Drumhilla Small Herd of the Year

IN the pedigree Limousin herd competition for 2020, the Small Herd of The Year was awarded to the Drumhilla herd.

The Drumhilla herd was newly established in 2014 and is located in Newtownards. Breeder Gareth Corrie is a well known stockman and owner of various butcher shops with his father Will Corrie.

The functional cows began with bloodlines from the Ampertaine and Hatcliffe herds. The siring of females was performed by artificial insemination until the purchase of stock bull Ampertaine Majestic at Borderway Mart in May 2018.

The first progeny of Ampertaine Majestic was sold for 35,000gns in October 2020 and was brought froward by James McKay. The main goal for Drumhilla is to breed a valuable bull for a commercial suckler market.

One of the most memorable moments for Drumhilla was Balmoral 2019, standing as the Reserve Overall Champion Limousin with Drumhilla Oscar. This February 2018 born bull by Ampertaine Lance and out of the dam Haltcliffe Jolly had come through the field to take Champion Junior Bull and Male Champion titles.

The Leading Ladies sale from the Drumhilla herd is now firmly established as an annual event and has records broken every year. The father and son partnership has up to a selection of 90 heifers brought forward each year and carrying to proven Limousin bulls. The 2020 sale was hailed as the best offering from the Corrie family to date. It saw purchasers from near and far wanting stock from this tremendous herd.

Winning multiple awards in the first year of entering the NILCC Pedigree Herds of 2020, Drumhilla was named as Best Small Herd, Best Newcomer, Best Stock Bull with Ampertaine Majestic, Best Home Bred Heifer born in 2019 with Drumhilla Pearl, second in the Best Home Bred Heifer born in 2019 with Drumhilla Princess and finally third in the Group of Calves by Stock Bull.

The Pedigree Limousin Extra Small Herd of The Year 2020 was awarded to the Johnstown herd

Johnstown’s Limousin herd is run by breeder Chris Johnstown, located near Fivemiletown, County Fermanagh. Originally Chris start-ed in 2005 with 50 top quality Limousin cross cows to produce weanlings and fatstock animals, where he found his breeding reaching top prices on many occasions.

The year 2010 saw Chris starting his own business performing pregnancy diagnosis and embryo transfer. Eleven years on, this business continues going from strength to strength and Chris is recognised as one of the top in his field of work in Ireland.

Founded in 2015, Johnstown Limousins’ first purchase was Ashmara Classygirl, who was then flushed successfully and produced males and females to be sold privately at home and in Great Britain.

Foundation cows with tremendous bloodlines is a big emphasis within the Johnstown Herd and planning for future progeny. Over the five years Chris has purchased from herds such as Claragh and Foxhillfarm. He has also sold animals for five figure sums.

The herd’s offspring are 100 per cent sired by artificial insemination with bulls such as Trueman Idol, Objat, Ampertaine Elgin, Plumtree Fantastic, Cerberus and Fieldson Alfy to name a few. Bulls are researched to match with cows for the ideal pairing to produce clean, classy, long and easy fleshing cattle to meet both pedigree and commercial markets.

When prioritising needs for the herd, number one would have to be health of the animals and therefore Johnstown is a registered member of the Biobest HiHealth Scheme. Annual testing is carried out for numerous diseases such as IBR, BVD, Johnes and Neospora.

Preventative measures are per-formed by vaccinating against IBR, BVD and LEPTO.

The herd received a multitude of awards in the NILCC Pedigree Herds of 2020 and was named as Best Extra Small Herd, Best Heifer born in 2020 with Johnstown Rose and third in the Cow and Calf at Foot with Claragh Gaspara and Johnstown Rolex.