LIVESTOCK from Somerset have secured Supreme titles at Royal Bath and West Show. Competition was strong as beef cattle kick-started the interbreed championships at the Royal Bath & West Show on Thursday (1 June).
Scooping Breed Champion and Best Native, British Limousin – two-year-old in-calf heifer, Dinmore Solovely waa awarded a Supreme Champion as well, with Ms Cormack commenting on her presence in the ring.
Ms Cormack said: “She was very good on parade and an excellent example of the breed; well balanced with a nice natural width across the shoulder and down the back, to a well-rounded tail.”
The heifer now resides with Adam Smith and his parents – Tony and Jo – near Bude, Cornwall. They also took Breed Champion with their three-year-old Beef Shorthorn cow, Oceanview Perfection, for the second consecutive year.
Robert and Sophie Hole won a Supreme Championship with their Dorset Horn Poll Dorset shearling ewe Eucalyptus who was awarded winner of the sheep interbreed championship who competed with Dinmore Solovely a two-year-old in-calf heifer who also won a Supreme Champion.
Mr Smith said: “Last year she took reserve Intermediate Champion at the National Limousin Show and we were thrilled. But this is our first Interbreed Supreme Champion at a major show,” enthused Mr Smith. We’re delighted and it makes all the hard work worthwhile.”
Competition was strong, with Reserve Champion going to the Bowendu herd’s three-year-old Hereford bull, Solpoll 1 Trailblazer.
Ms Cormack said:“He’s a super young bull with exceptional quality,” said . “He has clean legs and good movement with a great showman.”
The accolade was not lost on Adam Bowen, who started his Bowendu herd at Tydu Farm in South Wales in 2016 with an in-calf heifer and a cow and calf at foot from Dendor Herefords. Today his pedigree herd is 30-head strong.
Adam said:“I’m just over the moon with his success today,” he said. “It’s his first show this season and he’s taken Male and Breed Champion – and yes we would have liked Supreme Champion, but we’ll save that for another day.”
Friday (2 June) was the big day for the interbreed championships across the other three livestock sections – dairy, sheep and pigs.
First up was the dairy individual interbreed championship. After much deliberation the coveted Supreme Champion title went to Les and Tracy Rockett’s eight-year-old Ayrshire, Greenaway Ross Great Jubilee, sired by Easterchurch Ross and bred by the exhibitors.
Reserve champion was awarded to Berryholme Lighthouse Flo, a Holstein from Kevin and Sian Rickard’s Starlet herd, from Newport in South Wales. Judge, Linda Batty said Berryholme was a fine cow which could well be worthy of first-place awards in future years.
In the sheep lines, a huge entry of over 1,700 gave the judges a difficult task to select the outstanding entries.
Picking the Interbreed Champion, judge Henry Doveman said the standard of entries was remarkably high, before announcing the winner: Robert Hole’s Dorset Horn and Poll Dorset shearling ewe, Eucalyptus.
“She’s a typical example of our flock, lovely looks, and stands very firm – and she just looked like a winner on the day,” said Mr Hole, of Hillstreet Farm, Sherborne in Dorset.
Reserve spot was given to 13-year-old Harry Stamp’s Dorset Down ram lamb, from the Bowbridge Flock from Highbridge in Somerset.
In the pig section, the Interbreed Supreme Champion was awarded to Duroc boar, Hazeway Clyde. It was the boar’s first outing in the show ring, and the win delighted Hayley.
Hayley said: “You never know what will happen when you put a pig into the ring for the first time – so winning the championship is fantastic for us."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here