THE first online auction of pedigree cattle is due to take place next week.

Catalogues have now been posted at Skipton Auction Mart’s website at www.ccmauctions.com for the first of the new and much-anticipated Craven Pedigree Sales. The timed online auctions of cattle take place on Wednesday, May 13, and Thursday, May 14.

The innovative double header is designed to ensure that vendors and buyers are able to trade in pedigree livestock, as shows and sales remain suspended due to continuing Covid-19 restrictions.

The two-day fixture features a brace of standalone sales, one for 55 pedigree Limousin cattle, the other a multi-breeds auction of 24 beef breeding cattle. Entries of well-bred cattle have been received from reputable pedigree breeders across a wide area, the majority members of the SAC Premium Cattle Health Scheme. Most are familiar faces at Skipton.

The Limousin sale has attracted an entry of 45 bulls and ten females from a total of 16 well-known breeders across Yorkshire and Lancashire, south to Lincolnshire, north to Cumbria and across to the east coast.

Local representation comes from the Mason family’s Oddacres herd in Embsay and the Tomschoice herd of James and Sarah Cooper in Dacre, Harrogate, and, elsewhere in the county, the Swale herd near Thirsk, and, from the east coast, the Lissett herd near Bridlington, and the Elderberry herd, near Goole.

Other Yorkshire vendors are the Barkisland and Highhills herd in Calderdale and, from Kirklees, the Pleashaw herd, along with the South Yorkshire-based Ewdenvale herd.

A further 11 highly-regarded herds and five recognised breeds – Aberdeen-Angus, Beef Shorthorn, British Blue, Charolais and Hereford – will also be represented at the standalone multi-breeds sale of 19 pedigree bulls and four pedigree females, plus a pure-bred bull.

Locally, there are entries from the Bordley herd near Skipton, and, from North Craven, the Greystone herd, along with the Dale herd near Leeds, and, from the York area, a four-strong entry from the Yearsley, Wensleydale, Blackwood and Fox Foot herds.

Full terms and conditions for both vendors and intending purchasers, including Livestock Auctioneers Association conditions of sale, are posted in the online catalogues, which can be viewed and downloaded from the sale day page at www.ccmauctions.com.

They include all relevant age and breeding information, along with click-on links providing much greater detail to individual entries and live videos posted utilising state-of-the-art technology. Pre-sale viewing is now available until May 11.