Saundersfoot's Hean Castle Estate Hereford herd auctioned

A PRIZE-WINNING herd of pedigree cows were auctioned off in Saundersfoot.
The Hean Castle Estate’s award-winning Polled Hereford cattle collection was up for grabs, drawing an impressive turnout of buyers from all over Wales, the Borders, Cornwall and Scotland.
The sale was overseen by Jonny Dymond from Shrewsbury-based Halls auctioneers.
The herd, which attracted 42 successful bidders, was bred under the cautious eye of David Burnhill, who has been the herd manager at the estate since 2016.
Hean 1 Plover 878 topped the sale at 5,400 guineas. The granddaughter of Glenvale 1 Plover 412, a prominent cow in the herd, she was sold to Vaughan Farms Ltd of the Kingland Herd, near Leominster.
Not only was the cow powerful and of high-quality, it also had a heifer calf at foot by the admired stock bull Solpoll 1 Superduty.
A close second in terms of sale price was Hean 1 Acorn 187 selling at 5,000gns.
It was bought by Messrs Lewis & Codd for 5,000gns, a relatively new breeder, for their Furzy Herd in Haverfordwest.
Hean 1 Acorn 187 also came with her heifer calf at foot by Hean 1 Tullis.
A sum of 4,400gns was bagged by Hean 1 Diadem 053. This medium-sized, ‘well balanced and correct’ cow was admired due to her udder.
Additionally, her heifer calf by Superduty turned heads, particularly those of Messrs S. Chilman who added the cow to their Presteigne-based Kinsham Herd.
Meanwhile, in-calf heifer, Hean 1 Doris, whipped up something of a bidding war.
The daughter of Superduty, by Hean 1 Tullis 003, she is expected to calve next spring.
She finally sold for 4,200gns to T. G. & E. I. Thorne to join the Glenvale Herd in Milford Haven.
Other notable sales include Hean 1 Plover 292 which fetched 3,200gns from Mr J. Twose from the Beca Herd, Whitland.
Yearling heifers from the autumn calving herd were sold to a peak of 1,500gns and averaged £1,159.
The stock bulls also attracted high interest, peaking at 5,000gns for the 2018 Solpoll 1 Superduty.
The sale averages were: 64 cows and calves £2,641.41, 17 in-calf cows £1,655, 34 in-calf heifers £1,692, 31 bulling and maiden heifers £1,044.75 and stock bulls £2,919.