Jonathan Caygill wins New Year dairy championship at Skipton Auction Mart

His cracker of a homebred heifer, two weeks calved, giving 31 litres, sired by Genus bull Pesky, was picked out by judge Frank Wrathall, of Gisburn.

The champion went on to sell for £2,100 to AG Parker, of Huddersfield.

The reserve champion was a super homebred second-calver from Thomas and Libby Simpson, of Red House Farm, Ripon, 14 days calved, giving 42 litres, sired by Miresdale Lloyd.

Brian Blezard, of Ribchester, snapped up the reserve champion for the top price of the day, £2,180, and also bought the Simpsons’ second prize cow for £1,780.

Robert Crisp, of Nelson House, Calton, took second place in the newly calven heifers class and third place in the newly calven cows, while Mark Smith, of Winterburn, was third in the heifers.

A pedigree bull from GB Moorhouse, of Bell Busk, was highly sought after and ended up with Stephen Breare and sons George and Joss, of Silsden Moor, reaching £2,400.

Named Aireburn Trump, the 14-month-old bull boasted the Yorkshire Herd Competition Champion Cow 2016 and 2017 as its dam, and was sired by Seagull-Bay-MJ Solaris.

Newly calven heifers averaged £1,455 on the day, with newly calven cows averaging £1,786 and pedigree newly calven heifers averaging £1,544.

There was also a handy show of calves at the Mart, which saw a cracking trade.

Eight different buyers for black and whites meant prices rocketed with a sky-high average of £90.33. A fleshy Holstein bull from A and SL Throup, of Silsden Moor, hit the top price of £175.

A plainer show of continentals got away on a straight trade with the best goods from Fred Houseman, of Church Farm Enterprises, still getting away well with three bulls over £400 and topping at £420. Continentals averaged £313 while natives averaged £185.

CN and SA Harrison, of Elslack, sold a Simmental bull calf for £350 while JR and MJ Moon, of Wigglesworth, sold the top priced heifer calf, a British Blue for £320.