By Anna Burdett Farming and rural affairs editor

Last updated at 13:23, Tuesday, 21 February 2012

A Penrith cattle breeder paid a world record price of more than £126,000 at a Limousin breed sale in Carlisle at the weekend.

Glyn Vaughan, right, hands over the bull to Ian Scott, Whinfell park farm manager, with stockman Gerwen Jones, centre

A 1,000-strong crowd at Carlisle’s Borderway Mart on Saturday gasped in astonishment as bidding for 17-month-old Welsh bull Dolcorsllwyn Fabio stormed past 100,000gns.

Iain Kerr, chief executive of the British Limousin Cattle Society, said: “I think it’s the biggest pedigree sale seen in the UK, it was certainly the biggest crowd I’ve seen at a sale.

“It generated an incredible atmosphere, you could feel something special in the air. As the bidding was going along, there were gasps of excitement as it reached six figures. There was an eerie silence.

“There was a spontaneous outburst of applause at the end of the bidding.”

It is the highest price ever paid at auction in the UK for an animal of any breed. Fabio, who was sold by Welsh breeder Glyn Vaughan, had already been picked out as supreme champion at the pre-sale show.

Watch the auction for Fabio. Article continues below...

Purchaser Allan Jenkinson started his Whinfellpark herd a decade ago and regularly pays high prices for top quality animals with breeding potential.

In all, 25 bulls sold for 10,000gns and above while the overall sale average for 131 bulls was £8,242.67, more than £3,000 up on last year’s sale in Carlisle.

David Pritchard, operations director at the mart, said: “It was a fantastic day, it was electrifying. One of the bulls sold to a breeder in the USA. The enormous interest is being created by supply and demand.”

A shortage of animals has pushed beef prices up for commercial and pedigree animals and consumers are seeing a big increase in prices as a result.

Mr Jenkinson runs around 150 pedigree Limousin females and several stock bulls. In 2008, he paid 50,000gns for Wilodge Cerberus.

Semen from top animals is big business in the world of agricultural with each straw selling for hundreds of pounds.

Mr Jenkinson also runs A W Jenkinson Forest Products at Clifton Moor, near Penrith, which uses low grade timber, bark and recycled wood to manufacture chip, wood flake, mulches and peat-free compost.

First published at 11:26, Monday, 20 February 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk