Royal Highland Show

Hi all
Sorry I have not written a blog for a while but this one is about the Royal Highland Show (RHS). The RHS is one of the oldest shows that I know. It is the biggest in Scotland and every farmer knows about it.
What a surprise, it was raining. Typical British weather!! To be precise it never stopped raining and the organising team from the RHS had to close the original car parks as it was so wet and move them to hard concrete areas. There was a lot of work for the bus drivers as they had to ferry bus loads of people to the show and back for hours on end.
Despite getting some pretty bad weather, the Highland Show was really popular. The first day was mainly devoted to native breeds. As you might remember I stewarded the shetland sheep at the TCAS. The Shetland Championship went to Kate Sharp’s coloured ewe and the Reserve to a shearling tup. The Scottish Blackface competition was won by J White with a two crop ewe and a gimmer as Reserve. Pat Maddock won the Ryelands with her shearling ram. There was a large turnout in the Texel classes (170 entrants) with a one-crop ewe from John Forsyth getting Champion and JC Innes’ gimmer getting Reserve. Robbie Wilson of Turriff, Aberdeenshire won the Suffolk classes with a two crop ewe and a tup lamb. The judges were really impressed with the overall standard, especially in the Texel classes. The overall sheep champion went to John Forsyth with his one crop Texel ewe. Well done.
In cattle, the supreme award went to Bill Bruce with the bull Balmyle Eclipse, who is an enormous Charollais. A really good event despite the rain.
Speak soon
Jack

Sunday

Hi all It has been a wonderful final Show day. The sun has been shining most of the day and everyone was in great spirits. It was the Rare and Minority Breed show day so we had to make some more sheep rings to fit in all the different breeds. The show consisted of some sheep, cattle and pigs  from the RBST WATCHLIST 2012. These are species that are considered endangered or at risk so it is fantastic to think breeders are working so hard to keep them going. Since the Rare Breed Survival Trust began, they have not lost a single species. I was the ring steward for the Shetland sheep. I hadn’t realised before today how many different colours there were within the Shetland breed. The Shetland’s wool is excellent for spinning. The Champion Shetland was a ewe with a lamb at foot from Faygate Rare Breeds. This champion then went into the Interbreed competition. There was an impressive line up of breeds in this and eventually the judge selected a Ryeland from Messrs J & S Donovan (from Pembrokeshire)as his champion.  The reserve was a Kerry Hill. The overall best rare breed in show today was awarded to a Longhorn Bull and was judged by Mrs A Petch from Devon. The judging of this took place in the main ring after the impressive grand parade. Alongside this show today, there were some championship sheep classes from Friday and Saturday’s classes. There was a large turnout in the pairs class and following very close inspection and consideration, the judge awarded the Championship to the Blue Texel pair. The Kerry Hills were runners up. I hope you have enjoyed my show blogs and I’ll resume my weekly reports again very soon. I’ve really enjoyed helping on all 3 days and am looking forward to next year already. Jack

Saturday

Hi all What a rainy day but when it came to the Young Handlers' classes the sun came out and started to dry up the puddles. The Young Handler classes are very important to any show as they encourage the younger generation to try out showing sheep, cattle and pigs. There were over 35 children entering the sheep young handlers ranging from 5 to 21 years old. There were so many entries in one class we had to spilt the first class into two. The Judge was very interested in all the exhibits and questioned each on their sheep. The champion young handler went to a girl from the 17 - 21 years of age class. As well as some prize money and vouchers she won a jacket with 'Champion Young Handler' embroidered on it. Well Done. In the main sheep classes, the Supreme Sheep Championship went to a Beltex from Messrs S & S Gibbons. The Supreme Cattle Championship went to Oakchurch Diplomat an Aberdeen Angus from J & A Price. The Herefords won the Supreme pairs. Sunday is rare breeds day with record entries in all departments, lets hope for some sunshine. If you have any comments or would like a livestock report please email me on hanleysuffolks@gmail.com. Jack

Friday

Hi all What a great first day at The Three Counties Show but wasn't the weather strange. It could not make it's mind up but every one was in a good mood and even though there were some sharp showers, they enjoyed their day. There was great show of cattle, sheep and pigs also some lovely goats. As usual the Hereford cattle drew in a big crowd of exhibitors mainly from the Three Counties as it is our local breed of cattle. Mr R N Borwick had very hard decision when choosing class winners as there where about 100 cattle entered. The Herefords had 28 different winning cattle in the grand parade. The grand parade consisted of about 221 different animals ranging from a small Beltex sheep to a big Charolais Bull.  As usual Clive Roads and his team of Commentators gave a fantastic description of all breeds and they always keep us all up to date with all the information we need to know. Today there where 15 cattle breeds with 16 judges having to make some very difficult decisions. Mr A Owen, Mr T Jackson and Mr M Smell had a hard decision as they judged the Young Handlers in the sheep, beef and pig sections. It is very important to encourage the young stock people and all of them were given a rosette and a food voucher for use at the show. My Clun Forest section went well and I an pleased to announce that  Mr Smith's sheep was the breed champion. There were 19 different breeds to judge and 20 different judges making the decisions. All the sheep shown were in there best coats and all looking very smart. The Terminal Sire Progeny Group went to a Charollais pair with a pair of Blue Texels reserve. There was a great show of Texels with at least 10 in each class with some having more than 20. The Suffolks where another show puller with Chris Holmes from Rockery Farm winning for the second time. Last year, he sent the Suffolk champion to Shrewsbury Pedigree Suffolk Sale and took the top price. In the pig section it was a big day as an exhibitor who has shown his pigs at the show for 60 years was presented with an award. Well done!! I would also like to say well done to all the stewards and judges and a big thank you to the livestock officers who keep the show going and they work all round the clock to get the show ready to go. Everyone is looking for forward to the weekend classes. More stock will be arriving for the Rare Breed Day on Sunday. If you have any comments about the show send an email to me on hanleysuffolks@gmail.com. I will have a full livestock report available soon. Jack

THREE COUNTIES SHOW

JUST TO LET YOU KNOW. THE THREE COUNTIES SHOW IS ON!!!! PLEASE IF YOU CAN, LET PEOPLE KNOW THAT IT IS ON AND ALL THE MAIN EVENTS ARE GOING AHEAD AS PLANNED!!!!! IF YOU CAN COME, DO SO AND INVITE YOUR FRIENDS. IT IS ON FROM FRIDAY 15TH TO SUNDAY 17TH. SUNDAY IS THE RARE BREED SHOW AND I WILL KEEP YOU UP TO DATE WITH ALL THE WINNERS.

ALL THE BEST
JACK

Audience

AT 17:50 ON 11/06/2012 I HAVE HAD 1,556 VIEWS ON MY BLOG. SO KEEP VISITING MY BLOG AND LETS GET IT UP TO 2000 BY SEPTEMBER.

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Jubilee celebrations, going to market and trying out auctioneering

Hi All

What a lovely week once again. I should not complain but it is just a little too hot, especially when you do a science experiment using fire!

I have got my ewes shorn on Tuesday, Tim did them and they look great. I did not have a go at it as I would hate to have to take the blame if anything had happened! I will have some pictures soon to post on here.

Tim is a sheep dealer. Through the lambing period, I was there every night in the school week. I started at 6 o'clock and was responsible for certain jobs until Tim returned. Now lambing has finished I am helping whenever there are jobs to be done. On Thursday I had a phone call to ask if I could go round in the evening and load the lorry with the wool bags. Tim was telling me how dreadful the lamb trade is at the moment, we have some good chats while we are working. In Longtown which is a very big livestock mart which usually have 4000 ewes and about 4000 lambs to sell, both ewes and lambs were down dramatically.

Hope you are enjoying the sunshine.
Jack