Aberdeen Angus takes centre stage

The Irish Aberdeen Angus Association and Angus Beef Ireland will again be joining forces for this year’s National Ploughing Championships in Co Laois.

The two will be put on a display of the very best pedigree and commercial Aberdeen Angus cattle in the country in what will again be the largest livestock stand at this year’s Ploughing.

Several of the major championship winners from the pedigree show circuit will be on display over the three days, alongside a selection of very high-end Aberdeen Angus sired crossbred stock too.

John Tait, president of the Irish Aberdeen Angus Association, along with many of the society officers, will be in attendance throughout the event to meet and chat with the membership.

New for 2024 the Irish Aberdeen Angus Association exhibitors will run demos on each of the three days at 1pm under cover in the Aberdeen Angus exhibition centre.

These demos will focus on a number of key areas such as stock judging, traits of the breed for profitable production, current factory requirements and what it takes to prepare a show champion. All the demos will be using the selection of top-end stock in the marquee in a show-and-tell type scenario so it’s sure to draw a crowd.

Angus Beef Ireland

Angus Beef Ireland will be joined by its partner factories Ashbourne Meats, Dawn Meats, Foyle Foods and Liffey Meats. Procurement agents from these leading factories will be on hand to answer any questions you may have and to discuss Angus requirements and farmer opportunities for the coming months.

There will be a €1,000 prize for the winner of the guess the weight competition, which will again see all proceeds go to the Irish Pilgrimage Trust.

Angus Beef Ireland will also be using the National Ploughing Championships to launch a new report for their producers.

The report looks at the average daily carcase weight gain of cattle over their lifetime and this is then compared to the national average for steers and for heifers.

This report will be of use in running your beef enterprise. Information on the report and instructions on how to use it will be available each day on the stand.

In keeping with previous years, a mobile catering unit serving Irish Aberdeen-Angus beef will once again be in operation adjacent to the stand.

Space for Nature

Angus Beef Ireland is holding a ‘space for nature photo competition’, the results of which will be revealed at the National Ploughing Championships.

Secretary of the association Shane Murphy said: “It’s no secret that our environment is facing a huge challenge with the loss of biodiversity and habitat. Almost half of the EU-protected habitats and species in Ireland are in decline and over 60% of Ireland’s common birds are on either red or amber lists.

One-third of wild bee species are becoming extinct. Pollinators are important for growing insect-pollinated crops, fruits and vegetables, for the health of our environment and for the economy, but farmland has experienced wide-scale loss of wild pollinators over the last 50 years.

“Beef farming, however, is a biodiversity-friendly activity and this competition highlights the efforts of the farming community in preserving biodiversity on their farms and in our environment.”

You pick, we pay

The Irish Aberdeen Angus Association will be using this year’s National Ploughing Championships to launch its brand-new campaign ‘you pick, we pay’.

This campaign revolves around the upcoming autumn extravaganza sale which takes place in Thurles mart on Saturday 5 October.

As part of its sale of 50 pre-selected heifers and a handful of champion bulls, all sold lot numbers will go into a live draw at the end of the sale. The lot number pulled out will have the entire cost of that animal paid for.

You could be taking an animal home from Thurles for absolutely nothing! Hence ‘you pick, we pay’.

“The sale as part of the extravaganza has become the envy of most. The ‘you pick, we pay’ campaign is the first of its kind and will see one lucky bidder go home as possibly the happiest person in Ireland.

“Imagine choosing your favourite heifer or bull in the yard, be willing to pay whatever the price may be and then not having to pay a cent, it’s the stuff of dreams,” Murphy said.

Murphy also commented that having now completed inspections and photographing of all lots, he believes this to be the strongest catalogue to date despite the last two years’ sales breaking all records for the breed.

Entries

Members and staff will be on hand to go through all lots at this year’s sale and will be taking entries also for the National Calf Show, which takes place on Sunday 6 October.

The calf show always attracts a large entry giving its substantial prize fund with the champion walking away with a €1,000 prize fund.

This finishes a busy few weeks for the association which will also see Thurles mart as the host venue for this year’s youth development finals.

These finals bring together 36 of the most talented young stockmen and women from across Ireland and the UK to compete. This event will take place on Saturday 28 September with a prizegiving that night.

To find out about all these plans and more, pop by the Aberdeen Angus exhibition centre in row 1, block 4, stand 53.