In March of this year, John Henning OBE was elected president of the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society (RUAS).

“It is a great honour, particularly in the society’s 170th anniversary year. There have only been 36 presidents before me – I am the 37th and only the second from Co Armagh,” John tells the Irish Farmers Journal.

His own agriculture roots go back to the home dairy farm outside Markethill, although he went on to have a 39-year career in Danske Bank, 30 of which were spent on the agriculture side of the business. That led John into various other voluntary roles and to become a well-known face within NI agri-food.

Now farming outside Moira, in 1992, John and his wife Ann set up a pedigree Aberdeen Angus herd under the Drumcorn Angus prefix. The following year, the Hennings had their first heifer at Balmoral Show and have been bringing cattle ever since, meaning 2024 is their 30th consecutive event.

While John plans to get seven cattle in on Monday of show week and settled in the venue, he will have to rely on others to show the animals, given his presidential duties. But being directly involved in showing, he is fully aware of the commitment made by livestock exhibitors to the event – and with livestock entries coming from all over Ireland, how difficult it is to win.

“We have never won the championship in the Angus – we have been reserve six times. It is no mean feat to win at Balmoral. You just don’t rock up and win,” he says.

Changed

Compared to the first time he attended the Balmoral Show back in the late 1960s, the main changes relate to how the event has become about the whole production cycle from livestock and crops through to food on our plates.

“We need to be ambitious to tell our story to an increasingly sophisticated audience.

“You can educate by entertaining. It is not enough to set up a marquee and put some cattle and pigs in it and expect people to pay money to come through the gate,” says John.

But despite a much broader scope, he is clear that the RUAS must stay close to its agricultural roots. “We lose those at our peril,” he adds.

RUAS president John Henning OBE.

As well as being a vehicle to communicate between farmers and consumers, John points out that the show provides an opportunity to catch up with friends, is a meeting place for industry and allows farmers to engage with those further along the food supply chain.

“We should never underestimate the social side of the event,” he says.