NEXT GEN HEREFORDS YOUTH COMPETITION CAPS OFF A SUCCESSFUL YEAR!

The Irish Hereford Breed Society in conjunction with; Next Gen Herefords, North Leinster Hereford Branch and Genetic Gems held a very successful Hereford event in GVM Tullamore on Friday 17th & Saturday 18th November. This event is in it’s 3rd year, built on the success of 2021 and 2022.

The weekend kicked off on Friday 17^th November with the Next Gen Herefords Youth Competition which saw 30 young handlers competing against each other. This year the committee made a change to the entry of the young handlers competition, whereby young handlers who placed 1^st or 2^nd in the Hereford Young Handler Class at Charleville show, Arva show and Trim show were automatically through to the finals in GVM Tullamore on Friday night in either the Junior, Intermediate or Senior category. Also, though any young handler who didn’t place 1^st or 2^nd or who didn’t compete in any of these three shows – were entitled to enter the wild card class on the Friday night ahead of the finals and the 1^st and 2^nd winners from the wild card classes won a place in the finals later in the evening. The committee are happy with how the event worked out with this new change and felt the evening flowed much smoother with smaller classes while also encouraged breeders to support summer shows.

The event incorporated a Young Handlers Competition whereby each young handler showed an animal. The competition was judged by Mr. Edward Dudley from Kilsunny Herefords, Tipperary, breeder of the most very popular AI sire: Kilsunny Goliath. Grooming of each animal was also incorporated into the competition and each competitor was given an hour to prepare their animal in advance of the show. The committee also incorporated a third element to the evening for attendees which involved a demo hosted by Tennyson Egar from Irish Hereford Prime all about beef carcase traits including weights and conformation, cuts of beef and a brief about the new CBV value and DBI index.

Congratulations to all exhibitors during the evening – it is very special to see young breeders rise through the ranks and improve on their skills and talents both in the show ring and in show preparation. A special well done to to the Senior group also who were asked to speak to the audience about the animal they were showing and their preparations in advance of the show and each did so with great confidence and enthusiasm.

Congratulations to all exhibitors & many thanks to all who got involved!

Junior Young Handlers:
1st: Aveen Curtin, Cork
2nd: Adrianna Egar, Kildare
3rd: Daire O’Reilly, Leitrim

Judge Edward Dudley with Junior Young Hander Aveen Curtin

Judge Edward Dudley, Daire O’Reilly, Scott Jones, Isabella Dagg, Siun Canty, Noah O’Rourke, Aodhain Kilrane, Alice Appelbe, Adrianna Egar, Aveen Curtin & Sinead Conry

Intermediate Young Handlers:
1st: Liam O’Reilly, Leitrim
2nd: Aine Heffernan, Meath
3rd: Conor O’Rourke, Limerick

Judge Edward Dudley & Intermediate Young Handler Liam O’Reilly

Sinead Conry, Clodagh Kilrane, Alan Minehan, Cillian Daly, Conor O’Rourke, Michael Barrett, Lara Heffernan, Aine Heffernan, Catherine Smyth, Liam O’Reilly, Eoin Lynch, Alannah Daly, Judge Edward Dudley & Louise Callan

Senior Young Handlers:
1st: Elisa Drumm, Meath
2nd: Paul Bohan, Leitrim
3rd: John O’Dwyer, Tipperary

Judge Edward Dudley & Senior Young Handler Elisa Drumm

Catherine Smyth, Liam O’ Dwyer, Tara Drumm, John O’Dwyer, Elisa Drumm, Clodagh McCaffrey, Paul Bohan & Judge Edward Dudley

Many Thanks!
Thank you to all the volunteers & organisers, to GVM Tullamore for facilitating the event, to John Lynch for stewarding on the evening, to Willie McElroy for taking the photos, the judge: Mr. Edward Dudley, to Tennyson Egar from Irish Hereford Prime, to all the exhibitors who attended, to all the spectators and to the Next Gen Herefords Committee for all their work behind the scenes in making this youth event happen successfully; Sinead Conry, Catherine Smyth, Michael Barrett & Eoin Lynch!