A FAMILY of jubilant Bell Busk dairy farmers have retained the Craven Dairy Auction Christmas championship when putting forward the prize-winner animal.

Husband and wife team Brian and Judith Moorhouse run the prolific Aireburn pedigree Holstein herd at Hesper Farm, Bell Busk.

They bagged the Christmas Craven Dairy Auction supreme championship for the second year running at Skipton Auction Mart on Monday, December 2.

The Moorhouses, multiple champions and prize winners with dairy cattle at their local mart, retained the festive title with Aireburn Saloon Sher, a first calving daughter of the Semex sire, Sandy Valley Saloon.

She was bred from the EX90 Aireburn Shamrock Sher, herself a cow bred from eight generations of VG or EXC, having given close on 31,000 litres across three lactations.

Sold 14 days calved and giving 34 litres, the title winner made the day’s leading price of £2,500.

It made her joint top price all year- when joining Calderdale’s John Hitchen, of Crib Farm Dairies in Ludendenfoot.

She should prove a valuable addition to the 200-strong herd of milkers, which comprises Shorthorn-cross-Friesian cows and continues to make doorstep deliveries of its milk.

Standing reserve champion was the second prize newly calven heifer from Robert Crisp, of Nelson Farm, Calton.

He put forward another daughter of the Genus sire, Seagull Bay MVP, also responsible for the previous dairy champion from the same home.

She sold14 days calved and giving 24 litres to ringside regular Brian Blezard, of Ribchester, for second top call of £2,250.

A second same way bred Crisp newly calven heifer made £1,880.

Edward Fort, who runs the Silmoor pedigree herd at High Bracken Hall Farm on Silsden Moor and won his first-ever Craven Dairy Auction championship at the previous show, again chipped in with the third prize newly calven heifer.

She made a good price of £1,850, also selling another at £1,820.

Milky heifers were in good demand, in the main making £1,700 to £1,950, though with several others hitting £2,000 and more, including, from the Moon family in Wigglesworth, a brace at £2,050, this falling to Andrew Townsend, of Southfield, Burnley, and £2,000, with another at £2,000 from Winterburn’s Mark Smith.

A nice average of £1,851 for 15 newly calven heifers was achieved.

Ian Parkinson, from Barden, presented the only newly calven cow, a third calver which made £1,700.

The sale also included a consignment of maiden heifers from Peter Baul’s Ravensgate herd in Bishop Thornton, which made a clean sweep of the prizes in a standalone show class.

They peaked at £1,050 twice, one of these for the red rosette winner, the May, 2018-born OCD Yoder Cinder daughter, Ravensgate Cinder Sparkle 308, falling to the Breare family on Silsden Moor.

Standing first and second in a show class for in-calf heifers were the Drake family, from Thornton, Bradford, their charges making £1,300 and £1,100.

The festive show was co-judged by Shaun Sowray, of Bishop Thornton, and Mike Longster, from Fellbeck, and sponsored by regular supporter National Milk Records, joined by NFU Mutual, Graham Shepherd Agri and Mulberry Farming Asset Finance.

The final Craven Dairy Auction of the year is on Monday, December 16.

CCM has also announced the appointment of a dairy sales co-ordinator

Sarah Liddle, of Little Fencote, Northallerton, has taken on a newly created role at Craven Cattle Marts as Dairy Sales Co-ordinator, providing a dedicated contact for sales and assisting in marketing dairy cattle.

Sarah already has an in-depth knowledge and understanding in the field. With over ten years direct agricultural sales experience, she grew up on a dairy farm near Bedale, has dairy farmed in her own right, still has some pedigree stock of her own, while now running a well-established agricultural marketing and consultancy business.

She said: “CCM has a positive place to play in marketing dairy cattle in the future and I hope to grow and develop an already well established and respected brand with my deep understanding of both vendors and buyers needs, a well-established and growing network of contacts and an underlying passion and enthusiasm for all things dairy.”

More in next week’s Herald.