Members of the NI Beef Shorthorn Club gathered earlier this month (October 11) at Greenvale Hotel in Cookstown for their Annual Herd Competition Awards Dinner.
Club members turned out in force to support the club which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.
Judging this year was in the hands of Amelda Middleton Leonard who is currently president of the Irish Shorthorn Society.
After enjoying a meal of Croobview Shorthorn roast beef the competition results were announced.
Middleton Leonard praised local breeders for their very high standard of stock in all categories and thanked them for their warm hospitality throughout her busy four-day judging schedule.
Winners at NI Beef Shorthorn Club awards
This year in the small herd category the Gott family’s ‘Shankhill’ herd came out on top.
The Shankhill herd was established by William Gott and his late father George in 2017 and is based in Co. Fermanagh. The herd places a heavy emphasis on strong female bloodlines, and the judge was particularly impressed by the Tessa cow family.
The runner-up in the small herd category was the ‘Chestnut’ herd. Based in Banbridge, this herd impressed the judge in several categories much to the delight of Jennifer and Alan Crory who only established the herd in 2022.
The Crory family also came runner-up in the commercial herd category on what was a memorable evening for the herd.
The winner in the large herd category and the Overall Best Herd for the second year in a row was Cherryvalley Estate.
The ‘Cherryvalley’ herd is owned by Dr. Peter Fitzgerald and managed by Mervyn Robinson. Cherryvalley is no stranger to success at sales and shows and has built up a solid reputation for quality bloodlines and impeccable management.
The reserve in the large herd category (and reserve overall Champion herd) was the ‘Annaghanoon’ herd owned by Rachel Jordan.
The Jordan family have steadily built up their Shorthorn herd since purchasing their first carefully selected foundation females eight years ago.
In the commercial herd category, the winning herd was the Fitzsimons family herd based at Bawnforth Ballynahinch.
The Fitzsimons family have built a solid reputation for successfully utilising the Beef Shorthorn as a sire across Limousin/ shorthorn cows to produce steers for the Glenarm Scheme and top-quality replacement heifers.
The judge also awarded two herds an honourable mention – Sean Cosgrove of the Finn herd for an outstanding cow family (the ‘Willow’ family) and James McConaghie of the ‘Stolan’ herd based at Carnlough for showcasing how successful the modern Beef Shorthorn can be on a traditional hill farm.
The next club event will be the Annual Calf Show on Saturday, November 8 at Dungannon Mart.
