Herd stampedes through to finals (From The Northern Echo)
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Herd stampedes through to finals
1:19pm Tuesday 4th October 2011 in Farming News
FINALS PLACE: North-East winners James Cooper, left, with judge Sam Coleman and Rob Smith, of Pfizer Animal Health
A NORTH Yorkshire herd is through to the finals of the 2011 National Limousin Pedigree herd competition.
The competition is a one-off event to mark the 40th anniversary of the British Limousin Cattle Society (BLCS).
James and Sarah Cooper, whose Tomschoice herd is at Hill Top Farm, Dacre, near Harrogate, won the North- East heat.
The region has more than 220 registered members and Mr Cooper said: “To be nominated nationally is a tremendous achievement. We have a small farm of 32 acres and run a herd of 25 Limousin cows and followers.
“Our breeding programme is therefore focused on producing top quality pedigree animals, owing to the limited acreage involved.”
The regional judge was Gary Swindlehurst of the Procters Herd, Slaidburn, Lancashire.
He said: “The overall standard of the Tomschoice cattle is very good, with particular attention paid to the quality of genetics, predominantly AI, being used purposefully and with good results across the herd.
“This is very much quality over quantity, with a good understanding of what the market wants and where the Limousin breed is going.
Particular attention is also paid to the high health status of the herd.”
Sam Coleman, national judge and honorary president of the breed society, visited the Coopers with Pfizer representative Rob Smith, who said: “The competition was originally open to all the Society’s 3,000 members and James and Sarah Cooper are very worthy representatives of the North-East region.”
The Coopers established the Tomschoice herd in 1996 and have achieved success in the show ring, as well as at auction.
Mr Coleman will announce his overall winner at a dinner at the Borderway mart, Carlisle, on Friday, October 14 – the eve of the breed’s October bull sale at the mart.
