Limousin Crossbred Champion stands Reserve Overall
Supreme Champion sells for £5,700
Steer Champion & Reserve both Limousin-sired
Crossbred Heifer Champion & Reserve
Pedigree Championship one-two
Foxhillfarm Bull wins inaugural Pedigree Calf Show
Champion & Reserve Beef Carcase
Baby Beef Reserve Overall Champion
Baby Beef Steer & Reserve Steer Champion
A tremendous show of purebred and crossbred Limousin primestock swept the boards and dominated the prize tickets at the English Winter Fair held at the County Showground, Staffordshire 15-16 November. Limousin stock secured the Overall Supreme, Overall Reserve, Overall Heifer & Reserve, Overall Steer & Reserve, Carcase Supreme & Reserve, Overall Pedigree and Reserve, and Baby Beef Reserve titles as well as the Interbreed Championship in the first running of the National Pedigree Calf Show.
The Overall Cattle Championship was won by father and son Trevor & Jonathan Lyon, Lintre House, Water Lane, Thurlby, Bourne, Lincs with their pedigree Limousin heifer, Garnedd Ira who later went on to sell for £5,700 to butchers Messrs B & T Kitson, Northallerton, N Yorks in the post-show auction. This was the third year running that Anthony Kitson had purchased the Champion here. Ira was bred by KI & E & HI Jones, Bryn Ddraenen, Padog, Betws-Y-Coed. Weighing in at 655kg, Ira is by the 10,000gns Overthwaite Ben (by Sympa) and is out of the Attirant daughter Garnedd Fame. The same bull had sired the Lyons’ 2010 English Winter Fair Supreme Champion, the Limousin crossbred steer Meat Loaf, also bred by Ken Jones, so it was only natural that they return to the Garnedd herd to purchase another with similar breeding.
Previous show outings for this January 2013-born heifer had been rewarded with the Heifer Championship at both the Royal Norfolk and Newark County Shows respectively, in addition to first-prize tickets at the Great Yorkshire, Royal Welsh, Beef Expo and Countryside Live.
Ira had earlier secured the Limousin and Overall pedigree Championships before going head-to-head with the crossbred Champion to be crowned Supreme Champion Animal under joint judges Chris Wright and Richard Taylor. Standing Reserve Supreme was Phil & Sharon Sellers’ Fieldson Alfy-sired heifer, More of That, who this season secured the same accolade at Borderway Agri Expo as well as Supreme Champion at Countryside Live. Out of a Limousin-cross cow, this 610kg July-born heifer was bred by Andrew Harrison and purchased from Carlisle in March.
The Lincolnshire-based Sellers also took the Reserve Pedigree and Reserve Overall Pedigree Championship titles with another pure Limousin heifer, Powerhouse Iadora, bred by C & W Phillips, Weobley, Hereford. July-born, she is by Powerhouse Fusion (by Ulm) and is out of Marden Btpiadora, a Marron daughter, and was purchased at this year’s Brecon Show Potentials for £1,500.
Reserve Overall Crossbred Animal was the Reserve Heifer Champion, Black Beauty, from the Harryman & Warriner Partnership comprising Mark Harryman and his fiancee Sarah Warriner from Swainsea Barn Farm, Swainsea Lane, Pickering, N Yorks. Born in May 2013, Black Beauty was sired by the 10-year-old Hudscales Vladimer (by Muirhouse Lagonda) and bred by AE Iceton & Sons, High Birkhatt, Baldersdale, Barnard Castle. She was purchased at the Middleton-In-Teesdale Suckled Calf Sale. Scaling 600kg she went on to sell for £3,000 to the same buyer as the Champion.
Crossbred Steer Champion was Stevie Gee, a Fieldson Alfy-sired Limousin bullock and out of a Limousin x British Blue dam, from Neil Slack, Plum Tree House, Newby, Penrith. This one tipped the scales at 640kg and also won the Reserve Champion Homebred-and-Fed award. Standing reserve to him were BJ & LA Pritchard, Olchon Mill, Longtwon, Hereford family with their Limousin cross bullock Tickety Boo by Rhonllywn Duke, an Objat son and out of a Blue cross dam when weighing 770kg. Homebred-and-Fed Champions were A & B Hughes, Cwmhendryd, Lampeter with their Limousin-cross heifer Cariad.
The inaugural English Winter Fair National Pedigree Calf Show saw the Limousin bull Foxhillfarm Justthejob win the Interbreed title and £1,000 prize money under Judge and H&H Auctioneer James Little, Mayfield, Church Lane, Thursby, Carlisle. By Loosebeare Fantastic and out of Bankdale Alice, this was one of 12 embryo calves born in January 2014 for exhibitors Mike & Melanie Alford, Blackborough, Devon. James Little commented: “With great show ring presence, this bull is still very sweet being January-born, clean through his body and with tremendous conformation.”
On the Saturday evening, under Limousin Calf Show Judge Colin Soutter, Brougham, Penrith there was a one-two for the Alford Family with the sameway-bred heifer calf Foxhillfarm Justtheone taking the Overall Reserve. Taking the Reserve Male Championship was Foxhillfarm Jupiter, another ET brother to the Champion. Reserve Female Champion was Trisant Jini from G & E Jones, Ty Gwyn, Llantrisant, Holyhead with this one being by Wilodge Fastrac and out of Trisant Ffiffi.
Baby Beef Judge Paul Tippetts, Lodge Hill Farm, Park Lane, Shifnal, Shrops placed the Reserve Baby Heifer, Pokerlicious, again from the Alfords, as his Reserve Overall. Born in February 2014, she was bred by John McAllister, Wester Thomaston, Bonnybridge, Stirling and is by Easegillhead Exterminate. This Winter season she had won the Baby Beef at Agri-Expo and had stood Reserve at Countryside Live. Champion Baby Steer was Neil Slack’s Spartacus bred by W Richardson & Son, with Reserve being Jason Wareham’s Kung Fu Panda bred by Smallburn Farms.
In the Carcase Competition, both Supreme and Reserve Championships went to Limousin animals. Frank Page, Lodge Farm, Elkington, Northants took his sixth EWF carcase crown with a Pembridge Delboy-sired 333.8kg deadweight carcase grading E3 which was described by judge Mr D Prince, Stonedge, Chesterfield as ‘an excellent, small-boned heifer.’ Reserve were B & C Wilson, Haughton, Staffs with another E3 heifer scaling 346.5kg deadweight with ‘very good meat-to-bone ratio.’ This one was sired by the Objat son Keltic Freelander.
Other awards:
– Pedigree Limousin Steer BE Williams Gelliwion Ivor bred by PJ & S Edwards
– Reserve Pedigree Limousin Steer GR Fountaine Knoakescourt Injection bred by E & S Layton
– Staffordshire Rose Bowl B & C Wilson Haughton Itunes
