Pedigree Department

Western Holstein Club Sales - Last Thursday in the month

Wright Manley have been official auctioneers to the Western Holstein Club for over seventy years. For most of this period the sales were held in Crewe but since the move to the newly designed, specialist dairy cattle facilities at Beeston in 2002, the sales have gone from strength to strength and are the largest of their kind in the UK. In 2008 over 1200 cows and heifers were entered, and although numbers at the sale have been decimated due to Blue Tongue, we look forward to returning to normal numbers later in the year when the whole of England and Wales is within the Protection Zone.

Mid-Month Commercial Dairy Sale - Second Tuesday in the month

Undoubtedly, in recent years the Wright Manley Mid-Month Sale has been our greatest success story. Started in the mid-nineties whilst we were still in Crewe, this sale has grown incredibly and since the move to Beeston in 2002, numbers have increased year on year peaking at 350 to 400 head of cattle every month until the beginning of this year. As with the Western Club sale, Blue Tongue has had a severe effect on numbers presented for sale, but again we look forward to returning to 2007 levels when the enlarged protection zone and trading area expands later in 2008.

There are no restrictions or qualifications to enter the Mid-Month Sale. All classes from fresh calved Cows and Heifers, in-calf Heifers, all ages of female Young Stock and Calves are welcome. We also include whole or part herd dispersals in this sale.

The sale is dominated by Holsteins but open to all dairy breeds and their crosses.

Herd Dispersal & Production Sales - Either on Farm or at Beeston

As a leading specialist in the sale of pedigree and commercial dairy cattle in the UK, in 2007 we sold in excess of 10,000 head of dairy cattle. Most of these cattle are sold via herd dispersal or production sales either on farm or at our specially developed premises at Beeston where we offer a complete service to all our clients. At Beeston every animal can benefit from our user friendly identification and washing races, individual tie stalls and water bowls, clean dry raised bedding area and a moder single 16 sided, herringbone milking parlour.

This combined with our centrally located and easily accessible position within the UK dairy industry, has resulted in more herd dispersals being conducted at Beeston than ever before. However, if you prefer, and many do, to hold your sale on farm, we have specialist equipment and staff to put everything in place and ensure the smooth running of your sale.

Coloured Dairy Breeds

The regular sales of Ayrshire, Jersey, Guernsey, Shorthorn and Brown Swiss Dairy Cattle, four times a year, have become fixtures in our calendar in recent years. Although the Blue Tongue Zones have put paid to some of the sales this year, we will be creating a special section for Coloured Dairy Cattle in our August Mid-Month Sale on 12th August and will be returning to a specialist separate fixture for the Autumn on Tuesday, November 4th with entries closing on 17th October.

These sales are also part of the Pedigree and Commercial Sales Department and are conducted by Clive Norbury and Stuart Hassall.

Pedigree Beef Breeds

2009 will see the introduction of the sales of Pedigree Beef Breeding Cattle to our Sales programme. Final details and dates have yet to be decided but will be announced as soon as they are known.

However, at this stage it is thought there will be a 'native breeds bonanza' in the Spring for the sale of Aberdeen Angus, Hereford, Beef Shorthorn and South Devon plus Sussex, Devon, Lincoln Red and Welsh Black. It is also planned that there will be a Multi-Breed Sale of Continental Cattle - Charolais, Limousin, Simmental, Blonde and British Blue at the same time of the year and we are delighted that the Longhorn Society have provisionally reserved a date for May 2009 for a regional sale.

Pedigree Sheep Sales

These are a very small part of the business and were started by Partner Clive Norbury following his interest in Pedigree Suffolk Sheep. Clive owns the Alphazone flock.  We started sales of in-lamb Suffolks seven years ago and we have been privileged to conduct other flock sales since, which have been very rewarding.

We appreciate the Sheep population around our Cheshire base is not large,  but we are very accessible to many regions, that have greater numbers and are not too far away.

If you are interested in setting up a sale at Beeston, particularly the down breeds, please contact Clive Norbury by telephone or email.