A 12-month-old pedigree Limousin heifer from Procters Farm in Slaidburn was crowned supreme champion at the 2016 Northern Limousin Extravaganza at Skipton Auction Mart. (Tues, May 10)
Procters Lanita is an embryo-sired daughter of the 38,000gns Ampertaine Foreman, who is himself the top priced son of the 50,000gns Wilodge Cerberus, out of a home-bred cow that has also produced a 7,000gns intermediate bull champion. Lanita had first won her show class, before progressing to become female, pedigree and overall champion.
Procters Farm is owned by Anthony Moores and managed by Gary Swindlehurst, who was on hand to see their well-bred heifer take the leading honour at the annual highlight for 2015-born halter-led pedigree and cross-bred Limousin youngsters, most of which were having their first taste of the show arena – and gaining valuable experience from it.
The title winner will make further appearances on the local show circuit this summer, before being retained in the Procter pedigree herd for breeding
The reserve supreme championship fell to the commercial champion, a Limousin-sired heifer from Dave Thompson, of Pickering in North Yorkshire. His January-born Miss Moneypenny, acquired from Lincoln’s Phil Sellars late last year after the breeder had finished showing her as a calf, is by the Cogent sire, the Objat son Powerhouse Elite.
While Mr. Thompson works on a farm, commercial Limousin breeding is a hobby and he is only in his second year of showing, though he did achieve some success in his debut year when picking up red rosettes at both Malton Baby Beef and Egton Show.
However, this was by far his biggest coup to date. “I am over the moon. We could not have hoped for a better start to the season,” said Mr. Thompson, who will continue to parade his rising star on the regional show circuit, with a tilt at this year’s Great Yorkshire Show also on the cards.
The fixture, which goes from strength to strength and this year attracted a record 91-strong turnout – 61 pedigree and 30 commercial entries – was judged by John Philips, who runs the Gronw pedigree herd in Carmarthenshire and is chairman of the British Limousin Cattle Society.
Making his first-ever visit to Skipton, Mr Philips said: “It was a very good show with an excellent top end. It is nice to see young stock coming out and having a showing before the main summer shows begin. They all behaved impeccably and exhibitors had clearly put in a lot of work before-hand.
“The supreme champion is a very sweet and upstanding heifer full of breed character who will go on to make a very good cow, while the reserve supreme is another good heifer, very well balanced and carrying meat throughout from shoulder to back.”
The Tomschoice pedigree Limousin herd of James and Sarah Cooper, based at Hill Top Farm, Dacre, Harrogate, had a hand in all the pedigree bull show classes, winning two of them and seeing the third fall to a youngster sired by one of their former bulls.
Their leading performer was Tomschoice Lacoste, a March-born son of Warrenderpark Geronimo, a senior bull which secured top price honours at 5,400gns at the 2015 Craven Limousin Day, Skipton Auction Mart’s annual Spring show and sale of pedigree Limousin bulls and females, which follows the day after the Northern Limousin Extravaganza.
Lacoste, who progressed to become male champion and reserve pedigree champion, is out of Tomschoice Fragrance, reserve junior female champion at the 2011 Northern Limousin Extravaganza. He will be shown again this summer, before being sold in October.
The Coopers’ second red rosette-winning bull was the April-born Tomschoice Lexus, by the easy calving sire, Carwin Icarus, out of Tomschoice Allegro. Both were on parade at the following day’s big Limousin sale, with Icarus proving the standout performer when landing the supreme championship.
The third pedigree bull class was won by John Swales, who runs the Swale pedigree herd at Mount Pleasant Farm, Balk, near Thirsk, with his January, 2015, Swale Locust, by Brontemoor Aceofspades, bred by the Priestley family when they originally farmed in Denholme, Bradford, before relocating to their current Cumbria holding at Kirkambeck, near Brampton.
Aceofspades was bought for 10,000gns and used successfully by the Coopers, before being purchased by Mr. Swales for commercial breeding. His Skipton red rosette winner and pedigree bull reserve champion, out of a home-bred cow, Swale Fredrica, was also sold the following day.
The Coopers were again on the mark when winning one of the pedigree Limousin heifer show classes with their February-born Tomschoice Lustre, also reserve female champion and again by Warrenderpark Geronimo, who was bred by their daughter Laura and is himself by the Coopers’ renowned sire, Kaprico Eravelle, the best calving bull in the British Limousin herd book. Lustre’s dam is Tomschoice Gold.
William and Maureen Orme, who run the Busk pedigree herd at Home Farm, Stalling Busk, on the edge of Semerwater near Hawes, also tasted success in one of the Limousin heifer show classes with their January-born Busk Lizzie, by the 50,000gns Wilodge Cerberus, out of Mill Brow Elaine, from fellow Lake District breeder George Long.
Mr and Mrs Orme acquired the dam with heifer calf at foot for 9,000gns. She is now expecting her fifth calf, all sired by Cerberus.
The 2015 Northern Limousin Extravaganza supreme champion, Cumbrian commercial breeder Neil Slack, of Plumtree House, Newby, near Penrith, was again prominent when winning two Limousin-sired commercial show classes with 2015-born youngsters both by the French-bred sire, Rossignol, who was acquired in 2002 by good friend, fellow Cumbrian breeder John Richardson, of Appleby, and is still doing the business for him.
Mr Slack won a heifer show class and the reserve commercial championship with his May-born Vroom Vroom, out of a British Blue-cross cow and bought as a calf last August. He then proceeded to land the Limousin-sired commercial bullock show class with his April-born Rocco, out of a Limousin-cross cow also bred by Mr Richardson. Both red rosette winners will reappear at this month’s National Beef Expo and at other summer shows.
The final show class for pedigree pairs also fell to Procters Farm with their supreme champion and the second prize heifer in the same show class, the May-born Procters Lafayette, an embryo daughter of Goldies Fandango, with frozen semen acquired from the Tweeddale herd in Northumberland.
The NLE – full results are posted at www.ccmauctions.com – carried prize money of £1,500 and attracted multiple sponsors. It was again supported by the North East Limousin Breeders Club.
