Young Charolais breeders in the west certainly showed off their stockjudging skills at the British Charolais Young Breeders’ Stockjudging Competition sponsored by Weatherbys and hosted by the National Charolais Show at the Livestock Event in Birmingham recently.

Out of the 10 young people representing Northern Ireland, Caoimhe McGovern from Clogher claimed the highest number of points in the intermediate section and teaming up with her sister, Eimear, won the Fairway Trophy for the highest scoring pair. They were closely followed by Alan Burleigh, Florencecourt and his partner, Ryan Murray.

They competed against a record number of 53 finalists from nine UK regions.

Master judge, Iain Millar commented: “These youngsters were faced with three classes, two of which were extremely challenging, however they embraced them with huge enthusiasm combined with skill which gives me real optimism for the breed; these youngsters are our life blood, and our future.” The Northern Ireland Charolais Club were delighted with the results and thanked their judges, Elizabeth and William McAllister and tutors, Alan Morrison and Ben Sinnamon for their guidance and advice and to Gilbert Crawford and staff for hosting the Northern Ireland competition and following practice for the team.