A ‘fantastic fortnight’ of British Limousin Cattle Society sales kicks off with fixtures on May 1st at both Stirling and Ballymena respectively. Closely following is the sale at Carlisle with females on Friday May 5th followed by the bulls on Saturday May 6th. Rounding off the fortnight is the fixture of bulls and females at Brecon Market on May 13th.
The four sale venues see a mighty total of 630 pedigree Limousins, bulls and females, catalogued for sale and is reflective of one of the highest collective entries in the period for a number of years. Across the UK Limousin continues to be the ‘go to’ breed for commercial producers who are looking for efficient, easy-calving, cheap-to-keep cattle. The industry requirements for weight specification at slaughter, and age to slaughter, also fits the breed extremely well and is very much driving a strong demand for Limousin genetics.
Choice & Value: There is a terrific choice of bulls and females catalogued across these sales for both commercial producers and pedigree breeders and at all levels of budget offering both quality and real value.
Please find below a snap shot outline of the upcoming dates and times and click on the links to view the catalogues and/or to search the pedigrees and performance figures:
Stirling, Monday 1st May: 76 Males and 10 Females have been entered from 27 vendors. The catalogue for the sale can be downloaded and viewed by clicking here. Alternatively you can request a hard copy by telephoning: 01786 473055. The sale starts from 11.30am onwards
The show will be held on Sunday 30th April at 1 pm and is being judged by Michael Norman, Little Orton Farm, Little Orton, Carlisle
Ballymena, Monday 1st May: 45 Males and 16 Females have been entered from 31 vendors. The catalogue for the sale can be downloaded and viewed by clicking here. Alternatively you can request a hard copy by telephoning: 02825 633470
The show and sale will be held on one day with the show at 10am and is being judged by Owain Llyr, Ty’n-y-Wern, Ruthin
These sales are followed by
Carlisle, Saturday 6th May: 218 males have been entered by 81 vendors. The catalogue for the sale can be downloaded and viewed by clicking here. Alternatively you can request a hard copy by telephoning: 01228 406230.
On Friday 5th May the bulls for sale can be viewed at the pre-sale show which will commence at 9.00am and is being judged by Douglas Graham, Mains Of Burnbank Farm, Stirling
* Also on Friday 5th May at Carlisle, commencing at 2.30pm, is the BLCS Breeders’ Sale of females featuring 190 catalogued lots. There are females forward from 21 vendors in all with the entries including 144 maiden heifers. Again please click on the link to view the catalogue here for this sale or telephone the above number for a hard copy.
Brecon, Saturday 13th May: Rounding off the ‘fantastic fortnight’ is the sale of bulls and females due to be held at Brecon Market. There are 50 bulls and 32 females entered for this fixture. Judging the pre-sale show is John Mason of the Oddacres herd, Embsay, Skipton, North Yorkshire. The catalogue for the sale can be downloaded and view by clicking here. Alternatively you can request a hard copy by telephoning: 01874 622386
LIMOUSIN SALES FOCUSED ON THE CUSTOMER
The British Limousin Cattle Society’s Sales are built firmly around the needs of the customer and aimed at delivering the highest level of buyer’s confidence. Breeders are striving to provide high quality added value animals within the Society’s all-round structured Society sales programme of customer focused services
Here are just some of the services and assurances that buyers and customers will have at the forthcoming BLCS Sale at Carlisle.
Herd Health Information: All vendor’s herds have up-to-date Herd Health information included in the Vendor’s Index in the catalogue. This contains information on TB status; membership of CHeCS health schemes; Johnes, BVD, IBR and Lepto status.
Performance Recorded: A high percentage of the bulls entered are from fully performance recorded herds and have Estimated Breeding Values displayed. Buyers can take advantage of the performance indicators that can help in the selection of traits for calving ease, growth and muscle, milk, docility, and gestation length. Prior to the sale the on-line BASCO database provides you with the Limousin herdbook at your finger-tips where you can look up and research the pedigrees and figures of sale animals and their families. Go to www.limousin.co.uk and click on the BASCO icon.
Inspected Bulls: At the Spring 2017 Sales, bulls entered will be subject to a pre-sale inspection conducted by two veterinary inspectors and an appointed Society inspector. A veterinary examination of testicles, eyes, teeth and general health is also conducted. Testicles are inspected, measured and must pass a minimum size. Bulls are also inspected for locomotion, general conformation, and docility.
Pre-sale Show: The pre-sale show of bulls allows buyers to visually assess, compare and select the bulls of their choice to bid on.
NBA Breeding Warranties: Providing a level of post-sale guarantee, bulls are sold under the National Beef Associations Breeding Warranties. These carefully crafted industry standard rules provide buyers with guarantees, to timelines, on the bull’s fertility.
The Society’s website, www.limousin.co.uk will keep you up to date with all the news in the run up to the sales and with its post reporting. So come to the Limousin Sales with confidence and where the Society, the breeders within, and the auctioneers are working hard on the customers behalves.
