Keelhams buy up Skipton Auction Mart champions again

Keelham’s James Robertshaw first paid £1,546, or 243.5p/kg, for the prime cattle title winner, a 635kg British Blue steer from Simon Bennett, of Delph Farm, Silsden Moor, before securing the five 40kg Beltex-cross prime lamb victors from Trevor and Clive Robinson, of Middle Brayshaw Farm in Tosside, for £95 per head, or 237.5p/kg.

Family-run Keelham Farm Shop in Brighouse & Denholme Road has now purchased every single prime cattle champion at Skipton’s monthly shows to date this year, along with many of the prime lamb victors, as well as multiple other prize winners. Work is well underway at the site of the new Keelham Farm Shop in Gargrave Road, Skipton, which will open in early 2015.

Mr Bennett was landing his fourth prime cattle championship of the year at Skipton with his first prize British Blue-cross bullock, by his well-proven stock bull Brookfield Columbo, still active at the age of eight, out of a Limousin cow.

He was also responsible for the second prize Limousin-cross bullock, sold for £1,033, or 206.5p/kg, to Stanforths Butchers in Skipton, with third prize falling to a Blonde-cross from local vendors Keith and Jeanette Marshall, of Niffany, and selling for £1,153, or 184.5p/kg.

The Marshalls also presented the first prize British Blue-cross heifer, which went under the hammer for £1,136, or 229.5p/kg, while Pateley Bridge’s Bernard Simpson was again to the fore with the second and third prize British Blue-cross heifers, which made £1,164, or 242.5p/kg, and £1,137, or 234.5p/kg. Both again fell to Keelham Farm Shop.

The Marshalls were on the mark again in a standalone show for cull cows when presenting the first prize beef-bred entry, a Blonde-cross, with LN&JE Roe, of Rathmell, clinching second and third prizes in class with a brace of Aberdeen Angus-cross knocked down at £941 and £893 respectively. Top price of £1,180, or 147.5p/kg, fell to a British Blue cow from John Rushton, of Elslack.

G Pickersgill & Sons, of Guiseley, presented the first and second prize dairy-bred cull cows, sold for £886 and £872, or 128.5p/kg and 125.5p/kg respectively, with a leading black and white per head price of £989 for an entry from G Abbott & Sons, of Dacre.

The 50 cast cattle forward were again in keen demand and met with stronger trade on the week, with cull cows averaging £747.33 per head, or 112.83p/kg.

Back in the prime lamb show arena, it proved something of a family affair when the reserve championship was awarded to the first prize pen of five 41kg Texel lambs from 25-year-old Laura Robinson, daughter and niece of August champions Trevor and Clive, and her partner Scott Robinson, who recently established their own flock in Barnoldswick.

The pair, who were also responsible for the title winner at the previous week’s annual young handlers’ prime lamb show and sale at Skipton, were competing in their first monthly prime lamb show and saw their reserve champions knocked down for £86 each to Hartshead Meats in Mossley, Ashton-under-Lyne, who also bought their young farmers prime lamb victor.

The Robinsons also picked up one of a number of £50 vouchers presented by the Northern Texel Breeders Club for use when purchasing a ram at the club sale to be held at Skipton in September. Further vouchers will be up for grabs at the late August store lamb sale and also at the September prime lamb prize show.

Frank and Robert Fielden, of Todmorden, were prominent when presenting both the second prize pens of 40kg Beltex and 42kg Texel lambs, sold for £88 and £86.50 per head to, respectively, Vivers Scot Lamb in Annan and Hartshead Meats again. Vivers also paid £90.50 each for the third prize 40kg Beltex pen from JamesTowler in Grindleton.

Show judge Paul Watson, of Hellifield, transferred his interest to the ringside when purchasing four prize-winning pens – the first prize 45kg Suffolks from James Earnshaw, of Flasby, at £76.50 per head, the first and third prize Mule or Masham pens from Ken and Lynne Throup, of Silsden Moor, and Alec and Nathan Wade, of Bradley, at £66.50 and £69 respectively, and the third prize 42 Beltex pen from Ellis Bros, of Addingham Moorside, at £88.50.

Roy Schofield, buying on behalf of Lancashire meat wholsalers MJ Birtwistle, purchased the second and third Suffolk pens from Charles and Richard Kitching, of Threshfield, and Paul and Janet Bolland, of Airton, at £74 and £71 per head respectively, with the third prize Masham pen from Middlesmoor’s David Verity falling for £75 each to Stanforths Butchers in Skipton.

The weekly prime sheep sale attracted an entry similar to the previous week of 3,075 head, with the 2,827 lambs among them selling to an overall average of £71.80 per head, or 172.4p/kg, up 5p/kg on the week with numbers nationwide generally tighter.

Cast sheep numbered 248 in total, with cull ewes averaging £59.32 per head and highs of £116.50 and £107.50 twice for Texel pens from Barnsley’s Steve Richardson. Cast rams averaged £81 per head.

ENDS

Pic caption 1 (prime cattle champ and judge): Skipton’s August prime cattle champion Simon Bennett, left, is congratulated by show judge James Dewhirst, of Winterburn.

Pic caption 2 (prime cattle champ and buyer): Skipton’s August prime cattle champion Simon Bennett, right, is pictured with the buyer, Keelham Farm Shop’s James Robertshaw, joined by his 12-year-old son Harley, a pupil at Bradford Grammar School.

Pic caption 3: (prime lamb champions and reserve champions): Keeping it in the family. Pictured with the Skipton August prime lamb champions and reserve champions are, from left, CCM’s Andrew Fisher, reserve champion Scott Robinson, champion Clive Robinson and helper Oscar Atkinson.

Pic caption 4 (prime lamb champions and buyer): Pictured congratulating Skipton August prime lamb champion Clive Robinson, right, is buyer James Robertshaw, of Keelham Farm Shop, joined by his 12-year-old son Harley, a pupil at Bradford Grammar School.

Further info: Robin Moule 01756 794027, 07976 559961