There was some festive cheer for farmers as the 35th Royal Ulster Winter Fair, in association with Danske Bank, was held at the Eikon Centre, Balmoral Park on Thursday last, making a welcome return since 2019 due to Covid restrictions last year.

While the Supreme Interbreed Champion title was won by Clandeboy Tequilla Cookie, exhibited by Clandeboye Estate, Bangor, there was some reward for local exhibitors.

Stewart and Nyree Baxter took several awards in the Ayrshire classes, taking first and second in the Cow in Milk class, as well as the Exhibitor Bred Prize and Best Udder in Class prize. The partnership also took third in the Heifer in Milk class.

In the Holstein classes, Matthew Breen, Tempo, took his young heifer to the event and, in a big class of entries, returned home with an eighth place. The mother of this calf took a Junior Champion rosette in 2019.

Seamus Gunn from Derrylin continued his support for the event, taking class prizes in the Heifer in Milk class and Cow in Milk with two calvings class.

However, Seamus's high-yielding cow, Ernevale Destry Triuna, won the class for Cow in Milk or Calf, having produced a minimum of 50,000kgs in her lifetime. He also won prizes for the Exhibitor Bred and Best Udder in class.

Seamus also took the Reserve Prize for the Best Kept Dairy Stall.

The popular Winter Fair in the run up to Christmas enabled farmers, dairy enthusiasts and industry specialists to network and do business.

It also offered a timely opportunity for farmers, their families and exhibitors to meet together in the lead up to the festive period.

Danske Bank were once again the sole sponsors of the event, as they have been over the past 35 years.

Speaking about the ongoing partnership, Rodney Brown, Head of AgriBusiness at Danske, said: “It’s been fantastic to be back at the Winter Fair in 2021, following a year away due to the restrictions in 2020.

"There was a wonderful atmosphere throughout, and whilst the future for the industry looks exciting with numerous opportunities, the many challenges seem to have been forgotten on the day as visitors enjoyed the excellent show of dairy cattle, took the opportunity to visit the superb variety of trade stands, and enjoyed the social aspect in the wonderful surrounds of the Eikon Centre and Logan Hall.”

Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots visited the show, praising the return of the event, and added: “Our agri-food sector is crucial to both the farming community and everyone in Northern Ireland.

"In 2021, the total gross output of our agriculture sector was £2.23 billion, with dairy the largest contributor with an output value of £667 million – 30 per cent – [producing] 2.4 billion litres of milk.

“Dairy farmers have faced an extremely challenging couple of years with variable milk prices and increasing production costs.

"Whilst it is encouraging to see farm gate prices for milk increasing, we must continue to work with the industry to support their businesses and develop greater confidence in a sustainable future for both this and future generations.

“I hope to shortly publish a consultation on our Future Agricultural Policy Proposals for Northern Ireland to help us develop better and improved future support measures for the agricultural sector."

There was plenty of interest among the many trade stands as farmers looked forward to 2022. The farm machinery sector was well represented, as well as other farming services.

With the focus on grass, David Linton, Regional Manager for NI for Barenbrug, said grass seed sales during the past season were 30 per cent up as farmers took advantage of fine weather conditions to renew their swards.

The AFBI stand was displaying some of the plants used in multi-species mixtures.

Agronomist David Patterson explained how they were undertaking trials with multi-species swards to see how they perform under Northern Ireland conditions.