Bentham's Graeme is a record breaker (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Bentham's Graeme is a record breaker

12:10pm Friday 5th March 2010 in

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THE efforts of a hard-working farmer paid off when he made a record-breaking comeback to showing cattle with his prized cow.

Graeme Jackson, 38, of Hill Top Farm, Low Bentham, scooped the prestigious Overall Champion at Bentham Auction Mart’s Great Annual March Show and Sale of Store Cattle, gaining £2,120 after returning from a year-long break from the show ring due to the birth of his daughter.

His 14-month-old 7/8 Limousin Heifer was destined for Skipton Auction Mart’s sale but Mr Jackson changed his mind because he ‘had a feeling’ it could break the record at his local centre - and he was proved right as the cow smashed the previous top price of £1,700, which was gained in 2009.

Mr Jackson, who sold the cow to Ian Pickup, of Great Harwood, near Blackburn, said: “I was really pleased. It was great to beat the record. I knew I had a good beast this time so I wanted to try to win here.

“The only downside is that one of the opposition in showing has bought it, so he’ll probably use it to compete against me this year, but that’s just one of those things. When it gets to that price you can’t really say no sale.”

Showing has long been Mr Jackson’s passion - inspired by his uncle, Terry Newhouse, he began at 17 and has won countless rosettes at shows in the north-west and beyond while also running his farm which has cattle and sheep.

He said: “At the Christmas shows the judges tend to go for the shape, while in the summer shows, including this one, it has to be more correct - they look at the legs, the head and the top line.

“It takes months to prepare before the show. You have to get it used to walking in a halter, get it used to standing correctly, wash it and comb it to get it used to being handled, make sure it is getting the correct feed and so on. It’s not just a case of getting it out of the shed and running it into the auction.”

And Mr Jackson, whose friend Robert Garth, of Keasdon, near Clapham, helps him prepare the animals, is already getting ready for the big show season this year and has ‘four or five’ cattle lined up.