TWO Holmfirth cattle breeders dominated the Continental class in the Spring show and sale of beef feeding cows at CCM Skipton Auction Mart on Wednesday.

Fred Andrews took the first prize ticket and topped the sale at £2,000 with a Charolais, Clark Farms finishing second and third with their trio of Limousin cows, which sold at £1,900, £1,880 and £1,800. Allan Thompson Farms, Oakworth, won and also stood runner-up in the native show class with British Whites selling to £1,790, Robert and Andrea Wade, Cononley, finishing third with a £1,420 Aberdeen-Angus.

With flesh in evidence, prices were sharp for most classes, all but one of the 29 beef feeding cows selling into four figures, with an overall section average of £1,533, while a brace of feeding bulls averaged £1,565, topping at £1,680 for a 2016-born Blonde from the Wainwright family, Bolsterstone, Sheffield.

The annual show formed part of the fortnightly Wednesday cattle sale, which attracted another strong turnout just shy of 500 head, with multiple four-figure selling prices seen throughout, including solid trade among the 337 stores, notably for yearling bullocks which topped at £1,800 for a Limousin-x from the Walker family, Appletreewick.

Dairy-crossed feeding bullocks sold to £1,750 for a British Blue-x from David and Jacqui Coates, Coniston Cold, dairy-cross feeding heifers with both flesh and frame making either side of £1,600. Other feeding cattle met regular strong demand, with a top of £1,900 for a Limousin-x bullock from Fair Place Farm, Cowling. Plenty of suckler-bred feeding bullocks made £1,700 upwards for the strongest end, their heifer counterparts either side of £1,600 up to £1,700 for a Simmental from James Foster, Bolton Abbey. M Ryder & Sons, Harrogate, headed the native prices with Angus to £1,740 for bullocks and £1,580 for heifers, Allan Thompson Farms again catching the eye with an over 30-months Belted Galloway at £1,920.

Store bullocks sold to the following averages: Continental-x £1,381, native £1,321, B&W £1,055, with Continental-x store heifers averaging, £1,278, natives £1,203.

The 121 young feeding bulls were a shade easier on price for an entry which included a seasonable number of dairy-bred beef bulls. However, sire-identified Angus bulls saw a consistent trade to average £1,541, while best end Continentals sold from £1,800 up to £1,980 for an under 13-month Limousin-x from Jeff Pickles, Chapel-le-Dale. The pick of the entry were Spring-born yearling bulls, confirmed by an under 13-months average of £1,457, while the over 13-months average of £1,093 included 14-month-old bulls at £1,920.

In a small, but high quality turnout of under 30-month prime cattle, Knavesmire Butchers, York, secured a top price trio, all from Peter Holt, Rossendale - a home-bred 542kg Limousin-x steer at 341.5p/kg, £1,851, a 634kg British Blue-x heifer at £2,064,325.5p/kg, and a 566kg Limousin-x heifer at 339.5p/kg, £1,922.

James Robertshaw, Robertshaw’s Farm Shop, Thornton, bagged a trio, a brace of Limousin-x steers from Francis and Andrew Smith, Masongill, to highs of £1,778 and 337.5p/kg, and a 574kg Limousin-x heifer from BenTownsend, Laneshawbridge, at 336.5p/kg, £1,932.