'The quality of the sheep exhibited at Ballymena this year was of a very high standard across the board': Valais Blacknose makes history at Ballymena Show 2026
A new record was set at Ballymena Show 2026 at the weekend with the Valais Blacknose breed taking the supreme championship at the event’s prestigious sheep section for the first time.
The animal in question was exhibited by the Gray family from Muckamore in Co Antrim. Their success at Ballymena follows-on from a highly successful Balmoral 2026.
Rachel Buckle form Lanark in Scotland judged the sheep inter-breed classes at Ballymena. She described her champion as a truly outstanding animal, adding: “The shearling had tremendous ring presence in what was an extremely competitive inter-breed class.
“The quality of the sheep exhibited at Ballymena this year was of a very high standard across the board.”
Buckle is an extremely experienced sheep producer in her own right with flocks of Cross Bluefaced Leicesters and Swaledales.
She acknowledges the fact that lamb prices are strong at the present time.
“But this reflects the fact that breeding sheep numbers across the UK and Ireland have fallen considerably over recent years.
“And we are now in a situation which sees locally produced lambs in short supply.”
Valais Blacknose sheep originate from the high mountain regions of the Valais Alps in Switzerland.
Bred for centuries to survive harsh alpine environments, this dual-purpose breed was first introduced to the UK in 2014. Numbers have increased significantly in Northern Ireland over the last ten years.
Meanwhile, the beef inter-breed championship at Ballymena 2026 was won by Crawford Brothers form Co Armagh with their elite cow: Rathkeeland Tendresse.
The second calver entered the show ring with her five month old heifer calf at foot.
Tendresse is no stranger to showing success, having previously caught the eye of judges at Balmoral 2026. She also enjoyed a very successful show career as a heifer.
Stephen Crawford commented: “We are delighted with the inter-breed success at Ballymena. The cow and calf are looking tremendously well at the present time.
“Our plan is to compete with them at most of the shows held over the coming weeks.
The supreme overall Dairy Interbreed Champion at the 2026 Ballymena Show was Mostragee Vinny Lauren 3, a home-bred Holstein second calver exhibited by Tommy and Mark Henry of Mostragee Holsteins from Stranocum, Co. Antrim.
This followed on from her tremendous success at this year’s Balmoral Show.
Mark Henry commented:
“The cow is giving 50L of milk per day at the present time.
“The victory at Ballymena automatically qualifies for the final of the Northern Ireland Shows Association dairy cow of the year final, taking place at Antrim Show in July.
“The plan is to keep Lauren at home until then.”