The Supreme Cattle Championship at Ballymoney Show 2025 was won by the father and son team, Victor and David Chestnutt.
The pair, who hail from Bushmills in Co. Antrim, won the award with their immense Charolais bull: Ballynabreen Tyson.
Prior to stepping into the ring for the final class of the show, the animal had won the event’s Beef Inter-Breed Championship earlier in the day.
Judge John Moore, a Simmental breeder of note, described his champion as a tremendous example of a modern Charolais bull.
He said: “The animal has tremendous scope, size and breed character. But what impressed me most of all was his excellent mobility.
“And this trait is extremely important if a bull is expected to cover a significant number of cows in all conditions throughout a normal breeding season.”
But it was a close-run thing. The Charolais bull came up against stiff competition from the Inter-Breed dairy champion at Ballymoney Show 2025: Mostragee Vinny Lauren VG 87.
She calved for the first time last October and is currently giving 42 litres of milk per day. The young cow was exhibited by Mark Henry, who manages the 200-strong Mostragee herd with his father Tom. They hail from Stranocum in north Co. Antrim.
Lauren was the intermediate champion at the 2024 Royal Ulster Winter Fair. She is due to calve for the second time in October.
But this year’s Ballymoney Show was not all about pedigree breeding.
One of the most eye-catching animals taking part in this year’s event was the Beef Inter Breed reserve – a truly eye-catching Limousin cross heifer, exhibited by Robert Miller from Moneymore in Co. Derry.
John Moore described his selection as having all the attributes of an elite beef animal.
Just over 800 sheep were entered for Ballymoney Show 2025. The inter breed championship was awarded to Jack Gault, from Ballyclare in Co. Antrim with an eye-catching Texel shearling ewe.
There are 30 pedigree females in the Gault flock. The prize-winning young ewe will be retained for breeding.
The judge, Keith Campbell from Argyll in Scotland, described his champion as a young sheep with tremendous breeding potential.
Campbell said: “She has a tremendous carcass, excellent mobility and lots of breed type.”
Campbell manages flocks of crossing Bluefaced Leicester, Texel, Blackface, and Mule ewes.
He was particularly impressed with the large numbers of young people competing at this year’s Ballymoney Show.
“It was great to see. The future of livestock breeding in Northern Ireland is in safe hands,” Campbell added.
