Scottish Club trip
Following the continued success of Northern Ireland Charolais Breeder’s at Perth and many other show and sale venues on the mainland, the Scottish Club expressed an interest in organising a tour to the region and viewing
first hand how the breed is progressing in the Province.
Adrian Ivory, Chairman for the Scottish club contacted Libby Clarke, and arrangements began to take shape.
The first herd that the party of over 30 attended was Springfield Charolais owned by Tom & Libby Clarke.
This herd was established in 1969, and maintained only a small number of females to allow them to focus on their successful auctioneering business Automart Livestock Ltd, Portadown. When the business was sold in 2002 Libby and her husband Gordon made a decision to increase numbers by selecting a limited number of females from herds such as Moyness, Gretnahouse, Coolnaslee and Thrunton. The herd is now run with between 20-25 females.
Stock bulls Maerdy Tyrant and Logan Viceroy were also viewed, and their calves on show at foot of dams. The group also had a look at Libby’s herd of Irish Moiled cattle. These are one of the rarest breeds of cattle in the world, and it was the first time many had seen this beautiful breed of cattle.
NI Club Chairman John Mc Grath welcomed the party and paid tribute to Libby as she had coordinated the trip, and ensured that all the days were action packed and full of fun and information.
Following lunch the party travelled to Maghera to view the noted Coolnaslee herd of Gilbert Crawford. This prefix needs little introduction as they have made headlines repeatedly at Perth where they have secured several five figured sums for bulls. Gilbert’s stock bull Allanfauld Superscot was also on show, in addition to many of his progeny. Superscot is one of the most sought after sires in AI at the moment following one of his sons selling at 32,000 guineas at Perth in February. This herd was formed in 1983, and Gilbert selected females from top herds right throughout Britain to ensure that he had excellent foundation stock. This has paid dividends for the popular Representative of the NI Charolais Club on the British Charolais Society Council, as he received many comments that this was one of the most impressive herds that the Scottish Club had ever seen. In particular daughters of Derrygiff Mills and Superscot caught the eye, with calves from Ballindalloch UFO also of note.
Saturday saw the group making their way to Ballymena Show where the Mayor of Ballymena and Show Chairman Randal Hayes welcomed the party upon entry to the Showgrounds. Ballymena Show made a great effort in welcoming the Scottish Charolais Club, and gave each member of the party a pen to mark their visit to the 2007 show.
During the day the group watched the Charolais judging. Gilbert Crawford was placed Champion and Stewart Murphy was Reserve. There was a good display of Charolais cattle for the group to view, and thanks go to Northern Ireland breeder’s who made the effort and exhibited at the Show.
The Young Person’s Stock Judging qualifier for the Royal Show was held at Ballymena Show. As a bit of fun the Scottish Group were invited to participate in this, although some of them would have exceeded the upper age limit!
Results were given by NI Club Chairman John McGrath at a dinner held that evening at the Comfort Hotel, Antrim. Winners were:
1st Ian Millar 2nd John Stephens 3rd Carlene Woodward
The social evening was a great success with the dance floor filled from one end of the night to the other.
The final farm visit of the trip was to Burnside Charolais run by Brian & William Mc Allister, Kells. Once again the weather was super, and the cattle were very impressive. The visitors were able to view the first calves of Balmyle Vagabond who was purchased for 16,000 guineas at Perth. Burnside Charolais was the home of perhaps the most influential stock sire ever – Oldstone Egbert. Certainly the daughters and grand daughters on the Mc Allister farm supported this theory. The Mc Allister family provided a marvellous lunch for the visitors – an excellent finale to the Scottish visit. Adrian Ivory expressed his thanks to the Northern Ireland Club and to the host farmers who provided not only quality cattle but also excellent hospitality.