Robertshaws make history at Christmas show

The county’s livestock have been doing a fine trade at a busy time of the year for farmers.

At Wharfedale Farmers Auction Mart in Otley, the champion cattle in the annual Christmas show and sale was a topping black Belgian Blue heifer, homebred and shown by Richard Stevenson of Farnley. It sold for 392p/kg to James and Victoria Robertshaw of Keelham Farm Shop, Bradford.

The couple also snapped up the lamb section champion shown by John and Linda Croft of Bolton Abbey for 675p/kg.

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The Robertshaw’s made history at Skipton Auction Mart’s Christmas show of prime cattle, paying a show-topping £3,164 for the supreme champion to make it an unprecedented clean sweep of 12 successive prime beef title-winning purchases at every monthly show at the mart this year. The victor, a 565kg Limousin-sired bullock, out of a British Blue cow, was shown by the Fawcett family, of Kissthorn Farm, Sand Hutton, York; represented by Carl Fawcett and his three sons Edward, William and Jimmy.

Meanwhile, at Gisburn’s prime cattle Christmas show, Clare Cropper and John Mellin of Long Preston, Skipton saw their 498kg British Blue steer named champion beast. Its beef will be on sale for Christmas week at Knavesmire Butchers shop in York.

Elsewhere, pig breeder Mark Horsley took three top titles in Live and Carcase Hall classes at the English Winter Fair in Stafford, with Pietrain X pigs reared at his farm at Skirpenbeck near York.

Mr Horsley’s 82.3kg Pietrain-sired Landrace x Duroc gilt won the Pig Carcase classes and sold for £3.10/kg; his Single Pig Champion sold for £2.71/kg to D R Findley of Leyburn; and his Best Pen of Pigs sold for £1.57p/kg to John Penny & Sons.

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