They say that “Diamonds Are Forever” and there were certainly plenty of Holstein breeders keen to acquire a member of this outstanding cow family when Andrew & Jane Whittaker dispersed their prizewinning Knowlesmere herd at Weston-under Redcastle, Shropshire on September 3rd.
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The two top prices were members of this tremendous family and both were purchased by James McNeil from Caiirnpat Holsteins at Stranraer, who has acquired many of the best animals to be sold at auction in recent years. He firstly gave 18,000gs for the superb Knowlesmere Solomon Diamond (Ex-93) who has been an All Britain winner for the past 3 years in succession. Milking with her third calf, her heifer calf at foot by Crushabull made 9,000gs to local breeder Brent Crothers, buying for his Tottoi herd. Solomon Diamond’s dam was the great matron Knowlesmere Jordan Diamond (Ex- 96), a prolific Champion at major shows and former All Britain Mature Cow, and her granddaughter, the much admired calved heifer Knowlesmere Sol Diamond (VG-88) later in the sale sparked another tense bidding battle between Mr McNeil and Steven Robinson from Northern Ireland, bidding on the telephone, before the former prevailed at 20,000gs. The Diamonds sparked interest whenever one entered the ring and the 24 Diamond lots averaged £5,228.
Andrew and Jane’s daughter Izzy and her husband Gary Jones have had their own cattle registered under the Jones prefix, and as they are about to relocate to Ireland, these were part of the dispersal sale. The six month old Jones Awesome Jelly ET, was the subject of great interest, being the first daughter from the renowned prizewinning Knonaudale Jasmine to sell in the UK, and she made 13,500gs to the Forsyth family’s Baltier Farms, bidding online from their Wigtownshire base. Another fancy calf was Jones Firstlook Lexi Red, a member of the famous Blackrose family, and Claire Swale had to go to 11,200gs to acquire her on behalf of Hautmont Hill Holsteins from Belgium.
The Poppi family are always in demand in the auction ring and Iwan Morgan purchased the VG-87 point 2 year old by Stantons High Octane for 12,000gs for his partnership with Elite Haven Holsteins. Anither popular family were the Chancels, with representatives making 8,200, 7,800 and 6,000gs.
30 animals were sold for 4,000gs or more and a further 29 over 3,000gs, paying testimony to the rremendous quality on offer and the Whittaker family are to be congratulated on a wonderful offering of top class Holsteins, resulting in an average of almost £2,400 per life for 322 head from senior cows to baby calves only a few days old.
This was the first online sale conducted by Norton & Brooksbank in their link with MartEye and 19.2% of buyers purchased online, with a total of 246 people bidding online during the day and more than 3,700 people in 9 countries following the sale on live stream.
See complete sale results here
