British Blue cross heifer the toast of Thainstone

LIVESTOCK: Cheekily-named animal commands £4,600

A British Blue cross heifer commanded the top price of £4,600 at the 25th Thainstone Spectacular yesterday.

The cheekily-named Kiss My..., pictured, was put forward by Mark and Debbie Munro, from Invercharron Farm, Ardgay, Sutherland.

The next best price of the day of £3,800 was achieved by the pre-sale show champion, a home-bred August 2015-born pure Limousin heifer, weighing 450kg, from Stuart Fotheringham, of Ballinloan, Dunkeld.

The un-named entry, pictured, previously stood calf champion at Perth. She sold yesterday to regular Spectacular buyer Phil Sellers, of Thorpe Tilney Farm, Lincoln.

Next best at £3,400 was a fourthprize winning June 2015-born British Blue cross heifer from Rory Hood, Middlehill Farm, Glen Clova.

She weighed in at 560kg and sold to regular show calf purchaser Blair Duffton, of Bogie Street, Huntly.

Another lot from Stuart Fotheringham came in at £2,800.

His second-prize-winning October 2015-born Charolais heifer, which weighed 375kg, sold to S Bett, Binn Farm, Glenfarg, Perth.

Other prices for champion lots were: £1,550 for the champion senior bullock, £2,500 for the reserve senior bullock, £1,700 for the reserve junior bullock and £2,000 for the junior heifer champion.

The overall junior champion, a home-bred January-born Limousin cross bullock from John and Craig Robertson of Newton of Logierait, Pitlochry, went unsold.

In all Aberdeen and Northern Marts sold 47 of the 52 beasts forward.

Auctioneers put 24 heifers through the ring to average £5.28 a kg and £2,047.08 a head – last year 23 lots sold to average £4.63 a kg and £2,054.35 a head.

Bullocks sold to an average of £3.41 a kg and £1,396.36 a head for 23.

This compares to £3.62 a kg and £1,652.38 a head at last year’s sale.