23-01-2015
On Thursday 22nd January, we welcomed 130 of our producers and their families to our Skellingthorpe site for the ninth Dovecote Park Annual Carcase Competition, a highly successful event which displayed first hand the high standards of husbandry upon which we pride ourselves here at Dovecote Park...
Thursday 22nd January saw Dovecote Park’s annual Carcase Competition celebrate its ninth
year, with the show returning to its former location at our Skellingthorpe
site. 130 producers and their families joined the Livestock Team,
Skellingthorpe staff and several Dovecote directors and Waitrose
representatives for a highly successful day which marked an excellent start to
2015.
This year’s
judging panel was comprised of Dovecote Park’s joint Chief Executive David Gunner, with Waitrose represented
by Director of Agricultural Strategy Heather
Jenkins. The guest judge for this year was Malcolm Helm who has graded cattle for Dovecote Park for the entire
duration of the company’s history. With over 40 years of experience in the
industry, Malcolm is one of the UK’s most experienced and knowledgeable
graders, and it was a privilege to have him lend his expertise to this year’s
competition.
There were
entries from 53 of our producers, with many submitting carcases in multiple
categories. This year’s competition saw a significant change to the previous
format, with steers and heifers competing together for the first time – and on
this occasion, ‘the girls won’ with
heifers taking home top prizes in three out of five categories.
After much
deliberation by the judges, the Champion
Continental Bred Carcase trophy was awarded to Robert Robinson (pictured below) from Stainforth, Doncaster, for
his submission of a Limousin cross heifer.
Neil Brocklehurst, from Derbyshire, was the recipient
of the Champion Native Bred Carcase award,
for his home bred Aberdeen Angus heifer, which was also awarded Champion Home Bred Carcase.
Once the
producers had seen their entries in the maturation chiller, the group gathered for
an excellent three course dinner at Skellingthorpe Community Centre, where
after a short introduction from David
Gunner, the prizes were awarded by our Cattle Procurement Manager Kate Sutton. Commercial Director Laurie Ibbotson concluded the evening, highlighting the high standards of
husbandry seen in this year’s event, and looking into the future of the
competition.
We would
like to extend our sincerest congratulations to all the prize winners and our
thanks to the judges for their time and expertise, to the producers for
entering and attending and also to our superb Livestock team for their hard
work in putting the event together.
Native Champion:
N. Brocklehurst: U4 Heifer 339.3kg
Native Reserve:
G&E Robinson: U-4 Steer 369kg
Continental Champion:
Robert Robinson: U4- Heifer 406.9kg
Continental Reserve:
EA & R Quickfall & Sons: U4- Steer 355.6kg
Champion Home Bred:
N. Brocklehurst: U4 Heifer 339.3kg
Class One: Aberdeen Angus Steers and Heifers
Class Two: Hereford Steer and Heifer
1st
– N. Brocklehurst: U4 Heifer 339.3kg
1st – R&J Eyles: R4- Steer 364.2kg
2nd
– G&E Robinson: U-4 Steer 369kg
2nd – WJ Pearson: R4 Steer 394.4 kg
3rd
– R Seels & Son: U4 Heifer
389.8kg
3rd–Alne Estates: U-4 Steer 395.7kg
4th - SJ + LH Brown: R4 Steer 384.6kg 4th - R. Stainthorpe: R4 Steer 368.4kg
5th - R. Stainthorpe: U3+ Steer 380.8kg 5th - GB Tarry: R-4+ Steer 356.3kg
Class Three: Organic Steer and Heifer
Class Four: British Beef Steer and Heifer
1st
– J Hamilton & Sons: R4- Heifer
347.1kg
1st – Robert Robinson: U4- Heifer 406.9kg
2nd
– South Pickenham Estates: R4 Heifer
381.8kg 2nd – EA+R Quickfall & Sons: U4- Steer 355.6kg
3rd
– D.P. & G Jones: R4- Steer
390.1kg
3rd – T Davie: U+4- Steer 389.7kg
4th - D.P. & G Jones: R4+ Heifer 352.4kg 4th - T Davie: U+4 Heifer 400.6kg
5th - S.G. Danby & Sons: R-4+ Heifer 354.9kg 5th - J. Mower: U4- Heifer 400.1kg
Class Five: Cattle Connect Steer and Heifer
1st
– S. Farrant & Sons: R4- Steer
340.2kg
2nd
– S. Farrant & Sons: R-4+ Heifer
313kg
Judging Panel: David Gunner, Malcolm Helm & Heather Jenkins
Heather Jenkins presenting Robert Robinson with his prize.