THE prestigious SELEKT Three Shires Cattle Trophy along with £1,000 in prize money has been awarded to a well-known Herefordshire cattle breeding duo.

Bartle and Dawes of Dinmore Manor, near Leominster, picked up the accolade after showing their superb Limousin, Beef Shorthorn and British Blue cattle at three of the region's shows; Hanbury Countryside Show, Burwarton Show and Moreton Show.

It's one of the top cattle competitions in the UK with a prize pot of more than £2,000 and is awarded to the cattle exhibitor who collects the highest number of points at the three shows.

Bartle and Dawes were presented with the trophy and prize money at a presentation at the annual Moreton-in-Marsh Show, which celebrated its 70th anniversary on Saturday, September 7.

Duncan Dawes Farms Ltd, based near Banbury, came second.

Their Holsteins and Jerseys were said to be of excellent quality and achieved top awards at all three shows.

The Three Shires Cattle Trophy competitions are supported by SELEKT. The SELEKT SYSTEM provides life-saving rehydration and clinical nutrition for cows.

Its product was used this year to save the life of one of the Duncan Dawes Farms' Holsteins.

Affectionately known as Shakira, the top bred Holstein of Canadian genetics, born in Scotland and the product of embryo transfer suffered a displaced abomasum just two weeks before the Hanbury Countryside Show.

She was successfully operated on and treated with SELEKT and went on to win her class and overall Reserve Champion at Hanbury against strong competition. Shakira was proudly led by Michael Dawes when he collected his prizes at Moreton Show.