Paula Hynes: A truly great Yorkshire show

Irish Examiner

5 days ago

As the saying goes, there is no rest for the wicked, and life seems to be busier than ever. We mowed two fields for bales this week — one actually yielded better than it did for first cut, and the second was a surplus paddock, although I'm not sure how surplus it actually was, as with the blistering sunshine last week grass growth has dramatically slowed and our paddocks are burning up.
We saw afternoon temperatures reach 30C last week in the farm yard, but thankfully, the weather will be more showery this week.
We are sticking with the pink bale wrap theme for #WrapItPink, so the yard is packed with pink silage bales now. While grass growth is slow, the rate at which our maize crop is growing this year is superb.
The general rule of thumb is that maize needs to be knee high by the fourth of July, tassels should generally appear in August, and then it is a ripening process for the cobs, or what some might call sweet corn, and harvesting normally takes place from October onwards.
Cob fill is highly dependent on temperature, and ultimately, the feeding quality is determined by cob fill. Our maize was actually 7ft tall by late June, and cobs were developing by July 4.
Cobs should develop really well with the weather we are having, and the crop should be easily ready for harvesting in September.
An American visitor asked recently how we were able to grow such fantastic maize, and I informed him the technical side of producing such a good crop was planting the seed, and after that, it was pure luck, heat, rain, more heat and sunshine.
With Becky away last weekend, we attended Dunmanway show with Georgie and three young heifer, she won the January heifer class with an Ambrose-sired Adina heifer who is a daughter of the Unix heifer she won so much with in 2023, she also won the Jersey calf class with Kaira and got reserve champion jersey.
She placed second in the All Ireland EBI calf class, which was won by the Shannon family and there is always a bit of friendly rivalry there, in the last six years it has either been us or the Shannons who have won the class and the rivalry remain friendly, the Shannons gave our girls great encouragement when we began showing and often gave the girls a loan of a heifer to show.
Steven and Sarah are on the Cork YMA committee with Georgie and Becky. Stephen is the current chairperson and is always very encouraging to new members of the club. It is always nice to return a favour and it is great to see him taking our Bullseye Alanna heifer for the showmanship at YMA finals this year.
I have been lucky enough to attend some great shows in the UK with Georgie, UK Dairy Day, New Forrest, UK Dairy Expo, the All Britains, the Royal Highland, so it was bags packed on Monday evening as we headed to the Great Yorkshire Show, where Georgie was showing her Jersey heifer named Ravina.
The show was first held in 1838 and moved around Yorkshire until a permanent showground was secured in 1950 near Harrogate. The show has become the largest in England, and is only surpassed in Britain by the Royal Welsh and the Royal Highland. Queen Elizabeth II even attended the show in 2008 to help celebrate its 150 th birthday.
This year, 150,000 visitors were due to attend — including us.
We arrived at the show at 2pm, and after a quick look around, it was time to get Ravina clipped off and show ready, prepare the other two heifers Georgie was showing for Katherine Jenkinson, and then a little chill time before pitching our tent, which Katherine kindly brought to the show for us.
Tent pitching gave me flashbacks of building my own mud hut in Kenya; similar temperatures but mud hut construction was somewhat easier.
Tent building would not be our strongest attribute, and we were far from auditioning for the Girl Guides, but thankfully winds were low and we didn't blow away that night. A 5am start to get the heifers washed and dried so Georgie could topline them and be ready for the show ring at 9.30am.
Ravina placed second, adding another prestigious prize card and rosette to Georgie's collection. Later that day, she was approached by other breeders to compete in the interbreed group of five with Ravina the following day, and she was delighted to be part of the group representing the Jersey breed.
Another 5am start with showing starting again at 9.30am, so it was a busy start washing and getting the straw beds cleaned before getting Ravina prepared for the ring, while also getting another heifer ready for the showmanship.
Alison and Hannah Shepard of Darrison Holsteins kindly offered Georgie the use of one of their heifers for the class. Boots shined, hair neat and tidy, Georgie in her HYB show whites headed into the ring for the Junior Showmanship which was being judged by Ben Yates.
She knew she would have to deliver showmanship perfection to have a chance at winning the class, and she kept ice cool and delivered to be pulled in first place and remain there to win the class.
Once out of the ring, it was a quick change into her jersey show uniform, and with Ravina waiting, she jumped on the halter for the interbreed group of fives, where the group finished in third place.
Pete was home alone farming as Becky was also attending the IHFA open day at Greenans in Monaghan, where she was gaining more experience at stock judging.
With all these adventures, the girls are constantly gaining new experience. Georgie has been lucky enough to attend some of the very best shows in the UK, learnt to constantly show different heifers, compete under pressure and make valuable memories.
A neighbour of mine recently said to me to make the most of life. Sometimes, I wish we weren't so busy, but our adventures help us to make memories that will last a lifetime. We departed Yorkshire knowing indeed they are home to one of the greatest agricultural shows.
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