Search on for beasts with the X-factor

It's selection time for hundreds of Yorkshire's livestock farmers. The county's burgeoning agricultural show season kicks off at Otley on Saturday May 22, with its 201st show and runs through to the end of September when Pateley Bridge hosts the Nidderdale Show.

"To fail to prepare is to prepare to fail" is a maxim held dear by the show men and women competing for titles in dairy, beef, sheep, goats and pigs sectors.

So they spend countless hours halter training, clipping, brushing, washing down, walking their animals around as they would in a show ring before the big day.

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Andrew Jennings is a third generation tenant farmer at Hill House Farm, set in picturesque surroundings near Fountains Abbey, where his family has farmed for 100 years this year.

Having cut his teeth on local shows, Andrew made his dairy-showing debut at the Great Yorkshire in recent years and has already achieved success with his 196-strong Abbey House Holstein dairy herd. It's a high-yielding herd, averaging 10,500 litres per cow.

"My dad was never into showing much and my first experience of showing came at Nidderdale Show in the young farmers' classes," says Andrew. "I enjoyed it and when I left school I started doing one or two local shows.

"Four years ago was the first time I showed at the Yorkshire Show. I had thought that mine weren't good enough for the Yorkshire, but people were telling me I should be there, that I had good enough cows to go.

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"I can't remember my results the first year I took part, but 2006 was the year to remember for me. It was the year Prince Charles was there and I won the Dairy Champion and went on to win the Inter Breed Champion. I have some pictures of Prince Charles presenting me with a trophy in the main ring. I'll probably never have a chance to do

it again. It's a once in a lifetime thing.

"He asked about dairy and the milk price and how he thought it was scandalous. He was a straight, genuine farming man, with a good interest in agriculture."

Andrew's local show is Nidderdale. But he attends Ripley Show and has been a regular at Otley for a number of years. He is looking forward to getting back in the ring in a fortnight. "It's my first show of the season. I've entered four sections – a heifer in milk, a junior cow and a senior cow. My eldest son Stuart is taking his calf which he can show in the young members and young farmers classes."

When Andrew makes his selection how does he reach a decision? "The first thing I always look for is something stylish, something that stands out. I have a fair idea of what is a good cow. I'm looking for a long, stretchy, tall cow.

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"But size isn't everything nowadays. It used to be a few years ago. You want a good udder with right teat placement. If you get a good show cow, and if you get it calved the right time every year, you can generally show it for a few years.

"I'm looking for that bit extra that jumps out at you, like an X-Factor. Bricknell Gibson Peach, which I bought as a little calf, brought about my greatest success so far."

Showing is only one of the elements Andrew is concerned with. He is looking for quality not just in the ring, but also throughout his herd back on the farm.

"I breed for a high type of cow. I don't breed for milk, for yield. I've been there, done that and I realised my cows weren't lasting long. It goes back to the welfare issue. You need a functional cow that will last."

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His son is catching the bug and this has been a typical trait in Yorkshire over the past decade with more young people becoming involved.

"Stuart is getting in to showing. The calf he showed at the Great Yorkshire Show two years ago went on to be Junior Champion at last year's GYS. He also had a show calf last year that was placed third. It was a lovely natured calf which did him a lot of good because he could cope with it.

"That's half the battle of starting the young ones with showing. Our daughter Natasha is also getting into it. She wanted a Jersey a few years ago but I said I wouldn't have one, so we settled on a red and white calf and she will be showing for the first time this year hopefully. William, who is only five, says he's going to have a go at the Yorkshire Calf Show.

"I'll find him a little calf and see how he goes."

The grand old man of the Yorkshire agricultural show scene is Bert Verity of Kirkby Overblow, who turns 97 in August, making him older than some of the shows themselves. He also started showing when he was young.

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"My first recollection of going to Otley Show was in 1921," says Bert.

"It was down Pool Road, where the rugby ground is now. My father had just got a Model T-Ford. I can remember there were a lot of dairy cows. Otley was known for its dairy and the show was a special show day for the dairy cattle.

"I've exhibited and judged at Otley many times. I exhibited my Texel sheep when I first got them and commercial cattle. I had the commercial cattle champion several times. Otley has always been recognised as a cattle centre, but over the years the numbers of dairy cattle have gone down as the number of dairy farmers has disappeared. It is still an excellent show and will always have pride of place as the start of the season. Many farmers bring their stock to see just how it will go against the others. It gives them an idea of how good a season they're going to expect."

CW 8/5/10

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