Following the roaring success of the 2020 National Hereford virtual show which received in excess of 200 photographic entries, the format returns this year in place of the usual Tenbury-based National Hereford Show.

The show is open to UK breeders of Hereford cattle registered in the horned section of the herd book to showcase their cattle. Entries are free and exhibitors must be paid-up members of the National Hereford Club.

Entries open at 9am on Monday 5 July and close at 7pm on Friday 30 July via the Cloud Lines Shows online entry platform. No late entries will be accepted and it is advised the rules and entry guide are examined before using the Cloud Lines software to submit entries.

This year’s championships will once again be kindly sponsored by Moocall and Manor Farm Feeds, with the winner of the female championship to receive a Moocall calving sensor, while £150 Manor Farm Feeds voucher is available to the champion male.

Visit the National Hereford Club’s website for more information or contact National Hereford Clun entries secretary Sarah Cowle at s.cowle@hotmail.co.uk or club secretary Sarah Cook on alcroftcattle@hotmail.co.uk.

Moralee 1 Rebel Kicks KS R12 from T and D Harrison

Moralee 1 Rebel Kicks KS R12 from Tom and Di Harrison, Mickley, Northumberland impressed at the Royal Highland Showcase, an exhibitors-only show in place of the usual Ingliston fixture. Dubbed the ‘ringside favourite’, it was tapped out as native interbreed champion, the highest accolade it could achieve due to the event’s format.

Born in April 2018, Rebel Kicks is no stranger to the limelight having won the interbreed junior bull championship at the Royal Welsh Show in 2019. By Danish-bred SMH King Size 87K, the 2019 sire of the year, it is out of Romany 1 Dawn D1 M6 and was awarded poll bull of the year and joint bull of the year in 2019. Semen from the bull is available for private purchase.

Tasked with judging, Abbie Anderson of Panmure Herefords, Arbirlot, Tayside commended the bull for its locomotion and balance, having also named it her senior male and male champion.

Moralee 1 Pippa KS S11 from T and D Harrison

Moralee 1 Pippa KS S11 also performed for owners and breeders Tom and Di Harrison and was named reserve breed champion, having already taken female and senior female champion earlier that day and made up one half of the reserve champion native pair alongside Rebel Kicks.

April 2019-born, it is yet another by the prolific SMH King Size 87K which does so well for the Northumberland-based breeders. It is out of Coley 1 Pippa 356 which stood breed champion at the Royal Highland in 2017, a daughter of Australian sire, Days Calibre G74 daughter.

Reserve female and leading the junior female class was 13 month Harveybros 1 Crocus Tiara from father and daughter team George and Sophie Harvey, Balfron, Glasgow. From the family’s renowned Crocus family, it is by Normanton 1 Laertes, which stood interbreed champion at the Highland in 2016. This heifer is a three-quarter sister to Harveybros 1 Crocus Rose which was champion at the National Poll Show in 2019 before being named reserve poll female of the year.

Harveybros 1 Crocus Tiara

Second place in the junior female class was Moralee 1 Kylie KS T29, another from Tom and Di Harrison. A King Size daughter, it is out of Moralee 1 Kylie, which is out of the Harrisons’ original Kylie female, bred from the Ishbel family, known so well at the Wilsons’ Romany herd. Kylie KS T29 is a full sister to Kylie KS S11 which was overall champion at the Christmas calf show at Shrewsbury in 2019, and junior champion at the National Poll Show in the same year.

Competing solely against stable-mate Moralee 1 Pippa KS S11 in the senior female class, Moralee 1 Mink KR S4 took second place. October 2018-born, it is by Cornriggs 1 Knight Rider, a son of the Canadian influenced bull Spurstow 1 Victor, and carries New Zealand blood on its maternal side. Its dam is Moralee 1 Mink 2^nd, by Romany 1 Lawbreaker RE L23 and out of Romany 1 Mink D1 H48.

From H Whittaker who has taken three breed championships out of the last five at Royal Highland shows, Coley 1 Teddy was reserve male, and lead a very strong class of junior bulls. March 2020-born, this young sire carries Danish blood on both sides of its pedigree, being by Moeskaer Vegas 1451 and out of Solbakkens Marrigold.

Standing in second place to Whittaker’s bull was Dendor 1 Tecwyn, another from Tom and Di Harrison, but bred by DE, ED and AL Jones, Caersws, Powys. March 2020-born, it is by Dendor 1 Nairobi which stood champion at the 2018 National Poll Show and out of Dendor 1 Anna Mary 16^th.

Results

(Judge: A Anderson, Tayside)

Supreme, male and senior male champion, T and D Harrison, Moralee 1 Rebel Kicks KS R12; reserve, female and senior female champion, T and D Harrison, Moralee 1 Pippa KS S11.

Res male and junior male, H Whittaker, Coley 1 Teddy; res junior male, T and D Harrison, Dendor 1 Tecwyn.

Res fem and junior fem, G and S Harvey, Harveybros 1 Crocus Tiara; res junior fem, Moralee 1 Kylie KR T29.

The National Hereford Show held at Tenbury Countryside Show has been cancelled for the second consecutive year.

A show purely for horned Herefords, last year saw a very successful online show in place of the usual event, with more than 200 photographic entries from society members from across the UK.

Hereford Cattle Society and the National Hereford Club look forward to returning to Tenbury in 2022.

Entries are now invited for the Royal Highland Showcase 2021 which this year will take a different format, being a competitor-only event, to be streamed online.

Although a seven day event, the Hereford cattle will be judged on Monday 14 June. Competitors will be able to enter the showground either the night before or the morning of the judging, and should then leave that day.

Without an interbreed this year, the native championship will also be held on Monday 14 June, with this title being the highest accolade up for grabs for Hereford breeders at the event.

There will also be a native young handlers competition that day, split into two classes; 12-14 years of age on the day of the show
and 15-16 years of age on the day of the show.

You can view the livestock schedule here.

Accommodation is available in local hotels at special rates and a limited number of caravan spots can be purchased to stay on-site. If you would like further information on this please contact rsvp@rhass.org.uk.

All competitions are open to exhibitors from the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland subject to the current Scottish Government guidance.

Having also won the large herd category, Balbuthie-based JA Cameron and son’s Baldinnie herd has been announced as the overall winner of the Scottish Hereford Breeders’ Association’s herd competition.

Pete and Nicky Brown, Isle of Arran, judged the competition and said it was evident the Camerons’ enthusiasm for the Hereford breed is as strong as ever.

Pete said: “The cows were big and, at the same time, of a consistent type throughout. There were all in good condition, healthy and mobile and we were particularly impressed with the spring-born calves, both bulls and heifers. The autumn calving cows were well fleshed but not too fat. We saw a strong group of bulling heifers to calve around two and a half years of age.”

Heading up the small herd section was association secretary Margaret Galbraith’s Craigdhu herd, based in Sandilands. Only established in 2017, it was the smallest herd to be judged.

Nicky commented: “We saw a tremendous Romany-bred foundation cow in show condition and breeding consistently with a good 2019 bull calf, 2018 bulling heifer and 2017 recently first-calved daughter with a very nice bull calf.”

Second in the large herd competition was Jimmy Hodge of Fellowhills Herefords based near Berwick-upon-Tweed, and is another newly established herd. Third place was taken by JRB Wilson and son’s Romany herd, Kelso.

Peter Eccles, Tranent and his Rockness herd were placed second in the small herd section, followed by JM Cant and partners, Arbirlot and their Panmure herd.

Knockmountagh Chief 2 from William Andrews, Arranview Herefords, Auchincruive won the stock bull competition. Being nine and a half years old, Pete described it as a ‘big bull and strong boned’ bull ‘with a good top’ . He said it was ‘well-fleshed with an excellent temperament’.

Results

(Judge: P and N Brown, Isle of Arran)

Stock bull, 1st, William Andrews, Knockmountagh Chief 2; 2nd, Andrew and Serena Sykes, Kileekie Frank; 3rd, Peter Eccles, Moralee 1 Porteous.

Bull calf, 1st, JO Hodge, Fellowhills 1 Taliceson; 2nd, Margaret Galbraith, Craigdhu 1 MacDuff; 3rd, George and Sophie Harvey, Harveybros 1 Thomas the Tank.

Heifer calf, 1st, J A Cameron and son, Baldinnie 1 Kay 37th; 2nd, JRB Wilson and sons, Romany 1 Lucy N68 T26; 3rd, JM Cant and partners, Panmure 1 Plum.

Small herd, 1st, Margaret Galbraith, Craigdhu; 2nd, Peter Eccles, Rockness; 3rd, JM Cant and partners, Panmure.

Large herd, 1st, JA Cameron and son, Baldinnie, 2nd, JO Hodge, Fellowhills; 3rd, JRB Wilson and sons, Romany.

Overall herd, JA Cameron and son, Baldinnie.

Female champion, Pulham Pansy 15th from Philip and Laura Vincent, Norfolk

Pulham Pansy 15th from Philip and Laura Vincent, Norfolk was named female champion of the show. The Vincents’ heifer is no stranger to the National Hereford Show, having been junior female and reserve female champion in 2018 at the usual Tenbury Wells fixture.

It is out of Clipston Pansy R2, a female purchased from the Westways’ Clipston herd, which has had a heavy influence on the Vincents’ Pulham herd. The heifer is by Irish-bred Moyclare Malcolm, which has also had its own share of show success.

Judge Gary McKeirnan said: “Pulham Pansy 15th is a lovely sweet feminine heifer, which is well-marked with nice width. She has a good udder, lovely head and stands to attention.”

Male champion, Haven Lamborghini from EL Lewis and son, Herefordshire

Haven Lamborghini from EL Lewis and son, Herefordshire was a firm favourite among the bulls and was announced as male champion. This was a step-up from 2019 where the bull was awarded senior male champion at Tenbury Wells. It is out of Haven Splendour 25th and sired by Haven Cavalier, which was senior male champion at the National Hereford Show in 2010.

Judge Robert Clarke commented: “He is as long as a train, clean through his body and has a great presence about him.”

It was a clean sweep for the Vincents in the female section, with five year old cow, Pulham Dowager 2nd, gaining the reserve female championship title. By Canadian semen from SNS Generator 28X, it is out of Pulham Dowager 1st.

Reserve female champion, Pulham Dowager 2nd, from Philip and Laura Vincent

Philip and Laura Vincent had further success with their young Irish-bred stock bull Shiloh-Farm Elite selected as reserve male champion. Bred by Hugh Murray and his daughter Sarah, it was the Vincents’ champion when judging Longford Show, Ireland in 2018 before its subsequent purchase.

After sorting the cattle, judging panellists, Brent and Anna Fisher said: “The breeders should be really proud of their cattle. It is really heartening to see such great Herefords and it excites us as Hereford breeders to know there are many tremendous animals out there.”

Reserve male champion, Shiloh-Farm Elite, from Philip and Laura Vincent

A virtual show will be held in place of the National Hereford Show, previously scheduled for Saturday 1 August.

Classes are open to any member of the National Hereford Club to exhibit cattle registered with the Hereford Cattle Society, within the horned section of the herd book.

The online spectacle will be judged by Robert Clarke of the Shadwell Estate (England), Brent and Anna Fisher of the Silverstream Hereford Stud (New Zealand) and Gary McKiernan of Corlismore Herefords (Republic of Ireland). Class results will be announced on ‘show day’ – Saturday 1 August.

Class winners will then be put forward to the female and male championships, which are kindly sponsored by Moocall and Manor Farm Feeds.

The public will be able to have their say by voting for their male and female champions. These votes will make up 25 per cent of the final outcome, while the three judges’ placings will each contribute 25 per cent to the final result, which will be announced on Saturday 8 August.

Click here for the full rules, classes and details of how to enter. 

Entries open: Friday 19 June
Entries close: 7pm on Monday 20 July

Details on voting to follow.

If you would like to enter and are not a member, you can join here 

Church Preen Riddick won the 2019 National Hereford Show

Solpoll 1 Perfection was breed champion at the 2019 Devon County Show

After postponing the Devon County Show until late August, organisers have now cancelled the 125th anniversary show due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

A spokesperson from the show said: “Earlier in the year we had hoped our postponement to late August would have enabled us to hold our 125th show this year but the ongoing social distancing regulations and prognosis from the chief medical officer have indicated there is little likelihood of large gatherings being viable before the autumn. We appreciate this will be a great disappointment to many, as it is to us, but hope you understand our decision.”

The 125th Devon County Show is set to return to the Westpoint Centre, Exeter on 20-22 May 2021.