County Londonderry farmer wins UFU spring barley competition

​Second place this year was awarded to Mark McCollum from UFU North East Derry group, and scooping up a respectable third place was Leslie Dunn from UFU North Tyrone group.

The county winners were:

Antrim – Sam Agnew, Ballyclare

Armagh – Kenneth and Philip Hill, North West Armagh

Down – Frankie McCracken, Ards

Londonderry – Mark McCollum, North East Derry

Tyrone – Leslie Dunn, North Tyrone

Speaking on behalf of the judges Robin Bolton, CAFRE Senior Crops Development Adviser said: “It has been a difficult year with a lot of issues posed by the weather which adds to the challenge of growing good crops and once again all growers who got fields through to the final deserve credit and the quality of all the entries posed a challenge for judging. The winning fields are a credit to the ability of local growers to produce such high potential crops in a difficult season and I hope the weather for harvest improves so that the potential of these crops can be fully realised in a successful harvest. Once again I would like to thank the UFU for inviting me to judge and for all the hard work that goes into organising this competition.”

UFU deputy president John McLenaghan said: “I would like to extend my congratulations to all finalists and thank all those who entered this year’s competition. The UFU cereals competition recognises the talent of cereal growers in Northern Ireland. I would also like to thank all those who volunteered their time from group, county and Northern Ireland final level to judge a large number of entries across the country.”

The awards for the winter barley, oats, winter wheat and spring barley cereal competition categories will be officially presented at the 2023 UFU and sponsors cereals competition awards and lunch planned for later this year.