Caithness farmer picks ewe and two lambs for Royal Highland supreme sheep award
After the judging of more than 1200 sheep from 27 breeds, Caithness farmer Kenneth Sutherland Snr picked a ewe and her two lambs from Andrew Baillie and family, Carstairs, as this year’s supreme sheep at the Royal Highland Show.
Held from June 19-22 at Ingliston, Edinburgh, the Royal Highland is the most prestigious event in Scotland’s farming calendar. With the first two days of the show consisting of exhibitors battling it out in their respective breed classes, the Saturday sees the champion sheep from each breed being put forward against one another to determine who will be crowned supreme sheep.
This year’s supreme sheep outfit consisted of a three-crop ewe by a Beltex sire (Wannop’s Firecracker) out of a Texel ewe, with her lambs being sired by a homebred Beltex ram, Callacrag Krist.
Mr Sutherland, from Stainland and Sibmister farms, remarked that his champions “caught my eye as soon as they came into the ring”. He explained: “She was a hard-working ewe in great condition, with a great pair of lambs beside her.”
For his reserve champion, Mr Sutherland chose the traditional Bluefaced Leicester champion from Alan McClymont and Sons, Sam and Oli’s Kirkstead flock, Yarrow. The three-crop ewe by Ashes L1 was a winner at the show as a ewe lamb.
Second reserve went to the Suffolk champion, a homebred shearling gimmer from James Innes’s Strathbogie flock, Huntly.
Among the 27 breeds that were competing against one another to be crowned supreme sheep, two of these champions also hailed from Caithness. On the Thursday morning of the show, Jonnie Campbell from Bardnaclavan Farm, just outside Westfield, secured the Park Cheviot championship with a homebred gimmer by Soutra Cannonball, a tup that was bought for £2200 at the Lockerbie Park sale in 2022.
Mr Campbell also claimed first and third place in the shearling tup class at the show with the first-placed shearling standing as reserve male champion in the Park section.
Later on Thursday afternoon, Andrew Campbell from Mill House, Stainland, claimed the Hill Cheviot championship with a homebred gimmer by an East Lodge bred tup. He also came away with a second-place rosette in the two-shear and over tup class to continue the success for Caithness exhibitors in the sheep rings.