Some tremendous, quality cattle were presented before the judge, Miss Rachel Graham, Carlisle, this morning and after much deliberation she awarded the Championship rosette to N Cooper & Sons with a British Blue heifer which went on to set a J36 record selling to £1850 and going on for further breeding. Reserve champion was awarded to JG & PH Thompson, Selside which later flew to £1720, also going on for further breeding.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all vendors for showing a quality run of store cattle today.

STORE CATTLE

Strong dairy bred cattle were once again in very keen demand at J36 with Angus bullocks from JW & HM Metcalfe & Son, Gatebeck topping this section at £1490 with others from the same home selling to £1480. Blue bullocks, once again out of dairy cows, from MJ Waller, Lupton selling to £1340 and Herefords also the same way bred, selling to the same price from TA & DH Knipe, Oxen Park.

Suckler bred Limousin bullocks from JA & KJ Allen, Ings topped their wonderful run of cattle at £1430, with yearling Limousin bullocks from N Cooper & Sons selling to £1280. There was a massive demand for all grazing bullocks at J36 today with the best, selling between £1100 and £1200 and the next level down selling at well over £1000.

Bullocks averaged £1001.

Yearling heifers were the strongest trade seen for some time at J36 with many vendors leaving very impressed with their returns. Outside the show N Cooper & Sons sold Limousin heifers to £1390 and other Limousin heifers from JA & J Harper, Killington sold to £1360 with British Blues from S Procter, Selside topping at £1340. The best butcher type heifers were regularly selling at between £1250 – £1300 with the best grazing heifers between £1000 and £1100 and the next level down selling well into the late £900s.

Heifers averaged £960.

OTM CATTLE

The fortnightly sale of cull cows saw another fast trade for all classes and types with buyers keen to secure cows suitable for both further finishing and immediate slaughter. Heavy well fleshed beef cows sold to a top price of 179.5p/kg for a Limousin x from JW & HM Metcalfe & Son, Gatebeck. Other beef cows sold to 174.5p/kg for a Limousin x from Fishwick Bros, Longsleddale with an Aberdeen Angus x selling to 171.5p/kg again from JW & HM Metcalfe & Son, Gatebeck. Cows for further finishing sold to 169.5p/kg for a Limousin x from SW Atkinson & Son, Crook with a British Blue x from PW Clarke, Crosthwaite selling at 167.5p/kg.

Dairy cows saw a top price of 171.5p/kg for a young British Friesian from R & A Galbraith, Crooklands with other Hlstein Friesian selling to 164.5p/kg from Messrs Ellwood, Grizebeck with Friesians selling to 161.5p/kg from RJ & ML Lowery, Holker. Medium dairy cows sold to 157.5p/kg for a Shorthorn from JR Handley, Whinfell and 151.5p/kg for a Friesian from DE & SM Moorhouse, Natland.

All cull cows forward today averaged 148.9p/kg. Top grossing cull cow today was an Aberdeen Angus x from JW & HM Metcalfe & Son grossing £1346 with a Limousin x from Fishwick Bros, Longsleddale close behind at £1312. Over half the entry today exceeded £1000 to include the top dairy cow achieving £1218 from Messrs Ellwood, Grizebeck.

OTM Heifers sold to a top price of 181.5p/kg for a Holstein Friesian from RA & E Edmondson, Levens with other dairy heifers selling to 174.5p/kg. Top grossing OTM dairy heifer achieved £908 from RG & J Clarke, Endmoor. An OTM Hereford heifer from JT Procter, Flookburgh sold at 177.5p/kg and £1469.

A single OTM Hereford steer from C & B Capstick, Low Gill achieved 179.5p/kg and £879.

Another good entry of cows is required in a fortnight on Thursday 13th May 2021.

CALVES AND STIRKS

The fortnightly sale of calves had an entry of 95 forward, selling to a very strong trade with many buyers leaving empty handed and some not even getting a bid in. Weaned Aberdeen Angus calves saw bulls sell to £500 from WH Kitching & Sons, Milnthorpe with Angus heifers from the same home to £490. British Blue bulls were in strong demand especially for the best quality, the trade twice topping at £470, firstly from A Pickthall New Hutton whom sold others to £460. Also achieving the £470 mark was JW & TE Shape, Lyth with others selling to £450 from the same good home. Charolais bull calves sold to £460 and £440 from Bambers Farm, Thurnham with Simmental and Hereford bull calves selling to £430 once again from Bambers Farm. With plenty of beef bull calves easily selling in the region of the £400 mark. Beef heifer calves sold to £385, £380 and £375 for British Blues from A Pickthall, with other British Blue heifers to £380 from Bambers Farm. Plenty of younger beef calves easily sold in excess of the £300 mark. Dairy bull calves saw Fleckvieh sell to £265 and £240, Friesian bull calves sold to £175 and £170 twice from Lawkland Hall Farm, Austwick with other Frisian bull calves to £125 from Bambers Farm.
A bumper entry of 123 stirks were forward meeting a large amount of demand with more required for this ever-growing sale. Leading the way was DJ Townley, Lancaster selling 10-month-old Limousin and Angus bullocks to £1000 and £990 with others from the same good home selling to £910, £900 and £890. Pens of Limousin heifer stirks from the same home twice sold to £850, with others to £840 and Angus heifers achieving £830. Other Angus heifers sold to £820 from RT & ME Sutton, Stainton. British Blues peaked at £810 for heifers from PD & P Mason, Burton in Kendal. Charolais peaked at £800 for 9-month-old bullocks from J & E Lancaster, Ulverston. British Blue bullocks at 7 months old sold to £780 from WR Clark & Partner, Carnforth. The bull trade peaked at £770 for 7 month-old Herefords from RJ & J Gardner, Kendal with other Herefords to £710 from the same home. Dairy stirks saw Montbeliarde bullocks sell to £840 from Colby Farms, Appleby. 6 month-old Montbeliarde bullocks sold to £670 from Ross Greenwood, Carlton.