Press Release
1st October, 2013
South Devons’ herd competition winner – A Yorkshireman!
This year’s Winner of the South Devon Herd Book’s National Herd Competition hails
from Yorkshire – Mr J P Harrison, whose Brafferton herd of pedigree South Devons
is based at Tollerton, near York.
Paul Harrison has had a love of the breed for nearly forty years, and took the plunge
in his teens to start a South Devon herd. Today Paul and wife Pam have one of the
best South Devon herds in the north of England, with some 40 pedigree cows and 60
followers.
“I decided on (keeping) the South Devon”, says Paul, “because they are very easy to
manage, exceptionally quiet and eat better on roughage than having to use costly
mixes and rations.”
Paul and Pam have led the way at showing the breed at the Great Yorkshire Show,
where numbers will increase dramatically in 2014 with the hosting of the Society’s
National Show at Harrogate.
The Show is a great way to spread the word about the breed’s capabilities, and it is
certainly becoming more popular across the country. “I now sell stock to people every
year that have never had South Devons,” says Paul. “Quite a few more commercial
herds have now started using South Devon bulls. One of the main reasons is the
breed’s food conversion rate into live weight gain.”
This year’s Herd Competition attracted twenty entries spread right across the country;
with 61 stock bulls, 1200 cows, and 2000 youngstock to tease apart, it was no easy
challenge for judges Mr Colin Edwards from Devon, and Mr Olliver Rounsevell from
Cornwall.
The Winner’s Open Day is to be held on Thursday 3rd October at Hunday Field Farm,
Grafton, York, beginning at 1.30 pm. For more information please contact SDHBS,
01392 447494.
For more information contact Caroline Poultney, secretary of the South Devon Herd
Book Society, on 01392 447494.
Editor’s Notes
Well known for its strong maternal and beef qualities, the South Devon breed is
commercially placed in today’s suckler herds, with excellent forage conversion and
premium quality beef. Its renowned docility is an important consideration for
producers with limited labour resources, and with its early maturity, good longevity
and hardiness the breed is in strong demand all over the world.
The South Devon Herd Book Society, established in 1891, aims to promote and
support the breed worldwide, organising shows, sales and social events. For more
information or enquiries from the media, visit www.sdhbs.org.uk or contact Caroline
Poultney on (01392) 447494.