THE sale from the White Rose Limousin Group held at Borderway mart, Carlisle, on Saturday, March 19, saw group stock bull, Pennys Nimrod, top the trade at 3,100gns.

This June 1997-born bull by Ronick Hawk out of Rachels Hebe, with excellent figures for milk, growth and muscle, and a beef value of LM+37, in the top 1pc of recorded animals, went to W L & G W Hollow, St Ives, Cornwall, for their pedigree Chytodden herd.

The White Rose group consists of four Yorkshire herds which aim at improvement through performance recording and technical progress. Group members have been continuously weight recording for almost 20 years as well as using other technical information and a rigorous selection process.

At this youngstock sale, cattle were offered from Mark Woolhouse, Staveley Wold, North Dalton, (Rachels herd); Jim and Richard Bloom, Decoy Farm, Scorborough, (Scorboro herd); Paul Walker, Wilfholme Farm, Watton, (Pennys herd). and Roger Thornhill, Potters Lodge Farm, Carr Lane, Nafferton (Woldedge herd), all in the Driffield area.

The Scorboro herd sold all its females to average £1,414 and enjoyed the second and third top prices. The June 2003 heifer Scorboro Unity sold to Bernard Mairs, Ballyclare, Northern Ireland, for 2,800gns. By Elrick Racketeer out of Roughley Dahlia, she has an EBV of LM+42, firmly in the top 1pc of breed. R Cursiter & Son, Orkney, bought Scorboro Una, a May 2003-born heifer, again by Elrick Racketeer and out of Scorboro Pepper, for 2,500gns.

The Pennys herd saw a total clearance of ten heifers, averaging £1,449. Four animals went for 1,800gns, three of them Elrick Racketeer daughters: Pennys Usherette, Pennys Ultraviolet and Pennys Ultrasonic.

Top price in the Rachels consignment was 800gns, paid by Michael Rutherford from Co Down for Rachels Urn, a 15-month-old heifer by Pennys Nimrod out of Rachels Marion. Leading the Woldedge batch was the Wintles Nero daughter out of Woldedge Rachel, Woldedge Ursula, born March 2003 which made 620gns to Lamb, Seascale.

Averages: Pennys 10 hfrs £1,449.50; Scorboro 16 hfrs £1,414.22; Rachels 10 hfrs £702; Woldedge 6 hfrs £572.25; overall av for 42 maiden hfrs £1,133 for 42.