Northern Expo Dairy Show 2008
22/08/08

The Northern Expo Dairy Show, one of the best and most popular one-day events in the UK, returns for its 26th year on the evening of Friday 24th October 2008 within Borderway Mart, Carlisle. The show is open to all female animals registered with Holstein UK and there are classes to suit all ages from baby calves to senior cows.

Judging of Best Exhibitor Bred

MEGA-MOO LOTTO

This year the progressive organising committee at the helm of the show are embarking on a new and exciting venture namely the “Mega-Moo Lotto” to generate something new to the show. This is a competition giving anyone with an interest in dairy farming the opportunity to ‘win’ a dairy bred calf worth £3,000. Tickets are available from the Northern Expo Dairy Show committee at £50 per ticket however please do not be put off by this seemingly large fee as not only are there only 100 tickets available for this extravaganza but there will be another 9 prizes on offer all to the value of the initial stake. So in theory you have a 1 in 10 chance to win BIG! On introducing the “Mega-Moo Lotto” the committee have already received entries from noted herds including Absolute, Carhall, Feizor, Ingleview and Whispering Springs. The door is still wide open for top class entrants for “Mega-Moo Lotto” and will remain open on the night of the Northern Expo Dairy Show.
The class entrants for the “Mega-Moo Lotto” will not be judged together but will be paraded following the calf championship to build enthusiasm for the drawing of the £3,000 calf and for the ticket holders to see what is on offer. The draw will take place before the Northern Expo Grand Championship title is awarded by our 2008 Mr Ed Griffiths of the “Coachgate” herd in Yorkshire. The winning ticket holder will have the choice of the calves forward for “Mega-Moo Lotto” and the owners of the selected calf will take home £3,000.

Everyone is invited to get involved in this new and exciting competition and remember don’t delay as tickets are limited and you can only be in it to win it!!



NORTHERN EXPO DAIRY SHOW

For those of you who are not familiar with the Northern Expo Dairy Show it’s beginnings came with the decision to hold a club show in 1982 by members of the North West Holstein Breeders Club, then a fledgling club.

The 1982 show immediately enjoyed popularity, attracting a creditable 74 head of cattle from 21 exhibitors that year.

Ed Griffiths

THE JUDGE

This year the committee would like to welcome Mr Ed Griffiths of the “Coachgate” herd as their 2008 judge. Ed farms in partnership with his wife Jenny and his parents on their South Yorkshire Dairy Farm. The

Coachgate herd numbers 140 milking cows of which 99% are homebred, they calf all year round achieving a herd average of 9200ltrs.

In 2006 the Coachgate Herd won the best herd on inspection in the Yorkshire Holstein Club Herd competition.
Edward's previous judging appointments include the European Dairy Event, NISA All Ireland Dairy Cow Championship, United Counties, Royal Show Young Judges, Ayr County Show, Royal Welsh, and many other leading shows, calf shows and herd competitions in the North of England.

Edward and Jenny have three daughters who are all actively involved with Young Holstein Breeders and YFC activities.

Edward is looking forward to his first visit to the Northern Expo in October.

Over the last decade and more the show has witnessed continued development, which always welcomes new faces to enter as exhibitors. The quality and professionalism of the event has rapidly developed under the progressive show committee.

Northern Expo in its present form was born in 1996, welcoming entries from beyond the original club’s membership and attracting the very best Holsteins from as far apart as Doncaster, Aberdeen, Blackpool and the Scottish borders.

As Northern Expo hosts 25 classes and special awards and a Grand Champion prize of £500 up for grabs the show committee can only hope that breeders can deal with the movement regulations and with bio-security being kept at it’s highest level anticipates an impressive line of cattle to be forward from around thirty exhibitors.

Indeed the quality of cattle and popularity of the event have been such that Carrs Billington, The Farmers Guardian, Holstein UK and World Wide Sires UK Ltd are once again proud to be on board as the major show sponsors.

The evening kicks off with class one for calves to be born on or after 1st December 2007 – to be led by a handler aged under 16 years, class two for calves born between 1st August 2007 and 30th November 2007 and class three for Maiden heifers born between 1st April 2007 and 31st July 2007.

It is surely worth a mention that on introducing a calf section and an award for the champion calf some three years ago was an encouraging step in the right direction for the appeal of the younger Holstein enthusiasts, for this section of the show alone could attract up to forty entries. Following on after the calf championship is the in calf classes respectively for heifers in calf followed directly by the cow in calf class. “Mega-Moo Lotto” calf entrants will be paraded following the calf championship. Then as things start to warm up comes the turn of the in milk classes beginning with Class seven which is for in milk heifers (split between junior’s and senior’s). Next comes the Genetic Merit award, Junior Championship and Exhibitor Bred Junior Championship. Class eight sees the commencement of the cow in milk classes starting with Junior cow in milk (having calved twice), class nine, Intermediate cow in milk (having calved three times) followed by class ten, Senior cow in milk (having calved more than four times). Following these classes will be the Breeders Pair, Best Udder in show, Best Exhibitor Bred Animal and Best New Exhibitor (not to have shown at Northern Expo Dairy Show In the last five years).

Just before the grand finale the presentations and prizes will be awarded to the Premier Breeder (Breeder with most points in the show) and Premier Exhibitor (Exhibitor with most points in the show). Following these sought after awards will be the drawing of the exciting new “Mega-Moo Lotto”. Next will be the moment everyone is waiting for as all the 1st and 2nd prize class winners grace the ring once again to what has been described in the past as a “breathtaking”atmosphere as the judge taps his Grand Champion, Reserve Champion and Honourable Mention of the 2008 Northern Expo Dairy Show.

Awards are then presented to the handlers of the Grand Champion and Reserve Grand Champion. Of particular interest surely to exhibitors is that this one day show awards prizes to tenth place with animals awarded the prestigious titles receiving £500 for the Grand Champion, £250 Reserve Champion £150 Honourable Mention and £150 to the Junior Champion.

The show is an evening event commencing at 6pm (with free entry to the show) in order to allow farmers and businesses to finish chores before attending. Refreshments will be available and a pay bar on site for the evening.

Entries are invited for this years show by contacting our secretary Jenni Wharton on 012228 792352/07752060406 or by email at jenni@brenjulin.plus.com. More information on the show and reports from previous years is available at www.holstein-expo.co.uk.

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