One of the country’s most prestigious competitions for showing beef and dairy cattle - The SELEKT Three Shires Cattle Trophy - is back for 2018.
The Trophy is the ‘Triple Crown’ of the cattle show ring, with the best show animals competing at three Midlands agricultural shows to win the title.
Hanbury Countryside Show in Worcestershire (Saturday, July 7th), Burwarton Show in Shropshire (Thursday, August 2nd) and Moreton Show in Gloucestershire (Saturday, September 1st) will award the Three Shires Cattle Trophy to the exhibitor who gains the most points.
The Three Shires Trophy, with a £1,000 top prize, is once again sponsored by Moreton in Marsh-based Nimrod Veterinary Products, manufacturers of the SELEKT cattle rehydration and clinical nutrition system. The SELEKT range also has equipment designed for heifers, small breeds, young stock, sheep and goats.
Donna Renney, Nimrod’s operations director said: ‘We are delighted to be sponsoring the Three Shires Trophy again and to be working with the three agricultural shows, Hanbury, Burwarton and Moreton. We hope the prize will encourage farmers to show their best cattle as it is such a great opportunity for people to see the pride of British Farming. We are also pleased to add a new prize for the best dairy exhibitor.’
Exhibitors will accumulate points by showing their cattle at the shows and the running total will be kept secret until the finale at Moreton Show. There is a second prize of £350 and £150 for the third prize. This year there will also be a special dairy prize of £250 for the dairy exhibitor with the most points.
Last year’s Three Shires Trophy winners were Richard Bartle and Paul Dawes from Kipperknowle Farm at Dinmore, Herefordshire who are famous across Britain for their pedigree Limousin herd.
Lynne Parkes, Moreton livestock secretary said: ‘It was a bit like Strictly last year, watching and waiting at each show to see whose points were mounting up. Even in its first year, the Three Shires Trophy had the atmosphere of a big championship title. We have some terrific cattle breeders in this country and our triple-show competition is the ‘triple crown’ of cattle showing.’
Peter Kirton, chief cattle steward at Burwarton said: ‘The Three Shires Trophy is a tremendous addition to the cattle showing calendar and after last year’s success, we’re anticipating more entries for 2018. We’re also delighted to be offering a special prize for dairy cattle to mark the excellent work of our dairy breeders.’
Richard Heath, secretary at Hanbury said: ‘The standard of cattle showing at all three venues is some of the highest in the country and the Three Shires Trophy attracted some top competitors in 2017. As the competition progressed it was really exciting to see who was vying for the title. We’re looking forward to seeing who’ll be the challengers this year.’
Information on how to enter is at the shows’ websites:
