A Hereford bull from George and Sophie Harvey’s Harveybros herd from Balfron topped the breed sale at Shrewsbury when securing the overall championship and the lead price of 9000gns.

Harveybros 1 Willy-The-Womanizer, a 2021-born bull by Wirruna Matty M288 out of Harveybros 1 Crocus N1, has already enjoyed notable success for the father and daughter team, having racked up multiple titles. He was breed champion and native inter-breed champion at the Royal Welsh and at Perth Show to name but a few awards presented this summer.

He also sold with impressive EBV figures down to Suffolk, when purchased by the Gooch family, of Benacre Estate. The estate has not had cattle on it for almost 50 years and Lady Gooch and her two daughters have ambitions of transforming the once arable farm into a regenerative haven.

Under the watchful eye of estate manager, Andrew Allan, the farm will undergo work to improve soil health with a combination of herbal leys to help with carbon secretion while also establishing a large herd of Hereford cattle to contribute to this new initiative.

Mr Allan secured no fewer than 16 quality heifers from the UK’s top breeders. He said he is looking for animals that will thrive on herbal leys, can maintain condition wintering out on a farm that borders the coast, and will offer them a product with which they can confidently approach local, highly-revered butchers.

Team Harvey also received 5600gns for Harveybros 1 Williams-Wallace which was sold to D Evans, who runs a mostly commercial herd. Williams-Wallace and Willy-The-Womanizer also won the trophy for the best pair of exhibitor-bred bulls.

Another top show winner, Dendor 1 Jano 23, a heifer that won her class at the Royal Welsh and the Poll Show last month, for Dendor Herefords, Wales, made 6000gns, selling to Gerald Wood to add to his recently established Allwood herd from Totnes, Devon.

The first lot in the ring, Glenvale 1 Sara 798 from the Thorne family’s National Herd of the Year based in Pembrokeshire, made 5200gns to M Ludgate for his Rempstone herd from Thame, Oxford. This April 2021-born heifer was the reserve female champion at the pre-sale show.

Just behind, on 5000gns, G and MC Shepherd sold their first heifer, Moorside 1 HC Jane 24, to Creuddyn Herefords owned by Gwyndaf Davies from Felinfach, Lampeter.

Five of the seven entries from the Shepherd herd were sold to the Benacres Estate in Suffolk.

The second top price among the bulls was 6000gns paid for Carolyn Fletcher’s Barwise 1 Wordle NP W1298, which found a new home within the LLynon herd owned by HO Davies, Amlwch, Anglesey.

Bulls met a 71% clearance to average £4121.25, with 83% of the show heifers finding new homes to level at £3255. Sale-only females averaged £3255.