2019-09-11 |
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Agri-Expo Announce Mule Gimmer Lamb Judge
It has been announced that one of the most highly contested classes at Borderway Agri Expo, Mule Gimmer Lambs, is to be judged by Andrew Hunter who farms near Bellingham in Northumberland.
Andrew is a noted and highly respected Mule sheep breeder who has topped the North of England Mule Sheep Association sales twice in the last three years.
Andrew Hunter
Organised by Harrison & Hetherington and being held on Friday 1st November 2019 November at Carlisle’s Borderway Agri Expo is one of the most noted winter livestock events for both the commercial cattle and sheep industry in the UK. It is also a key event for the Aberdeen Angus, Beef Shorthorn, Simmental, Hereford and British Blue Societies, who are holding their winter calf shows. Within the sheep section, the Mule Ewe Lamb Class, a pair of gimmer lambs, is always a highlight of Borderway Agri Expo.
Andrew, who farms with his wife Caroline at The Steel and Carrick, runs a flock of 1500 ewes of which 800 are pure Blackface, 700 are crossed with the Blue-faced Leicester the remainder, mule and Blue-faced Leicester. The ewe lambs are retained and a small quantity are sold to other breeders, gimmers are sold both direct off the farm and through the auction mart system.
No stranger to judging, Andrew regularly judges at shows across the North of England, but this is the largest event he will have judged to date and on accepting his invitation he said:
“It really is a fantastic honour to be invited to judge at such a prestigious event, the calibre of entries I know will be very high, so it will be a challenging task.”
“The market for mule sheep is strong and I believe that this is because it is a prolific breed with great motherly traits. In terms of what I will be looking for it is lambs with good coats, bonny markings and of course they will need to be structurally correct for the breed type.
“The reputation of Borderway Agri Expo as a livestock event is second-to-none and I am looking forward to what I know will be a fantastic showcase of stock.”
Each year the judges at Agri Expo play an integral role and in accepting this invitation Andrew is one of the impressive line of judges travelling the length and breadth of the country to cast their eyes over what is guaranteed to be the very highest quality of sheep and cattle.
Wilson Peters will judge the main Cattle classes; the Baby Beef classes are being judged under the watchful eye of Shropshire’s Paul Tippets and Gregor Ingram from Aberdeenshire will judge the main Sheep classes.
The Pedigree Calf show also see an impressive team of judges, with the Aberdeen Angus being judged by Mr John McEnroe owner of the well-known Liss Herd, Beef Shorthorn will be judged by Mr Vic Watson, from Balliefurth Farm, judging the Simmentals will be Skerrington’s Mr William Young, Herefords will be under the watchful eye of Mr James Graham from Portadown and concluding this impressive line-up the British Blues will be judged by the Drift Herd’s Mr Andrew Phillips.
Harrison & Hetherington’s Joint Managing Director and Event Organiser, David Pritchard, added:
“We are delighted that Andrew who is such a noted breeder himself has accepted our invitation to judge the Mule ewe lambs here at our 2109 Borderway Agri Expo. This is a class which is always highly anticipated, and which attracts both the entries and the crowds. Andrew is a highly respected breeder who I know will make a tremendous job of judging this very important section of the event.”
With a prize fund of £12,000 and attracting in the region of 1,000 head across the sheep and cattle classes, Borderway Agri Expo is one of the UK’s leading winter livestock events from which everyone hopes to scoop a rosette.
