2005 REPORT
by Thelma Gorman

The spring show and sale was held at Dungannon Farmers Mart on 11 April. An outstanding turn out of quality cattle were on offer.

The Judge was Mr Martin Regan from Carib Simmentals, South of Ireland. Martin placed Rehall Princess as his Champion, an excellent heifer sired by Sterling Flint and Dam Drumbulcan Lavender, selling for 2600gns and exhibited by Mr W & K Stubbs.  The Reserve Champion was a bull Drumacritten Rupert sired by Drumacritten Major and Dam Drumacritten Hazel, selling for 2700gns and exhibited by Mr W E Nelson.

This was followed by the sale of commercial Simmental heifers with an excellent trade.

May was the beginning of the summer shows at The Royal Ulster Agricultural Society.  The Northern Ireland Simmental Club was delighted to welcome Ms Fiona Sloan to Balmoral show on her first official duty as the new Breed Promotions and Development Manager of the British Simmental Cattle Society.  Fiona said “The sun shone on us for the day and I was immediately made very welcome by the members, who were at pains to show me around and introduce me to everyone! My sincere thanks to all of those who took the time to make me feel so welcome”.

The Judge was Mr David Barker from Heywood Simmentals. Mr Barker was well pleased with the excellent show of quality cattle. His Champion was Ballinalare Farm Money Penny owned by Mr Joe Wilson; this was the second year that Money Penny collected the Championship. The Male Champion was Camus Resolve owned by Mr Joe Campbell.  While everyone agreed that it would have been nice to see more animals forward for the show, the quality of those exhibited was very good giving David Barker an enjoyable judging session.  The Society Stand was particularly well used by members and friends alike and was a prime spot for making contacts with breeders and other breed Societies.

JUNIOR STOCK JUDGING
The next event on the calendar of the Simmental Club was the Junior Stock judging held on Thursday 2nd June at the farm of Leslie Weatherup.  This year the event which was sponsored by Merial Animal Health took on a different form.  Anyone interested in the Simmental breed, suckler farmers, young farmers and breeders alike were invited to join with us and enjoy an evening of stock judging.  Guess the weight of a bull sponsored by W A Ennis also took place and Mr Finbar O’Keefe attended.  Two junior teams of Simmental Club members qualified to judge at the Royal Show in England at the beginning of July.  This is always an enjoyable night for everyone concerned and gives everyone the opportunity to see prize winning animals up close.  The Club is very grateful to Nick Munce of Merial Animal Health who was on hand to present the sponsorship to the Young Members who were selected to judge at the Royal Show, Stoneleigh.

The results were as follows:-
Under 21        
1st       Thomas Hamilton
2nd      David Gilmore
3rd       Zara Stubbs

Age 21 – 30   
1st       Frank Kelly
2nd      Neil McIlwaine
3rd       Timothy Hamilton

A special word of thanks to Leslie and Christopher Weatherup for providing such excellent premises, stock and a great BBQ, which was enjoyed by all.

The next event was the Charity BBQ in aid of the Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice. Many thanks to all who helped in any way to make the night such a success. A generous cheque was presented to the charity.

August 3rd saw the last of our summer shows with a very wet morning!  When the rain cleared and the judging started, the Simmental Club members were full of anticipation of an exciting day at Enniskillen Show.  Not only did judge Miss Anne MacPherson have a tough job on her hands judging a fine array of cattle, she also had a new award to judge, Junior Stock Person.  We were delighted to have Anne with us at Enniskillen and using her expertise so skilfully.  Anne is the daughter of Mr Billy MacPherson, owner of the famous Blackford herd.  Anne commented on the number of animals that had turned out for the last show of the season.  She said “I was thrilled to be asked to judge at Enniskillen show today; the setting is lovely and the animals are of an extremely high standard.”

The judging of all classes went well with Supreme Champion, Derrycallaghan Rocky born 6.6.2004, Sire, Derrycallaghan Hamilton, dam, Carbery Lucille, exhibited by Harold Stubbs, Lisnaskea.  Reserve Supreme Champion, Mullyknock Princess, born 12th August, 2003, sired by Raceview King, dam, Camus Lisa, exhibited by Robert Forde, Tempo.
   
Eprinex Pairs competition
The Pairs competition is sponsored by Merial Animal Health (Eprinex) for the 5th year.  A warm welcome was given to Mr Nick Munce from Enniskillen and we would like to thank him for the company’s continued support of the Simmental Breed.

PRIZES
1st – 5 litres Eprinex Pour on and Eprinex Perpetual Crystal Decanter
2nd – 2.5 litres Eprinex Pour on, with the remaining qualifiers each receiving 1 litre of Eprinex pour on.

This competition is open to any pair of Simmental animals of any age or sex owned by the one exhibitor.  Each pair on show has qualified from one of the following shows; Balmoral, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Armagh, Castlewellan, Omagh & Clogher Valley.

After taking time to consider all seven pairs of animals, Anne chose Mr Leslie Weatherup’s pair as the winning animals; Lisglass Rebecca sired by Blackford Explosion and Gola Pearl sired by Craling Barrister, followed by Robert Forde’s pair Mullyknock Romeo sired by Raceview Nigel and Mullyknock Princess sired by Raceview King, coming in second place.  Congratulations to all who took part in this prestigious competition. 

Northern Bank Male and Female of the Year
This undoubtedly is the most sought after title in the year of the Simmental Club and competitors must attend local shows to gain points throughout the showing season.  Points are totted up at Balmoral, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Omagh, Armagh, Clogher Valley and Enniskillen and the animal collecting the most points will be crowned as Male and Female of the year.

FEMALE OF THE YEAR
The winner this year is Ballinalare Farm Money Penny, a homebred heifer owned by Mr Joe Wilson of Newry.  She is bred out of one of Joe’s show cows Ballinalare Farm Jade and is sired by Innerwick Jack, the stock bull used on Joe’s farm at home.  Money Penny has been out at many local shows winning many rosettes and Champion titles over the show season.  She has been Simmental Champion at all the four local shows she attended, and retains her title after being awarded Northern Bank Female of the year for the 2nd year in succession. Joe has been breeding Simmentals for 20 years and now farms with his two sons Alan and Keith.  They have had many successes in the show and sale ring over the past few years.

Placed as reserve was Raceview Pauline owned by Mr Wesley Abraham, Co Fermanagh.  Wesley bought this heifer from one of the top Irish breeders, Peter O’Connell and she is sired by Freighduff Brendan and is out of Raceview Katja.  Wesley has had Pauline out at local shows over the summer picking up many rosettes as well as being awarded Reserve Simmental Champion at Omagh Show.

MALE OF THE YEAR
Winning this title was Raceview Nigel, an outstanding bull owned by Patrick Kelly of Tempo and was purchased from the renowned Irish breeder
Mr P O’Connell.  This bull is out of Raceview Fenellakim and sired by Ballyduff Jeweller.  Raceview Nigel is a 3 year old bull that has been shown for the first time this year and has picked up many awards around the local shows including Simmental Champion at Omagh and Reserve Champion at the Royal Ulster Balmoral and Ballymoney.

Placed as reserve was Ranfurly Rancher, a homebred bull owned by David Hazelton of Dungannon.  Rancher is out of Sacombe Melody-Kleeb and sired by Carnkern Titan.  This young bull has proved to be of superb quality and has been placed Simmental Champion at Clogher Valley Show and also won Reserve Male Champion on two other occasions.  David has been breeding Simmentals for many years and is well known in the show ring for winning many awards for his excellent cattle.

YOUNG STOCKPERSON OF THE YEAR
This is the first year the club in association with the Young Members of the BSCS has run a competition to encourage young stockmen and women out into the ring.  It was decided to hold the competition this year at Enniskillen and Judge Anne MacPherson chose Mr Frank Kelly as the Northern Ireland Junior Stockperson of the year.  This competition covered all aspects of handling the cattle from grooming to showing.

PERTH
The October Perth sale brought Northern Ireland very much to the headlines when Mr Alfie Shaw had the Overall Champion with Glebefarm Reputation and then went on to sell him for 8000 gns. Congratulations also went to Mr W H Robson OBE, with Killbride Farm Romero selling for 5600 gns and to Mr W D Hazelton for Ranfurly Ranger selling for 4000 gns.

The Club has had a very varied programme of events and I would like to thank the Committee and all who have helped me so far this year and wish the Club continued success in 2006.

click on images to enlarge

Eprinex Reserve Pair at Enniskillen show were owned by Robert Forde, Tempo, Co Fermanagh, with assistance from Frank Kelly.	Ranfurly Rancher, Reserve Male of the Year at Enniskillen, with David Workman, Northern Bank, presenting the award.
Reserve Female of the Year was Raceview Pauline, owned by Wesley Abraham, Irvinestown, Co Fermanagh, pictured with Gordon McKinley, Northern Bank Agribusiness.	Nick Munce, centre, Merial, presents Leslie Weatherup, with the award for winning Eprinex Pairs final at Enniskillen show, with Anne McPherson, judge, looking on.
Male of the Year was Raceview Nigel, owned by Pat Kelly, Tempo, Co Fermanagh. David Workman, Northern Bank Agribusiness, and Thelma Gorman.	Female of the Year, for the second successive year, was Ballinalare Farm Money Penny, owned and exhibited by Joe Wilson, Newry, Co Down.

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