Northern Ireland HYB ready to compete in UK-wide competition

By Andrew Patton

THIS weekend (August 12-14) will see the return of the much-anticipated Holstein Young Breeders (HYB) Week-

end Rally.

The three-day event will see members from clubs from every corner of the UK come together and compete in a number of different competitions, as well as herd tours and team building activities.

Each year the event is hosted by a different club, with the North Eastern HYB club welcoming members to Durham for the 2022 event. The Weekend Rally has not taken place since 2019 due to the pandemic. Northern Ireland HYB last hosted the event in 2017.

Members will compete in stock judging and linear assessment competitions on Saturday, whilst Sunday sees the hotly contested ‘Field to Foto’ competition – which sees members in teams of five prepare a calf from “the field” right through to the show ring, clipping, washing and taking a professional photograph.

In 2019, the Northern Ireland club rose to the top of the ‘Field to Foto B Section’ event.

Each club puts forward two members in each age group for the national judging competitions. These two competitors are decided as a result of the qualifiers which were held earlier in the year, with the competitors’ top two scores from three events being taken for their total.

The judging events were kindly hosted by J & N McCann, Bangor, the Orr family, Ballymena, and the Fleming family, Seaforde, and were kindly sponsored by Lely Centre Eglish.

The linear assessment qualifier took place at the Wadsworth family farm, Lisburn.

There was a bumper turnout at the events this year, which saw some tough competition in order to acquire a place at the coveted National finals, which take place at Belaw Farming, Northallerton, on Saturday.

The qualifying team for the stock judging competition is:

Junior section – Max Watson, Coleraine, and David Hamilton, Bangor.

Intermediate section – James Patton, Carrowdore, and Harry Orr, Ballymena.

Senior Section – John McLean and Matthew McLean, Bushmills.

The linear assessment qualifiers for the junior section are Jack Orr, Ballymena, and Ben Reid, Drumbo, with Ryan McKnight, Drumbo, and Callum Reid, also Drumbo, representing the club in the intermediate section. Robert Stewart, Portaferry, and John McLean, Bushmills, qualified for the senior section.

“We have a great team of qualifying members heading across the water this weekend who we hope will stand a great chance of bringing home the silverware.

“It is very encouraging to see such a great turnout at the events this year and we must also thank all the parents who bring the young members to these qualifying heats, that make them so successful,” said club coordinator Andrew Patton, Newtownards,

“We are also indebted to Lely Centre Eglish for providing much-needed sponsorship for the events this year.”

All in all, there are 27 members representing the Northern Ireland club at the Weekend Rally and the club wishes its members all the best for the competitions. Keep an eye on the social media pages for all the results.