COMMERCIAL Holstein Friesian took the principal prizes in the newly-calven show classes at Skipton Mart’s Dairy Auction show and sale on Monday.

Father and son, Tony and James Swires, from Town End Farm, Stainburn, near Harrogate, picked up their third championship of the year with the first-prize heifer, a home-bred Picston Shottle daughter three weeks calved and giving 28 litres. She sold for £1,950 to show judge Shaun Sowray.

The pair also made the day’s top price with a pedigree heifer by the Cogent sire, Ballycairn Tiergan, which sold for £2,200 to Alf and Andrew Townsend, of Burnley.

The Swires consigned four newly-calven heifers in all, which sold to an overall average of £2,020 per head. Among them was the third-prize commercial heifer, which sold for £1,980 to Brian Blezard, Ribchester, and a second pedigree entry by Myersdale Finesse, which also sold to the judge for £1,950.

The reserve championship fell to the second-prize heifer from brother and sister, Sam and Louise Wood, of Holcombe, near Bury. Calved for 17 days and giving 32 litres, she sold for £2,100 to Mr Blezard.

Commercial breeder, David Fort, of Glusburn, had the first-prize newly-calven cow, a home-bred second calver by the Genus sire, Regancrest Isley. Giving 35 litres, she sold to Mr Sowray for £1,680.

In-calf heifers met with a flying trade, with the Roberts family, from Kirklees, making the top price of £1,420 for an entry due to calve to their Aberdeen Angus stock bull.

With 29 dairy cattle forward, pedigree newly-calven heifers averaged £1,857.50 per head and their commercial counterparts, £1,615. In-calf heifers averaged £1,237.