The country came to town last week as the Crawford Brothers, one of the most successful livestock breeding businesses in Fermanagh celebrated 30 years at a reception in Parliament Buildings at Stormont. In addition to members of the Crawford family, there were many people associated with the family and their farm which is based at Rathkeeland, Maguiresbridge attending the anniversary event.

The guest speaker was the Duke of Westminster, a Fermanagh man, who now owns and runs the Cogent bull breeding stud on his estate outside Chester and where the Crawford Brothers award winning Limousin bull, Sauvignon, is based. He was the first Limousin and first of the beef breeds to have female and male single sex semen distributed to customers across the world.

The 30 years of pedigree Limousin breeding celebrates an amazing period for the family who include Herbie and Ena, their sons, Raymond and Stephen and daughter, Elizabeth, who is married to Geoffrey Rodgers and who have three children. The pedigree Limousin herd was formed in 1980 with the importation of two Limousin heifers from France, Pelisse and Ombrage.

At the Stormont reception hosted by Trade and Industry Minister, Arlene Foster, there was praise for the farm enterprise which has become a global business. Semen and embryos are now exported to 14 countries around the world and progeny of Sauvignon and other pedigree stock.

Mrs. Foster said the event could have been billed as "Fermanagh comes to Stormont day," and she referred to the Fermanagh connection between herself, the Crawfords and the Duke of Westminster whose family once owned the Ely Lodge Estate where she once camped as a Girl Guide.

She went on to explain how Invest NI supported local research and development which was key to growth in the economy in Northern Ireland. And those factors helped to increase Northern Ireland's competitiveness. She said these were areas that the Crawford family have been associated with over the years, as well as utilising new technologies.

She said Raymond Crawford's drive and determination combined with an entrepreneurial spirit showed they could compete at the highest level.

The Duke of Westminster whose family seat is Eaton Hall in Cheshire, said his love of farming has never left him, having been brought up on the shores of Lower Lough Erne at Ely Lodge.

"I have to confess that the 30 years we are celebrating is a remarkable story of a family business and we are celebrating a family's hard work," he said.

The Duke said he felt like an understudy on the day as the real guest should have been the Crawfords' bull, Sauvignon, the European Limousin male champion. He has been standing at Cogent since 2006 and he said what a tremendous partnership that has been. Sauvignon was what came as a result of years of dedication.

"Innovation is key to our business and it is through working with families like the Crawfords that we are able to be truly innovative. With Sauvignon, the Crawford family has shown how innovative they can be. Along with Vigot, he was marketed as the first Limousin bull in the world as well as the first beef bull in the world for female sexed semen. Last year he became the first Limousin bull in the world from which male sexed semen became available," he told guests.

He recalled how Cogent was founded to improve the quality of the bloodlines of the British dairy herd. Now there are 400 bulls standing at Cogent. He said it was with the help of farmers such as the Crawfords who have set such high standards that the Cogent business is successful. Two of the Cogent staff were at the reception including Stuart Boothman, the Operations Manager.

The Duke said that farmers throughout the world are now seeing the benefits of this breeding success. Sauvignon has won prize after prize at shows of the calibre of the Great Yorkshire Show and in Paris. Sauvignon was the first Limousin bull in the world and the first beef bull to be marketed for female and male sexed semen with 92 per cent purity and as a result demand for Sauvignon semen has increased dramatically. He said they at Cogent looked forward to working in partnership with the Crawfords on further commercial and innovative ideas.

Raymond Crawford, speaking on behalf of the family thanked everyone for helping them celebrate their 30th anniversary. He thanked the Minister and the Duke of Westminster for attending the reception.

He said that when they wanted to collect semen from Sauvignon, they approached Cogent as there were enormous benefits by investing in technology. With Cogent's help, they had introduced Limousin sexed semen on the world market.

He recalled how the family first imported pedigree Limousin heifers, Pelisse and Ombrage in 1980 and with their father's enthusiasm, began going round the show circuit. But he reminded those that farming was a great leveller and they did go through difficult times, losing their herds to Brucellosis on several occasions. Their association with France began when Herbie Crawford became the first Limousin breeder in Ireland and the third in the United Kingdom to judge at the Paris show.

In addition, within two years of losing their herd to brucellosis, they were awarded the best large herd and Raymond said this was largely due to the efforts of his brothers, Stephen whom he described as one of the best stockmen in the world.

Raymond also said that despite all the big moments at shows, the most rewarding for him was getting emails from customers across the world showing photographs of progeny of their breeding. In recent times they have rebranded themselves to meet the needs of their customers worldwide. In the past week, they have been exporting to Denmark and Canada and the first shipment of beef semen to Uruguay which has potential for more business. They are exporting to 14 countries and hoping to increase this in the year ahead. Raymond said last year he had the opportunity to travel to Brazil. He plans to return in August and also to South Africa later in the year.

He also recalled how they have been working with leading supermarket, ASDA through their Beeflink scheme to help beef farmers supply the product that the supermarket wants.

Raymond thanked a number of people for their help over the years and welcomed Jean Luc Kress from KBS-Genetics in France. He also thanked Dominic Maguire, their stockman at the Rathkeeland farm and Moses Irwin for his help in preparing for shows. But above all, Raymond thanked his parents, Herbie and Ena Crawford as without their drive and ambition, they would not have achieved all they have.

At the end of the reception, Emma, Martin and Lucy Rodgers, children of Geoffrey and Elizabeth Rodgers, presented framed photographs of some of the Crawford Brothers' successful pedigree Limousins, to Mrs. Arlene Foster, the Duke of Westminster and to Richard Wright, BBC Farmgate presenter who chaired the proceedings.

The herd was formed in 1980 with the importation of two Limousin heifers from France called Pelisse and Ombrage.

Show team of the year for 15 years Championships at every major show, including all of the Royal Shows, in the UK and Ireland First breeders from Ireland to exhibit Limousins and win at the Royal Show.

Crawford Brothers made history in 2007 when their bull Sauvignon was the first bovine animal from the UK to attend the SIMA show in Paris. There he was crowned the European Limousin Male Champion, The European Limousin Carcass Champion and the European Progeny Champion. Sauvignon and Vigot were the first Limousin bulls in the world, as well as the first beef bulls in the world, from which female sexed semen was made available.� Last year Sauvignon became the first Limousin bull in the world from which male sexed semen became available.

At the Royal Show in 1999 Crawford Brothers was part of the winning Burke Trophy team, the first time the Limousin breed won this award. In 2008 they scored another first when Vigot teamed up with Victorieus to win the Burke Trophy - the first time both animals in the winning team came from the same herd. Winner of the Champion Heifer in Northern Ireland at the Ulster Bank Heifer Derby Final 2009.

Winner of the Ulster Bank beef interbreed female of the year in 2008 and 2009.

First in the UK and Ireland across the livestock sector to exhibit at five Royal Shows in the UK and Ireland Raymond Crawford was the first to win all of the young stockmans competitions across 13 shows in the same year in Northern Ireland.

They bought Cattogs Margretta, the first pedigree calf Limousin calf born in Northern Ireland and she later won the Champion Limousin female at the RDS Spring Show in 1986.

Products are sold throughout the UK and Ireland, Germany, Poland, Australia, America, South Africa, Canada, Denmark, New Zealand, Uruguay, Holland, Brazil and Hungary.

The Crawford Brothers Show Team has won the 'Gordon Bull' for the most championships won in 2009 as well the Show Team of the Year 2009 for the 15th time. In 2009 they won the breed championship at nine shows out of a possible 12 and 80% of all beef interbreed championships. The Crawford show team exhibited at Trim, Virginia, Tydavnet and the National Ploughing Championships in the Republic of Ireland, the first time for a Northern Ireland exhibitor in 18 years.

At the Royal Highland Show their record includes two firsts in 2008, three firsts in 2005, junior male Champion and reserve interbreed champion in 2006 (Vigot). Lancelot was show champion in 2000. The Royal Show record includes Lancelot winning the Champion Limousin and the Burke Trophy in 1999 (the first Limousin to win the Burke Trophy and the first time a Northern Ireland breeder won both events) and the Reserve Male Champion in 2006. Victorieus won the Interbreed Championship in 2008 and she teamed up with Reserve Male Champion Vigot to win the Burke Trophy.

Their record at The Great Yorkshire Show includes Overall Interbreed Championship (Sauvignon in 2007), Overall Limousin Champion, reserve interbreed champion, senior male champion and Junior Limousin Champion, Reserve Male Champion and Junior Interbreed Champion of Show (Vigot in 2006).

At the Royal Welsh Show Sauvignon was reserve male champion in 2006. In 2005 Tetrio B won the Limousin Champion of the Show and the team won the Natwest Group of 5. Newlittlemount Upriver also won first prize in the Intermediate Bull class.