Averages: Club sale – Four Cows in milk, £1680.00; 47 heifers in milk, £1925.35. Commercial entries – 16 heifers in milk, £1589.35; three cross bred Brown Swiss/Fleckvieh, £1385.00; five in-calf heifers, £1483.33.

Strong demand for milking females ensured a buoyant trade throughout at the May Border and Lakeland club show and sale of dairy cattle at Carlisle, where trade peaked at 2900gns for the champion.

Lead disclosed price was 2500gns paid for Stephen and Ann Morley's Petter Pirate Ghost, bred from 10 generations of Ex or VG dams, from Petteril Bank, Southwaite. This fresh heifer is bred from the Ex91SP LP80 cow, Petteril LPT Ghost ET while her grand-dam was a sister to the 27,000gns Ridgefield Terrison Ghost Ex94. A daughter of Springhill-Oh Iron J Pirate, she was knocked down to J McCulloch and Sons, West High Ardwell, Stranraer.

The same buyers also bought the next two highest priced lots at 2400gns and 2350gns, both of which were from Brian and Valerie Davidson's Errolston herd from Annan. Dearest was Errolston Proper Fran 2, sired by Errolston Proper and bred from seven generations of Ex or VG dams from the Chief Faith cow family. She changed hands having calved down at the end of March.

Also heading to Ardwell at 2350gns was the polled heifer, Errolston Sellabull Sarah, which calved her first at two years of age at the end of March. She is by the polled Jeffery-Way Sellabull and bred from a VG86 home-bred polled dam.

The pedigree event was followed by a commercial dairy cattle sale that was topped twice at £1800 for fresh heifers. In-calf heifers sold to £1580.

Auctioneers: Harrison and Hetherington.