THE best of Hereford cattle came from all over the UK to be judged in the city’s livestock market.

The top prizes and best prices were shared between breeders as far apart as Kelso in Scotland and Montgomeryshire.

The show champion was 22- month-old bull Alderville 1 Eldorado, bred and exhibited by D J Deaville, of Derbyshire, but at 3,100gns, it did not reach top price.

That went to an 18-month-old bull from Paul Dicken, of Solihull.

Exhibiting for the first time, he saw his Jacobean 1 Maltster bull, weighing in at 852kgs, fetch 5,000gns under the hammer.

The second best price of 4,100gns was paid for 19-monthold Romany 1 Enhance, bred by Scottish breeders J R B Wilson and Sons, of Kelso.

The youngest bull in the sale was Weybrook 1 Duke, from H A Hatt, of Berkshire. Aged 14 months and weighing 702kgs, it was sold to T G and E I Thorne, of Milford Haven, for 3,000gns.

In total, 14 bulls were sold for £41,580, averaging £2,970.

The champion female in the heifer section of Hereford Cattle Society’s spring show and sale was Cleland 1 Susan 6th, bred and exhibited by A E Nesbitt Farms, of Berkshire, but she failed to reach her reserve price.

Top price went to the reserve champion, two-year-old in-calf Romany 1 Ishbel, also from Kelso, selling for £2,900gns to G Hall, of Pinmoor Herefords, near Manchester.

The six show heifers sold for £9,922, an average of £1,653.75.

There was an almost total clearance in the “for sale only” section.

Among those sold was Kinglee 1 Venus, a two-year-old in-calf heifer which went for £1,400gns toWD Wiggin and A Spreckley, of Ledbury.

In this section, seven cows sold for an average of £1,400, 12 in-calf heifers to £1,225, seven maiden heifers to £860 with a total of 26 animals averaging £1,175.

The auctioneers for the sale in Hereford Market was Brightwells of Leominster.