KEELHAM Farm Shop snapped up no less than 23 of the 36 under 30-month prime cattle, among them both the champion and reserve, at Skipton Auction Mart’s July showcase on Monday.

From an excellent entry of high quality clean cattle, Keelham’s James Robertshaw was a busy man at the ringside, as he successfully secured what is believed to be the biggest-ever haul by a single buyer on a show day at Skipton to meet ever-increasing demand for top quality local beef at their two shops in Skipton and Thornton, near Bradford.

Overall show champion was the first prize British Blue-cross heifer from Malham Moor’s Bill Cowperthwaite, which tipped the scales at 560kg and made top gross price on the day of £1,481, or 264.5p/kg.

The reserve champion, the first prize 575kg Blue-cross bullock from Silsden Moor’s Simon Bennett, also fell to Keelham for £1,325, or 230.5p/kg.

In addition, Mr Cowperthwaite was responsible for the third prize steer, another Blue-cross which sold at a section by-weight top of 249.5p/kg when also joining Keelham.

Gerald Beresford, from Hellifield, prime cattle champion for the previous two months, again caught the eye with the top gross price Blue-cross bullock, which sold for £1,451 to regular retail butcher buyer Anthony Kitson, who has shops in Stockton-on-Tees, Hutton Rudby and Northallerton.

The same vendor also produced the second prize Blue-cross heifer, which sold away at £1,342, or 235.5p/kg, and was also among the Keelham haul, as was a £1,430, or 246.5p/kg, Blonde-cross heifer from Clapham’s Jonathan Townley.

A standalone show for cull cows saw WP Gratton, of Brimham, take both first and second prizes in the dairy-bred section with black and whites sold at £944, top call in class, and £891 - and to a by-weight high of 116.5p/kg. Third was Bell Busk’s Brian Moorhouse with another black and white sold at £887.

Ken Gamble, from Easingwold, won the beef-bred show class with a Blue-cross cow sold at 164.5p/kg, with the runner-up, a Limousin from Ashley Caton, of Otterburn, selling at £1,092, and the third, another Limousin from Walshaw’s Brian Lund, topping the gross prices at £1,097.

The 36 cull cows on parade sold to an overall average of £745.36 per head, or 108.81p/kg, a rise on the previous week’s averages of £659 and 103.83p/kg.

Skipton Auction Mart’s general manager Jeremy Eaton said: “We need high quality clean cattle weekly to fulfil orders.”