Blondes in demand at North Midlands markets
British Blonde bred cattle continue to top the market at two of the North Midlands leading markets during the first quarter of 2021.
At the High Peak Livestock Society January Suckler sale, Blonde sired cattle were in high demand. Despite making up only a small proportion of the catalogued entry of nearly 800 suckled calves from upland farms in and around the Peak District, Blonde sired steers reached £1110/hd. This included 8mth old steers from Mark Sweetmore, along with Trevor Ibbotson’s pen of 9-11mth old steers. Heifers reached £1020 for Mark Sweetmore’s 8mth old offering, a pen of 3x 9mth old heifers bred on the slopes of Kinder Scout from George and Stephen Wainwright made £850/hd. The Wainwrights offering of 9mth old feeding bulls hit £910/hd.
Blonde sired stores are also in demand at the weekly sales of store cattle in Bakewell. On Mon 25th Jan both the steers and heifer sections were topped with cattle from DW Shirt with his 20mth old steers at £1350/hd and 19-20mth old heifers at £1270/hd. Young feeding bulls reached £945/hd for John Dakin’s 10-14mth old specimens on Mon 8th March.
In Bakewell’s finished cattle section Blonde sired cattle always sell well week in week out with Blonde cattle regularly featuring in the top 10% of prices for both p/kg and gross, demonstrating the consistent demand from butchers and wholesalers. Highlights include Stan Evans’ 610kg heifer making 263p/kg (£1604/hd) on Mon 11th Jan to top the heifer section. Pure bred bulls from Chris and Mark Shenton hit 225p/kg to gross £1795/hd on Mon 1st Feb. And into March Blonde X bulls hit 220p/kg for Keith Harrop, Alport. And heifers sold to 262p/kg for Peter Gaunt selling to RW Walmesley Butchers, York. The top grossing heifer was also Blonde sired, hitting £1573/hd for JH & G Hollinshead with other Blonde X heifers hitting £1572, £1461, £1432 per head.
In the OTM section Blonde cattle also continue to sell well. On Monday 18th January an entry of pure Blonde cows from Chris and Mark Shenton sold to a high of 189p/kg and a top gross of £1802/hd. A pure bred OTM heifer from Charles & Stuart Mycock hit 180p/kg on Mon 11th January.
Leek market is another North Midlands market with a good Blonde following. On Tuesday 26th January the heifer calf section was topped by a dairy bred Blonde sired calf from E & V Gilman at £280/hd, with bull calves from the same home hitting £288/hd.
As you can see the quality of British Blonde sired cattle shines through and is always in high demand. So why not try some for yourself!
Why settle for silver when you can have Gold?
