Simmys reign supreme in Royal Highland

Last week’s Royal Highland Show defied all previous records, with both Friday and Saturday tickets sold out. Over 220,000 attendees to the show filled the grounds across the four days, with the livestock section a key attraction to all.

Judging of the hugely coveted beef interbreed champion and interbreed teams competition fell on the shoulders of Aberdeenshire suckler and tillage farmer Peter Watson.

Watson saw his interbreed winner in the Simmental champion, Annick Ginger’s Lucia, exhibited by R and A Simmers of Backmuir Farm, Banffshire.

The dark red 2020-born cow was bred by LD Quarm and sired by Wolfstar Gold Digger, with her dam being Annick Colleeen’s Ginger.

The Simmers operate a large-scale 600-cow herd consisting of Simmental-cross and pedigree Simmental cattle, with the herd run alongside a busy livestock trading and construction company.

Watson then tapped forward Limousin champion Maraiscote Tangerine as his reserve interbreed champion. The smart maiden homebred heifer was exhibited by J and JF Nimmo and appears to be following on from a successful show career last year, where she clenched the interbreed champion of the Great Yorkshire Show.

Tangerine is sired by Irish bull Morhan Peter, who was bred by Brian Moroney, Co Clare, having been sold at the October premier sale in 2020 for €5,000.

Simmentals saw success yet again in the junior interbreed championship when Delfur Nifty claimed top gong. The 2022-born heifer, a homebred exhibit from Delfur Farms, was sired by Ballymoney Larry, which was bred by Co Down-based breeder MH Kilpatrick, having been sold for £9,000 in Stirling in October 2021.

Larry himself is sired by the renowned Saltire Impressive, and is leaving his mark in the Delfur herd, with several champions spawning from him.

Full results from the beef and dairy championships will be available in next week’s Pedigree section of the Irish Farmers Journal.