Main sponsors are top performers in their fields internationally
All six are successful at international level.
The Irish Holstein Friesian Association (IHFA) hosts the three days of events in association with AIB and the Department of Agriculture.
* AIB generates €4.9 billion of annual income and a €2.2bn operating profit principally in Ireland, Poland, Britain and the US.
They have a long association with sponsorship of Irish cattle breeding, back to the heyday of the RDS Spring Show.
The conference is also sponsored by Baileys, Dairymaster, Richard Keenan and Co, and Kerry Group.
* The Irish cow, and Ireland’s unique grass-based milk production, are central to Baileys place at number seven among top selling global premium spirit brands.
The company uses 275 million litres of fresh Irish milk annually to produce the 7.1 million 12-bottle cases sold each year. More than 2,300 glasses of Baileys are consumed every minute daily, making it the world’s number one selling liqueur brand.
For 25 years, the company has sponsored the Baileys champion cow competition at Virginia Show in Co Cavan. The silver jubilee competition was won last August by Lumville Danoise, shown by Co Meath breeders Earle Kelly and Richard Whelan (chairman, IHFA).
* Operating from its head office in Causeway, Co Kerry for 40 years, Dairymaster has become one of the world’s leading dairy farm equipment manufacturers. Its products include milking parlours, and a range of automated equipment for dairy farms, including scrapers and feeders.
* At its Co Carlow base, Richard Keenan and Co manufactures livestock feeding systems and provides nutritional support services to more than 20,000 farming customers around the globe.
The world’s second largest manufacturer of mixer wagons set up a nutritional consultancy division, Rumans, to help customers achieve the maximum benefits from Keenan equipment.
An €8 million investment in 2007 included the launch of the Keenan Hi-Fibre System, an animal feeding technology with massive worldwide sales potential.
Keenan employs 250, generating annual turnover of €50m, 80% from export activity.
* Since it opened its first dairy and ingredients plant in Listowel, Kerry Group has become a leader in global food ingredients and flavours markets, and a leading branded consumer foods processing and marketing organisation in selected EU markets.
Annual sales now exceed €4.5bn.
Headquartered in Tralee, the Group employs about 22,000 across Europe, North America, South America, Australia, New Zealand and Asia.
