A warm welcome in Virginia for Emerald Expo

The Irish show season for dairy cattle kicked off last weekend in Virginia, Co Cavan, for the Emerald Expo, writes Farming columnist Paula Hynes.

Georgie and Becky Hynes with champions Rarhard Choco Dream and Rathard Kasey at Emerald Expo

The Irish show season for dairy cattle kicked off last weekend in Virginia, Co Cavan, for the Emerald Expo. Pete had taken the girls there showing last year, and they had a really successful show, so we decided to enter a few again this year.

Although the show wasn’t on until Saturday, we left early on Thursday. Rathard Kasey was part of our team, and it was her first show as a milker, so we wanted to allow her ample time to settle in and relax. 

It is a five-hour drive for us, which can be a little tiring for the animals, especially when it is early in the year and they are not show-fit.

The facilities this year at Virginia were super, all the animals were stalled in the main shed so there was ample room, and it was nice and cosy for them at night which was good as there was a really hard frost on the Friday night. On arrival, the three heifers were washed and then fed in their stalls until they were dry. 

Richard Jones was prepping for us again, and he has become a huge part of the team. Georgie donned her clipping overalls and gave Richard a hand clipping them Thursday evening, so all that was left to be done on Friday was wash them, walk them and keep them well fed as it is crucial to get a good fill on them at shows. 

Along with Kasey, we had Georgie's Jersey maiden heifer Dream, who had been hugely successful for us as a calf last year. We also bought Ace, an August 2023-born heifer who was having her first outing.

As show day arrived, Georgie was first into the ring for the Junior Showmanship, where she finished in third place. Becky was next in for the Intermediates, finishing second to Will Jones, who went on to be a champion handler. Becky and Will are good mates and always love battling it out in the show ring together. 

With the showmanship out of the way, Ace was next into the showring; we knew she wouldn’t be quite where we wanted as she hadn’t put a good fill on. I think the long journey and being away from home confused her a little as she wasn’t sure whether to eat, drink or sleep over the two days so she looked empty in the ring, but at least she settled well on the halter, finishing fifth, she will have learned a lot from the experience and will improve greatly from the outing. 

Dream was the first of the Jerseys to be shown, taking the junior colourbreed championship, which we had won last year with Kasey.

Then the big moment arrived, Kasey was ready to walk into the ring for the Colourbreed heifer in milk, it was a big moment for us as she had been so successful as a calf and maiden heifer and also classified VG87 a few weeks previous. 

I was immensely proud seeing our homebred in the ring and she truly did look a million dollars and got plenty of onlookers chatting, with a red ribbon secured, she still had the Jersey cows to compete with in the championship and faced stiff competition as they had both won as milkers at Tullamore show in 2023. 

Judge David Booth from the UK lined up his championship contenders, and as the crowd clapped, he circled them a few times, taking one last look before tapping Kasey out as champion. 

Many people ringside had said she wouldn’t be beaten but that moment was special, she had delivered championships as a calf, again as an incalf heifer and now she had delivered a championship on her first outing as a milker. 

Hopefully, she will have a big year ahead of her, but we’ll take our time with her so she gets time to mature as well. She has a super daughter sired by Avonlea Chocochip, which Georgie will be showing this season as well.

Our friends, the Helens, also travelled up from Cork, and Jason won the Senior three-year-old cow in milk with Eedy Alchemy Barbie. The Hannons from Limerick had a very successful show. 

They own the Lisnalty herd and won the best group of three animals, along with many other successes, a great family to chat to at shows and in fairness to Paul Hannon, he got extra feed delivered to the show and was happy to share with anyone who was short or who needed something different to keep a cow eating. 

Philip Jones took the Junior championship with Hallow Sidekick Twizzle and also went on to take the overall supreme Holstein championship with his cow Hallow Solomon Twizzle 3

One of the standout things at Emerald Expo for me was the community spirit in the town, the show organizers were so welcoming. We had dinner downtown on a Thursday night in the Deerpark Inn. 

It was nice to grab a cow-free hour with some really nice food, and we got chatting with a lovely local couple who were also dining there, and they introduced us to so many friends who were out for a social drink. 

The show centre has a community-run cafe, and they were very kind to put on a lovely meal for all the exhibitors on the Friday evening. It was just relaxing to be in a room next to the cows, having a homely meal while chatting with friends and many of the show organizers. 

We grabbed soup and a sandwich in the show centre again on the Saturday evening before the long road home and some of the locals who run the cafe recognized Pete and the girls from their trip in 2023.

It was wonderful to chat with them, and they were delighted the girls had a very successful show again this year. Virginia certainly deserves a huge pat on the back as it is a wonderfully well-kept town full of very welcoming people.

Back home, all the heifers are happy after their trip, but it is full steam ahead now, prepping the rest of the show team as Bandon show is looming fast on Sunday,  May 19, closely followed by Midleton, Belgooly, Clonakilty and entries are already open for Cork Summer show as well. 

It’ll be an action-packed summer for us, and if you get a chance, be sure and visit one of the agricultural shows over the summer and say 'hello' if you see us. They are always great places to socialize and also see some farm animals up close.