A CLONAKILTY family will be hoping to be among the prizewinners when the the National Dairy Show take place in Milstreet’s Green Glen Arena next month.
The National Dairy Show is the biggest event of the year for pedigree dairy breeders to showcase their cows and heifers and takes place on October 13th and 14th. The show attracts from all over the country and already this year the committee have received entries from Monaghan, Limerick, Kildare, Kilkenny, Wicklow, and Wexford, to name but a few.
The Helen family from Clonakilty are well known on the show circuit for their Eedy Holstein Friesian herd. Eedy Alexander Acclaim ET won the coveted Confined Champion Award at the NDS in 2018. The Helen family also won the Premier Breeder award at last year’s show – which was due to a combination of Eedy winners shown by the Helens and cows and heifers they had bred and sold to new owners topping their classes.
‘It was really special to win Premier Breeder last year, it’s a great reward to see heifers you have bred doing well for their new owners and competing at shows around the country,’ said Jason Helen, who farms with his parents Robert and Sylvia, and partner Laura.
After another busy summer of shows for the Helen family they are looking forward to finishing out the show season for 2023 at Milstreet, with four entries in the hunt for the coveted rosettes.
Pat Ahern from Rylane has shown many pedigree Jerseys at Milstreet over the years, winning the Heifer in Milk class last year with Moorshill Veronca Chrome. ‘There is a fantastic buzz around the show and the quality of cows is really excellent. Now my children have an interest in showing also it makes it all the more enjoyable. I’ve been exhibiting animals at Milstreet for over 20 years and I hope to still be showing there for many years to come.’
Milstreet sees some of the biggest coloured breed classes around the country, and last year’s Championship was hotly contested by some superb cows and heifers in milk before Ballyealan Tequila Louise exhibited by Tom Lynch was tapped out as champion.
This year’s AXA Insurance NDS will see exhibitors receive a €100 AXA Farm Insurance and all winners in the milking classes will receive at least €200 in prize money.
Entries have closed for this year’s show but everyone is welcome to attend at the Green Glens Arena next month.
