Northern Ireland Holstein Young Breeders gear up for linear event

It has been good to see very encouraging numbers in attendance.

Each year, members compete to gain a place at the National finals in both stock judging and the linear assessment competitions.

This year, the National final for both events will take place at Belaw Farming, Northallerton, England, on 13 August as part of the annual Weekend Rally.

This is organised and ran by the host club, North East HYB, as well as Holstein UK.

NI HYB members have competed at three stock judging qualifiers this year, generously sponsored by Lely Centre Eglish, at Simlahill, Ballyportery and Potterswalls herds.

Full results, along with the qualifying team, will be released and published in the coming weeks.

The linear assessment competition is a very useful tool, teaching members how to evaluate cows and to score them on individual traits.

It is, indeed, the same scale which classifiers use when type classification scoring.

Two members will qualify for the national linear finals in each of the three age categories, junior, intermediate and senior.

The Wadsworth family’s Mourneview Holsteins, 90 Glenavy Road, Lisburn, Co. Antrim, BT28 3UX, is the venue for our linear assessment qualifier and will take place on Thursday 16 June at 7.30pm.

The 180-cow Mourneview herd is very much a family affair, with Sam and wife Karen, along with Sam’s parents Gary and Doreen, all overseeing the day to day running of the farm.

With a rolling annual average of 9800kgs of milk per cow at 4.54% fat and 3.32% protein, the herd is built on solid cow families such as Squaw, Alana and Petrelle.

Recently Sam has introduced some new bloodlines to the herd, two of which include Neoma and Melody families from the Woodmarsh herd.

Members will take expert coaching on the night from Holstein UK classifier Lynden Bustard.

Lynden, who needs little introduction to any Holstein enthusiast in the country, has been classifying cows for many years and has taken on many prestigious judging roles around the globe.

It is sure to be an informative night and members who wish to be in with a chance of qualifying for the national linear competition must attend the event, on 16 June, as it will be the only linear qualifying event of the season.

For more information, please contact one of the HYB coordinators: Andrew Patton, Newtownards, 07789285272 or Jessica Hall, Nutts Corner, 07910355042, or check out the Northern Ireland HYB social media pages for full event details.