The sunshine meter was topped up for Iniscarra Show
Jim O Leary of Iniscarra Show presenting the champion dairy to Georgie Hynes
Last week, we attended the Cork Holstein Friesian Club awards, sponsored by Dairygold Co-op, at the Vienna Woods Hotel. It is always one of the highlights of the year, which also includes a barbecue, and this year CHFC organised an extra-special surprise in the form of badly wanted rain, which came much to the delight of everyone attending, finally put an end to the drought and has gotten grass growing again.
Paul O’Connell, who is the farm succession manager at Dairygold Co-op, made a very important speech on the night discussing Pathways, which is the farm succession programme run by the dairy processor to assist suppliers in creating succession plans, all of which can be individually tailored, as each farm and family situation differs.
Paul highlighted that the average age of suppliers is 59 and succession planning is crucial for farms so that smooth transitions to the next generation can take place. It is one thing to breed a super herd of cows, but all that hard work can go in vain if there is no one to carry on the legacy.
Dairygold has been a fantastic supporter of CHFC for many years and it is great to see breeders recognised in the awards. Paul had a second crucial speech to make later in the week, as his son was getting married.
I would like to wish the bride and groom huge congratulations and sincerely hope Paul did not get his speeches mixed up, as I can imagine he would have raised many an eyebrow at the wedding if he went with his CHFC speech and discussed the importance of many years of breeding and the need to find a successor.
We were delighted to receive an award on the night, as Acclaim topped her category for a third year in a row.
CHFC is an extremely strong club, holding many events throughout the year, from field evenings and the awards night to the FBD National Dairy Show in Millstreet. This year, the club travelled to Italy to visit farms.
Cork breeders are also putting a very strong foot forward nationally. Denis O’Leary of the Clochrua herd in Blarney is one of this year’s IHFA Focus Farms and hosts an open day on September 3. Cork is also home to the highest-classified cow in Ireland, Eedy Doorman Fame EX97, owned and bred by the Helen family of the Eedy herd in Clonakilty.
Cedarmore Holsteins in Kanturk, owned by Bryan and John O’Connor, hosted the IHFA open day this year, which truly was a memorable and inspiring day. The O’Connors also won the junior cow section at this year’s Baileys.
Cork is also home to what is undoubtedly the top show cow in Ireland for 2026, owned by Paul Murphy and Emma Behan. Coolroehouse Abbott Ann is a cow that has dominated on each of her four outings.
As Paul O’Connell highlighted, succession is crucial and Cork YMA has also put in a mammoth effort this year, hosting field evenings, workshops and a very successful calf show. The young members’ group won the best team of handlers at the national finals, a member is national showmanship champion, and other members have had success in Australia and attended the HYB Rally in the UK. Rumour has it that two Cork members are on the team for Italy in October.
Not only is Cork home to great cows, but its members, both young and old, pack a big punch when it comes to having a passion for dairy cows.
Last Sunday, we attended Inniscarra Show, which really is a fantastic family day out and a great community event. This is our second year attending the show, as the committee has been trying hard to bolster cattle numbers, and great credit to them, as this year the cattle entries doubled.
It can be hard work keeping agricultural shows going and I think Inniscarra would certainly benefit further if the Irish Shows Association looked at the calendar and did its best to ensure Bantry Show does not clash with Inniscarra in the future. It seems like madness to have two agricultural shows in the same county on the same day.
Four heifers were clipped and prepared on the Saturday, giving Georgie some much-needed clipping practice. She clipped Sweet Dream and Kaluah for the Jersey calf class and also clipped her August-born heifer named Zia, which she used for clipping at the national finals. She also clipped a January-born heifer that we showed earlier in the season.
There were torrential, heavy showers on show morning, but it seems the Inniscarra Show committee topped up the sunshine meter, as all around the showgrounds lay black clouds, yet blue skies hovered over the show.
Clive Osborne stepped in at the last minute to judge the cattle classes, as the judge was not contactable and nowhere to be seen, but it’s fair to say Clive did a fantastic job on his judging debut.
Sweet Dream and Kaluah took first and second in the Jersey calf class with Aisling and Georgie. Zia then won the autumn-born Holstein heifer class, with Adeline winning the January-born Holstein heifer class, and Zia went on to be tapped out as overall dairy champion.
The beef classes were very well supported this year and there was also a packed ring for the young handlers’ class. The show committee always makes an effort to chat with all competitors afterwards to ensure everyone is happy and also takes on board any suggestions for the following year.
Inniscarra Show was due to close the curtains on our outdoor show season, but we now have one last show ahead of us due to a change in schedule.
As the rain finally arrives, I look back and wonder: where did the summer go? Time has absolutely flown by and schools are back.
Georgie has started secondary school. It is a big change for her, with an increased workload, earlier starts to get the bus and getting home later in the evening, but, like most other first-year students, she is taking it in her stride and adjusting fast.
The return of school also means the return of the autumn-calving season and, looking at how cows and heifers are progressing, the next week or two will be busy, with new life arriving on the farm and hopefully some nice heifer calves for next show season.
