A FORMER Countryside Live champion, a British Blue cow from M and E Hartley's pedigree Pendle herd, took the top rosette in Gisburn Auction Mart's anniversary show and sale of cull cows.

The champion was a 12-year-old which had won the Harrogate event as a heifer in 2006. Crossing the scales at 826kg, it made 189p/kg, grossing £1,561 to the judge, Alex Neild, Betchton, Cheshire.

The reserve champion also came from the Pendle herd and weighing 776kg, made 185p/kg (1,436), also to Mr Nield.

It was also the anniversary show and sale of rearing calves under 10 weeks old and again it was British Blues at the top. A bull calf from R Jackson and Sons, Clitheroe, won the championship and sold at £555 while the reserve, also a bull, came from J Bailey, Preston, and made £505.

There was an increased entry of newly calved heifers and cows in Gisburn's

pedigree and non-pedigree dairy sale, which saw pedigrees peak at £1,960

twice and another four over £1,900.

The sale champion was a two weeks calved daughter of Bakombre, from J and

AH Rogerson’s Avenham herd at Singleton, Poulton-le-Fylde. Out of an 8,712kg

heifer note dam, the champion is a grand-daughter of a 17,509kg Avenham cow. It

sold at £1,950 to RR and J Wade, Sabden.

The reserve champion, an O-Man End Story daughter from JD Taylor and Son’s

Smellows herd at Broughton, Skipton, made £1,940 to AA and E Critchley and

Son, Hutton Preston, who also paid the day’s joint top price of £1,960 for a Ladys-

Manor Savior heifer from the Feizor based herd of WA and A Booth.

At the same money, was another Smellows heifer – this one by Coyne-Farms

Dorcy – and selling to GT and BF Blezard, Ribchester, who also took a Feizor

heifer at £1,940.

Also at £1,940 was a Newcroft heifer from W and S Airey, Whittington, Carnforth,

selling to J Walton, Wrea Green, Preston.

Jennings Farmers, Ripon, topped the pedigree cow trade at £1,740 with a fresh

second calver by Gillette Stanleycup, which was bought by FA and TCR

Wrathall, Gisburn.

On the same day, the catalogue of strong, pedigree in-calf heifers from local

breeders A Calvert and Son, drew a top price of £1,420 for a January 2015 born

Stanleycup daughter, due next month to Holmland Bentley.

Non-pedigree newly calved heifers sold to £1,800 when A Outram, Bury, sold to Hill

and Davies, Wrexham.

Averages were: Pedigree newly calved heifers £1,667, cows £1,407. Non-pedigree newly calved heifers £1,468. Pedigree in-calf heifers £1,280, non-pedigree £1,240; bulling heifers £798.

Auctioneers were Richard Turner and Son.