IT might have been a very different show this year and for many different reasons, but nothing should detract from a super native championship with some very worthy winners standing tall at the head of the line.

All the younger judges involved in the native beef judging had made a grand job of selecting the various champions and then they were all involved in choosing both the winning native pairs and the recipient of the top native animal in the show by joint points scoring.

But the end of quite a long day – punctuated by an enforced delay in proceedings caused by a medical emergency in the Belted Galloways ring – eventually saw the Hereford champion stand literally head and shoulders above all breeds, with a well-matched Angus pair leading the pairs competition.

Best individual was Tom and Di Harrison's home-bred three-year-old bull, Moralee 1 Rebel Kicks, an outstanding son of the Danish-bred sire, SMH Kingsize, from Northumberland.

He was ahead of the Galloway champion, a cracking cow with calf at foot, Blackcraig Dora May, from John and Ann Finlay, and their son, Iain, from Blackcraig, Corsock, near Castle Douglas.

The Angus pair which led the section were both brought out by professional stockmen, Richard and Carol Rettie, who run a successful cattle livery business. This included the breed champion, Weeton Blackbird, a two-year-old heifer owned by Richard Hassall and Rachel Wyllie, of Brailes Livestock; matched up with Skye man, Donald Rankin's Kilmaluag Lord Blackbeauty, an 18-month-old bull which will be targetted at Stirling Bull Sales in October.

For a full report and pictures get this week's edition of The Scottish Farmer out Friday, June 18.