Averages: 97 cows and calved heifers, £2561.13; 93 maiden heifers, £1323.00; 39 heifer calves, £679.27. Overall, 229 head, £1737.82

A good crowd gathered for the Best of the BB Holstein sale at the Baker family’s farm at Kemeys Commander, near Usk where prices peaked at 6600gns.

In establishing the pedigree herd, Bev Baker sourced embryos from some of America’s best known cow families and animals from two of them, the Cleopatras and Memorys, proved particularly popular.

The sale leader, BB Frazzled Cleopatra VG89, was one of those descendants. A second calver backed by 10 generations of VG or Ex dams that traces back to the Larcrest brood cows Crimson and Cosmopolitan, she was knocked down to David Leyburn of Lislea Holsteins, Co Armagh. She sold sexed to Siemers Rengd Parfect for April 2024.

Making 5200gns to the Goldenball herd of Stowell Farms, Marlborough, Wiltshire, was the third calver, BB Lambda Memory 2 ET Ex-91. Bred from the Ex93-3 LP50 13* brood cow, BB Elude Memory 3 ET, she also sold sexed to Parfect for April next year.

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Just behind, on 4800gns, Owain Harries of the Eola herd, purchased a VG-2yr Frazzled daughter from the Memory family, while a Frazzled Cleopatra went the way of Elwyn and Cheryl Thomas at 4700gs for their Gatrog herd.

John Allen, Co Armagh, bought a number of females for his Liskey herd to include a Rubicon daughter from the Cogent Looking family for 4500gs and a young cow from the Sheira family for 4000gs.

Top price among the maiden heifers was 4400gs given by David and Claire Jones of the Wiltor herd, for a January 2022-born Stantons Chief heifer out of BB Rhythm Menmory 2 Ex-92.

Auctioneers: Norton and Brooksbank and Nock Deighton