Judges have been announced for livestock classes at this year's Balmoral Show.
The 152nd Balmoral Show, run in partnership with Ulster Bank, will take place from September 22-25, 2021.
As Northern Ireland’s largest agri-food event, the show attracts a high calibre of judges from across the UK and Ireland tasked with crowning the 2021 show champions.
Cattle class judges
With a full line-up of beef cattle classes, the difficult task of judging the Champion of Champions and Junior Championship falls to Scottish judge John R. Elliott.
Beef Interbreed Performance and Stock Judging classes will be judged by Paul Rainey from Kilrea, while Beef Young Handlers will be in the capable hands of Cornish judge Gayle Bersey. Scottish farmer and star of ‘This Farming Life’ Raymond Irvine, will be in charge of judging the Charolais classes.
In the Dairy section, Alan Timbrell from Gloucestershire will be tasked with judging both the Dairy Cattle and Dairy Young Handlers.
Equine classes
Michaela Bowling from Lancashire will judge the Hunters and Supreme Hunter Championship alongside Irish judge Conor Higgins.
Furthermore, the English judge will have her hands full also taking care of the Ladies Hunter Astride, Riding Horses and Ladies Side Saddle Balmoral Classic along with Philippa Scott, from Mayo.
Judges Peter Crafts from Lincolnshire and Maura Rooney from Westmeath will take the reins with the Performance Ridden Irish Draught and they be joined by Buckinghamshire Judge Lucinda Starling for the Registered Irish Draught Ridden.
Chris Ryan from Co. Limerick and Eric Smiley, who hails from Dorset, will take care of the Performance Horse Championships, a new class to the 2021 line-up.
Sheep, goats, pigs and poultry
In the fold, there will be a full complement of judges from across the province overseeing the shearing classes as they celebrate 60 years of Sheep shearing sponsored by Lister.
Judging the Goats section will be Nottinghamshire judge Martin Cox, while Yorkshire man Ron Fieldhouse will oversee the Pigs this year. Thomas Moody, from Co. Durham, will also be at the forefront of the poultry classes, while Lisbellaw judge Ann Orr will judge this year’s Trade Stands.
The full list of judges can be viewed on the Balmoral Show website.
