Trade peaked at £3300 – the highest Holstein price achieved in a decade at Skipton Auction Mart’s fortnightly Craven Dairy sale – for the reserve champion from Mark Smith, Winterburn.

Selling at this price was the freshly calved white heifer which changed hands giving 44kg per day to Mark Goodall, of Tong, Bradford.

Judge Kev Midgely, Thorpe Bassett, found his champion in Mireclose Secretariat Amanda from father and son duo, Norman and Chris Bell, of the Mireclose pedigree Holstein herd from Cowling. Their home-bred cow calved early July and is giving 34kg. She made £2750 when heading home with Queensbury’s Richard Sutcliffe

Matching that price was the third prize fresh heifer from Jack and Alan Wilson ongoing herd dispersal from Green Hammerton. She sold giving 30kg per day.

The Wilson’s six in-calf cows averaged £1508, to include two coming with their fifth calf and four with their third.

A newly calved cow from Brian and Judith Moorhouse’s Aireburn pedigree herd in Bell Busk also caught the eye selling at £2650.

A strong demand throughout saw six of the nine freshly calved heifers sell for more than £2500 to produce an overall heifer average of £2444.

The sale concluded with 22 Holstein Friesian and Norwegian Red cross bulling heifers, all February and March 2021-born, from Richard and Yvonne Kershaw in Huddersfield, who are moving to autumn calving. The batch headed to six new homes, with 17 selling for more than £1000. Top price was £1200 paid twice for daughters of Kvalbein and Larcrest Commend, bought respectively by Rob Johnson, of Felliscliffe, and Alan Outram in Bury

Also staged was a dairy-bred rearing calf show, which saw a red and white British Blue-cross bull take supreme for James Wellock, Eshton. It later sold for the top price of £520 to the judge, John Gibson.

The Sowray brothers, Bowes Green, Bishop Thornton, produced the reserve champion in the form of the Limousin cross bull calf, Shaun Sowray. He is by the Genus sire, Newpole Kojak, and went on to realise £490. Second top price was £500 paid for a nine-week-old British Blue cross bull, one of two first prize winners from Dewsbury’s Ian Collins.