In a statement today (Thursday, October 13), the Irish Hereford Breed Society confirmed to Agriland that Ireland is set to host the 17th European Hereford Conference.
This was announced first at the 16th European Hereford Conference which took place in France earlier last week (October 3 – October 7).
The Irish Hereford delegates in attendance accepted the baton (pictured below) to host the conference, which will take place in 2026.
16th European Hereford Conference
The 16th conference included a full four-day schedule including a visit to the Sommet d’Élevage Livestock Show.
There were four Irish delegates in attendance at the conference. These were: Joe O’Connor, Irish Hereford Breed Society (IHBS) chairperson; Willie Branagan, IHBS council member; Louise Callan, IHBS secretary; and Larry Feeney, world Hereford secretary.
In total, there were 39 people in attendance at the Hereford conference from countries across the world including the UK; the US; New Zealand; Estonia; Denmark; Sweden; Germany; and Norway.
The conference began with a morning at the Sommet d’Élevage followed by the official opening of the Conference in the afternoon at the show.
The group were given a tour of the cattle by the Pascal Bastien (French association president) which finished at the Hereford stand with a presentation of the Hereford cattle on display.
National Hereford Championship
The big event for day two of the conference was the French National Hereford Championship. The three classes were: Hereford bulls, Hereford heifers, and Hereford cows with calves at foot.
The Overall Male Champion was a UK-bred bull, Romany 1 Popcorn, bred by Scotland’s Romany Herefords. The bull was sired by Barwise 1 Lancer, who previously won UK sire of the year and was produced by Carolyn Fletcher of Barwise Polled Herefords.
Carolyn is currently the president of the UK Hereford Society.
The judge on the day was PJ Budler, originally from South Africa but currently living in US. PJ is an international cattle judge and is CEO of Global Livestock Solutions.
Commenting on the breed, PJ said: “Hereford is the breed that has changed the face of cattle breeding around the world which is a good thing for consumers.”
Country reports
The breed representatives from each country relayed a report on the progress of the Hereford breed.
Some of the most interesting points outlined were:
- Average Hereford bull prices in the UK over 4000 guineas and the breed is beginning to adopt a Linear scoring programme in the UK;
- In Germany in 2021, the association celebrated its 30-year anniversary. The German Hereford breed society is currently working on a genomic evaluation programme;
- In the US, over 76,600 pedigrees were registered last year. The country will host the World Hereford Conference in 2025;
- In Norway, 90% of the breed are polled. Herefords have shown to have the fewest stillbirths and highest survival rates until weaning of all breeds in Norway. The Norweigans have developed a breeding programme where stock are evaluated for conformation, morphology of udders, hooves, legs, breeding values, temperament, health and fertility;
- In Sweden, the breed is the second-largest breed in the Swedish Beef Control Programme, after Charolais, with 3,200 calves;
- In Estonia, the most popular artificial insemination (AI) bull in 2021 and 2022 was Fisher 1 Rancher. Estonia hopes to import new genetics and increase the use of AI while increasing consumer awareness of beef into the future.
PJ Budler closed the afternoon by making a presentation titled ‘Global Hereford Challenges and Opportunities’.
International Gala Evening
The delegates attended the International Gala evening on Wednesday (October 12), alongside 400 other international visitors, which illustrated a presentation of over 40 French breeds of sheep, cattle and horses.
The evening concluded with a reception in the show ring and a performance by a traditional French band and some traditional Mongolian music also.
The conference part of the event involved talks from three speakers including Jean Denaux, who was described by the Irish Hereford Breed Society as being “instrumental in the start-up of Irish Hereford Prime 25 years ago”.
Also speaking at the conference was Didier Deleau, a specialist of grass production who gave an overview of grass production and grazing management in France.
He outlined that grass production is proving to be “instrumental” in the fight against climate change and said that research has shown “more grassland on French farms is helping reduce the carbon footprint”.
Didier concluded that Herefords are a breed with a future that meets breeders’ demands, consumer demands and society’s expectations.
The third and final speaker was Sylvie Brunel, a geographer, economist and writer. She made a presentation on the issues and barriers facing farmers globally in terms of climate change, but concluded that breeding animals is beneficial for the world population, vital for securing food for the growing population.
She also said that the breed “fits the solution perfectly given they are docile, fertile, rustic and have good maternal traits”.
Before the conference officially ended, Pascal Bastien handed over the European Conference Baton to Ireland who will host the next European Hereford Conference in 2026, as previously mentioned. The baton can be seen below.
This is a tradition that began in 1997 by the Estonians. Ireland will host the 17th European Hereford Conference in August 2026.
Concluding, the Irish Hereford Breed Society expressed its thanks to the French Hereford Association for hosting the 16th European Hereford Conference and cave a special mention of thanks to their translator ‘Chloe’ for being “more than patient”.