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News
Caithness gears up for annual Young Farmers Overwintering Competition
Posted: March 31, 2026
The annual Young Farmers Overwintering Competition, hosted by Aberdeen & Northern Marts, will take place at Caithness Livestock Centre, Quoybrae, on Monday 6th April 2026. The event will be held alongside the show and sale of 1,300 store cattle, including native-breed entries.
Young Farmers from across the North are set to participate in this year’s competition, kindly sponsored by local agricultural contractor A H Mackay, West Greenland, and Ross Bremner Transport. A total of 18 calves will be showcased at the event, comprising 10 heifers and 8 bullocks.
Judging will commence at 8:30am on Monday 6th April, with Ian Pirie of Overton of Bruxie, Maud, presiding over this year’s entries. This will be followed by the Open Show, kindly sponsored by Highland News & Media. The sale will begin at 10am with the store cattle section, the Young Farmers’ overwintered cattle will be sold at 12 noon, followed by the Open Champions.
The Overwintering Competition continues to provide a valuable opportunity for young farmers to develop their stockmanship skills while gaining hands-on experience in trading through the auction ring.
Young farmers from clubs across the region will showcase their efforts and compete in categories such as best quality animal, best presented and paraded animal, highest average daily liveweight gain, highest feeders’ margin, best overwintered animal, the novice award, the junior Young Farmer award and the Young Farmers Club award.
A special prize will also be awarded to the best placed Charolais sired calf by a registered Charolais bull, kindly presented by the Scottish and Northern Charolais Club.
Scott Chapman, Auctioneer at Aberdeen & Northern Marts, said: “The Young Farmers Overwintering Competition remains a cornerstone event, offering young farmers an excellent opportunity to hone their stockmanship skills and gain practical experience within the industry.
We are grateful for the continued support of our sponsors Andrew H Mackay, West Greenland, and Ross Bremner Transport for the young farmers section, and Highland News Media for their sponsorship of the open section.
We look forward to welcoming both competitors and spectators to Quoybrae for what promises to be another exciting showcase of top-quality livestock.”