Friday crowds enjoy the Balmoral show, where beef and dairy are centre stage

The Beef and Dairy Championship classes took centre stage on Day Three of this year’s Balmoral Show with a number of new herd names and faces coming to the fore.

Dexter beef is a fast growing delicacy in restaurants throughout the UK with breeders in Northern Ireland to the fore in supplying the meat.

While the cattle may be small in stature, they pack a real punch when it comes to securing a premium prices in the market.

Pat McAreavey farms on the outskirts of Upper Ballinderry in Co Antrim.

He has 11 fully registered cows in his fast growing herd. Yesterday at Balmoral saw him pick up the Dexter breed championship.

“I farm on a part time basis,” he said. “My wife decided to buy me two breeding females: we ended up buying four. Dexter cattle are very easy to work with. Because of their size, they can be kept out at grass for most of the year. They also convert grazed grass into to beef very efficiently.”

The average carcase weight of a Dexter carcass is in the region of 170 kilos: that’s roughly half the size of what a more traditional beef-bred animal would kill-out at.

Linden Foods currently running a registered Dexter beef scheme with the meat made available througsh M&S stores throughout the UK. Farmers supplying the scheme receive £4.85 pence per kilo on a deadweight bsis.

This represents a premium of almost £1 per kilo relative to the price on offer for commercial cattle.

Meanwhile in the dairy rings, a new name was coming to the fore: Annaghmore Holsteins. Established only four years ago by father son team, Clive and Joel Richardson, the Co Armagh herd has been catching the eye of dairy enthusiasts throughout Ireland and the UK.

Yesterday at Balmoral saw them scoop the Holstein Junior Championship with a truly eye catching first calved heifer: Annaghmore Fitz Alec.

Sired by the elite bull, Toc Farm Fitz, the young cow calved three months ago.

“She is currently giving 43L pr day,” commented Annaghmore farm manager Josh Ebron.“She is home bred, calved down easily for the first time and, in our opinion, can look forward to a tremendous breeding future.”

Annaghmore Holsteins is an excellent example of what can be achieved by combining an investment in the right bloodlines with the implementation of the highest possible management standards.

The excellent prices lso paid recently for Annaghmore breeding females reflects the strong demand that is now out there for the elite genetics that is at the very heart of an ongoing herd development programme.

Josh Ebron again: “The herd comprises a total of 85 cows, with 68 currently in milk. There are two robots on the farm, which will allow us the scope to build up numbers during the period ahead.

Significantly, the herd is backing up its unique pedigree status with a tremendous ability to put large volumes of high quality milk in the bulk tank.

The cows’ current rolling average is sitting at 10,867L at 4.23% butterfat and 3.48% protein.

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