Press Release - NBA Beef NI reflects enthusiasm of beef industry

March 7th, 2012

NBA Beef NI reflects enthusiasm of beef industry.

Visitors streamed through the gates of Dungannon Farmers Mart yesterday (Tuesday, March 6th) making the 2012 Beef NI event a huge success for the members of the National Beef Association (NBA) involved in organising it.

Around 2,000 people attended the event, gaining access to a mart packed with more than 100 trade stands. These included breed societies, commercial companies and educational organisations.

One of the attractions for the visitors were the guest speakers in the main ring, each attracting large audiences for their talks, which ranged from benchmarking to CAP reform. Cattle handling expert Miriam Parker, who travelled across from the mainland, also pulled in the crowds. She invited farmers to think about their crushes, races and handling facilities from the perspective of their cows, even donning special goggles to restrict their vision and make them see more like cattle.

Strong entries were also seen for the stockjudging competition, with the £100 prize money in the open section won by Jon Summerville. Another £100 went to Lee Beacom of Fivemiletown, as he was the under 25-year-old to collect the most points over the two pens of cattle judged.

Other prizes presented on the day include those for the best trade and breed society stands. Ken Fletcher, deputy editor of The Scottish Farmer and guest speaker at the event dinner the night before, judged the breed societies and gave the top prize to the NI Charolais Club. Hamish McBean, NBA Chairman and a beef farmer from the Highlands of Scotland, judged the commercial stands with his wife Debbie. They chose Dow AgroSciences as the best one.

Commenting on his visit to the event, Mr McBean said: “The event had a great buzz about it and it was great to see so many people excited about the beef industry – a reflection of how things have improved recently and the much needed rise in beef prices.”

Oisin Murnion, NBA NI Chairman, said: “The event went very, very positively and was bouncing with activity throughout the day. We were very pleased to invite the farming community there and see them make so much of it.

“The trade stands gave us very positive feedback, saying visitors were asking a lot of questions and were really interested in driving efficiencies and finding out more about services and technology.

“We also had very good input from the Department of Agriculture and CAFRE, which we were very pleased about, and also our fellow lobbying group the Ulster Farmers Union. The police were also very welcome to our event for the first time. And while the Minister of Agriculture wasn’t able to attend, we were delighted the Permanent Secretary was able to officially open the event in her place. And we had a nice surprise when the former Agriculture Minister turned up, showing she has retained an interest in agriculture and offering her support to the farming sector.”

The event was organised by the NBA NI Council and relied largely on volunteer staff. It built on a successful event held in 2010.

Full results:-
 Breed society stands 1. NI Charolais Club
     2. NI Commercial Cattle Exhibitors Club
     3. Aberdeen Angus Cattle Society

 Trade stands   1. Dow AgroSciences Ltd
     2. Ulster Farmers Union
     3. Joseph Morton Ltd

 Open stockjuding  1. Jon Sommerville  £100
     2. Kenneth Carruthers £75
     3. Michael Loughran £50
     4. Joan Beacom  £25

 Under 25s stockjudging 1. Lee Beacom  £100
     2. Zara Stubbs  £75
     3. David Simpson  £50
     4. Stephen McDonald £25 

For more information:-

Oisin Murnion NBA NI Chairman  02841 765082 07739 632048
Euan Emslie  NBA Event Organiser 01430 441870 07718 908523