THE top price of £2,280 for a second calver plus another four bids at £2,000 or above, all came from the pedigree section in Gisburn Auction Mart’s weekly dairy sale.

Craven district breeders Geoff and Margaret Booth, of Lothersdale, took top spot with their second prize cow Dowshawdale Bossman Nightmare. Two weeks calved and giving 48kg, it is out of an 11,868kg home-bred dam Gerard dam and was knocked down to Gisburn milk producer William Oldfield. For the second month in succession, GD Donkin, Copster Green, Blackburn, won the pedigree heifer class and the championship with his three weeks calved Copdon Crayon Meggie. Out of a 12,289kg heifer note dam, it sold at £2,200 to an un-named Cheshire buyer who also paid the same price for Oakworth breeder SJ Sugden’s Brontemoor Ponder Lily. Two weeks calved and giving 30kg this Coldsprings Ponder daughter is out of a Bossman dam.

Another from the same home made £2,000 to FA and TCR Wrathall, Gisburn. This was a two weeks calved 31kg heifer, by Lavanguard and out of a Highgro prefix dam. H and M Dugdale, Settle, sold their four weeks calved, 35kg Borrins Dotcom Sincere 2 by a Holmland sire, at £2,020 to . and R M Sutcliffe, Queensbury, Bradford, who also went to £1,950 for the 29kg heifer, Hoole Mozarella Akregloss 4, from and M Cowgill, Hoole, Preston. Messrs Sutcliffe also took another from the Cowgills at £1,900 along with the third prize heifer from GD Donkin at £1,920. In calf heifers from B Pye, Abbeystead, sold to £1,290 and £1,270, while pedigree, February-born stirks from JD and JA Holgate, Rathmell, sold to £710. Averages were: pedigree newly calved heifers £1,716; pedigree newly calved cows £1,772; non-pedigree newly calved heifers £1,414; non-pedigree newly calved cows £1,385; in-calf heifers £1,199.