The Supreme Cattle Champion at this year’s Borderway Agri Expo will receive the first ever presentation of an historic Royal Smithfield Club trophy.
The trophy at the November 1 event will be presented to the winner in conjunction with the prestigious Robert L Scott Memorial trophy donated to the show in 2010 by retired H&H Group chairman Michael Scott and his family in memory of their late son.
The James Stobo Perpetual Trophy is named in memory of the renowned Berwick cattle breeder James ‘Jim’ Stobo, and was won by AH & J Stobo for Best Beast in Show at the Royal Smithfield Show at Earls Court in 1956.
Thought to have been made in 1820, weighing 105 Troy ounces and valued in the region of £20,000, the hallmarked Sterling silver trophy was then awarded for the Royal Smithfield Supreme Cattle Champion in 2011 and last presented at the East of England Smithfield Festival in 2016.
Now the renamed James Stobo Perpetual Trophy will begin a new chapter in its long life as an additional award to the Supreme Cattle Champion at one of today’s most important livestock shows in the UK, run by Harrison & Hetherington.
The trophy will be presented to the Agri Expo Supreme Champion by the Chairman of the Royal Smithfield Club, Simon Orpwood.
He said: “It is fitting in our 225th anniversary year that the club is able to present such a prestigious trophy at one of the UK’s premier agricultural events.
“Jim Stobo, who passed away last year aged 88, was a keen supporter of the club. He served three times as a member of our council and as chairman. He acted regularly as steward and judge at the Royal Smithfield Show, and he showed regularly at Earls Court with championship winning success. So the trustees are delighted to award the James Stobo Perpetual Trophy to the Supreme Cattle Champion at Agri Expo in his honour.”
Harrison & Hetherington head of customer relations, Lynne Grieve, leads the livestock entries at Agri Expo. She said: “This is a wonderful gesture from the club to offer us such an important trophy and to commemorate Jim Stobo’s life in such an appropriate way. The Royal Smithfield Club, Jim Stobo, and the trophy all represent the best of cattle breeding in Britain, and the winner of our Supreme Cattle Championship at Agri Expo will be continuing a fantastic and historic tradition.
“This trophy will be presented to the champion alongside our own sought after Robert L Scott Memorial trophy, and The Smithfield trophy was actually won in 2008 by a heifer bred by R & M Scott, Thirlwall Castle, shown by A & E Vance called Divine Diva.”
Established by Harrison & Hetherington in 2007 at their Borderway livestock trading hub in Carlisle, Borderway Agri Expo has grown into one of the UK’s foremost autumn livestock events, showcasing the best quality beef cattle and sheep, the latest developments in farming practice, breeding, genetics, machinery, equipment, technology, environmental issues, livestock marketing and export opportunities.
