Agri-Expo 2024

Sunday 10th November 2024

Beltex to the fore at Agri-Expo

Once again, Beltex and Beltex-cross lambs were very much to the fore at the 2024 Borderway Agri Expo with the breed’s succeses topped off by Robert Hall and Son, Inglewood Edge, winning the day’s overall championship.

However that was only part of the story. Earlier in the day, Beltex had accounted for the majority of placings in many of the mixed breed classes.

The Hall family had taken the Continental / Down pairs championship, stood first in the ‘Beltex over 40kg’ class, third with their Beltex cross lambs in the ‘up to 40kg class’, second in the untrimmed Continentals class and first with their 54kg entries in the ‘Butchers Choice, over 50kg’ class. Young April Skelton also came third in the ‘Young Farmers any breed, any weight’ class, and in that class, Beltex featured in six of the eight places. The proud winner however was Libby Garth, Bentham with Adrian Leach, Hebden Bridge, second. Libby Garth was also the overall champion Young Handler.

In the untrimmed Continental lambs class, Beltex accounted for the first six places with Robert Garth and Sarah Priestley taking the red rosette and I. and M, Lancaster, Clitheroe standing third. It was a similar picture in the 50kg Butchers Choice class which had been won by the Halls, with the breed accounting for six of the seven places. April Skelton was second and Jack Whiteford, Carlisle, third.

In the breed specific ‘up to 40kg class’ Robert Garth and Sarah Priestley were the winners with the Lancasters second. In the ‘over 40kg’ breed class, second, third and fourth respectively were Jack Whiteford, Adrian Leach and Robert and Sarah.

All six places in the class for single lambs of any breed, unshown in any other class, went to Beltex entries with the winners again being Robert and Sarah, second Jack Whiteford and third Adrian Leach. And to make its mark elsewhere in the show, the reserve championship for hill-bred lambs was won by the Firm of Shawhead Farm, Biggar, with Beltex cross Blackface.