John Henning and his wife Ann own the Drumcorn herd of pedigree Aberdeen Angus cattle. They will be exhibiting at Balmoral Show 2023 this week.
The couple farm on the outskirts of Moira in Co. Down.
This year’s Balmoral Show represents the 29th consecutive occasion on which Drumcorn herd members will compete at the event.
Over the years John and Ann have amassed a total of 160 Balmoral entries. They have won numerous breed classes and have exhibited the reserve breed champion on seven occasions.
“But we have yet to bring home the Aberdeen Angus championship,” John confirmed to Agriland.
“But who knows? Perhaps 2023 will be our year.”
Aberdeen Angus herd
The Drumcorn name has a joint heritage. Back in the day, Ann’s father had owned the Drumlister Angus herd.
John, however, has a dairying heritage. His family have been closely associated the Cornagrally Holstein herd for many years.
“We started up our own Aberdeen Angus business back in 1992 and felt it would be appropriate to reflect our respective heritages when it came to settling on an appropriate herd prefix,” he explained.
The Drumcorn herd currently comprises 12 cows, one stockbull and followers. The Hennings farm over 60ac. Ground not needed for the cattle is sown out in winter barley.
Balmoral Show holds many fond memories for the couple.
“Yes, it is the most prestigious show of the year in Northern Ireland,” John explained.
“It marks the start of the show season. But the event is also a genuine focal point, providing friends, who might not have seen each other for months, or even year, to meet up for an overdue chat.”
Balmoral Show accolades
Rosettes won at Balmoral Show put real strength to the commercial value of the animals to which they are attached.
“When we started out, the objective was to exhibit our animals at as many shows as possible,” John commented.
In the past, we have won inter-breed titles at the likes of Limavady, Newry, Armagh and Antrim shows. Today, we exhibit at Balmoral only.
“Our focus now is to drive both quality and efficiency within the business. All the stock are BreedPlan recorded, with maximising the animal health status of the herd an absolute priority.
“All the cows calve within a two-month window. Our aim is to get this time period reduced still further,” he added.
One of the most recent management decisions taken by the Hennings was to paddock-graze all the yearling bulls.
“The farm is divided up over four sites,” John continued.
“As a result we can put the bulls out into an area, where they are isolated from all other cattle.
“We currently sell all our breeding bulls at grass. And the response from customers has been very positive.”
Apart from the main stockbull, all the other animals in the herd are home bred.
A total of 3,000 animals have been entered for Balmoral Show 2023 with 550 trade stands also featuring at the event.
This will be the 154th annual Balmoral Show, the 10th to be held at Balmoral Park.