Proud Cornish family headlines South Devon Performance Championships
FOR the second year in succession, the South Devon Herd Book Society took its performance classes to Agrifest South West.
Unique in its format, this event incorporates performance records with judge’s personal inspections to give a different angle to traditional pedigree classes.
Also unique this time was the use of Single-Step BREEDPLAN, a brand new technology for the UK which includes precise genetic data with the usual performance and pedigree data.
Single-Step BREEDPLAN is a weighty selection tool because it offers a higher degree of accuracy to its evaluations, therefore reliability of figures. The South Devons are the first breed to offer this technology in the country.
Judge Robert Hadley, whose Knightcote herd of pedigree South Devons is based in Leamington Spa in Warwickshire, added inspection points to the performance points of each individual animal to reach his champions.
The female and overall breed champion was Kestle Tulip 150, a March 2021-born heifer by Welland Valley Dominator 2, with a Suckler Inspection Index of +56 and in the top 5% of the breed. Male champion was Kestle Dominator 5 by the same sire, and with a Quality Beef Index of +79 which is also in the top 5%.
Both champions are owned and bred by father and son duo, Roger and Adrian Rundle, whose Kestle herd is kept near Newquay.
Reserve female champion was Mr Rundle’s Kestle Buttercup 152, and reserve male champion was Peter and Ashley Rowe’s Trewint Clarkson from Menheniot, near Liskeard.
The Performance Championships are open to all South Devon Herd Book Society members, so long as the animals have above average Breedplan indexes.