A & C L Owens, St Clears 2,300
Lot 62 Lyganlan L H Daintylass I & M Miflin & Sons, Chippenham 2,250
Lot 27 Gatrog Doleros Maise D A & C L Owens, St Clears 2,200
Lot 14 Lilylane Enigma Betsy I & M Miflin & Sons, Chippenham 2,150
Lot 11 Holmead SS Rosina VG86 D A & C L Owens, St Clears 2,000
Lot 1 Kingsfoll Baxter Una Astridge Farm Ltd, Tenby 2,000
Leading Herd Averages
R T & M S Cox (Holmead) – 3 head £2723.00
BB Farms (BB) – 3 calved heifers £2,065.00
A J Bennett & Sons (Lilylane) – 3 calved heifers £2,047.50
D Pyle (Hemburyfort) – 3 calved heifers £1,995.00
Simmons Farms Ltd (Kingsfoll) – 7 calved heifers £1,906.50
Sale Averages:
27 pedigree calved heifers £2,066.17
14 commercial calved heifers £1,364.25
3 bulls £1,141.00
129 head overall £1,226.63
Joint Auctioneers: Gwilym Richards & Norton & Brooksbank
