It is one of the biggest agri-food events on the island and this year’s Balmoral Show attracted an estimated 120,000 visitors regardless of whether the sun was shining or not.
Agriland caught up with visitors to the 2023 Balmoral Show – some visiting from only ten minutes up the road, others from as far afield as Cork while some made the journey down from the highlands in Scotland and the vast valleys of Wales.
Bustling trade stands; machinery, animals, local food producers and everything in between was on show in Balmoral – and not forgetting the funfair located by the EIKON shopping village.
This year’s Balmoral Show saw 3,000 animals taking to the show rings – the largest entry of animals ever recorded for the event.
There was plenty of excitement around when it came to the Tesco sponsored Commercial Cattle class, the Beef Interbreed Performance bulls and of course the Dairy Young Handlers’ classes.
The main arena boasted international show jumping classes with big names such as Ireland’s Anthony Condon and British Olympian Geoff Billington.
Although it was primarily equine based the main arena switched up horse power every few hours for a quad stunt show sponsored by Proparamedics.
Sheep shearing was also not ignored at Balmoral 2023 and was in full swing at the shearing pavilion with one of the highlights undoubtedly the final of the National Shearing Championship.
Young Farmers Club of Ulster
The cattle ring also doubled up throughout the day as a stage for the Young Farmers Club of Ulster (YFCU). They showcased their tractor driving expertise and athletic abilities in the YFCU machinery handling.
This consisted of several YFCU members clambering into John Deere’s, which for a few drivers seemed to have been the equivalent of jumping into a space ship as a few took quite a few minutes to operate the big green machine.
Once in the John Deere the young farmers navigated an obstacle course with some extra challenges, “parked” the tractor and then sprinted for their lives back to the start.
Charity at Balmoral
Agri-food business, ABP, marked 25 years at Balmoral Show by giving visitors to the agricultural show the chance to win its trade stand, which this year was an 21.6m x 15.2m multipurpose shed. All funds the draw raised were donated to the Rural Support’s Life Beyond programme.
ABP Group also hosted a mental health seminar by Rural Support during this year show.
Vets also highlighted during the seminar that they are on the frontline of agriculture’s response to the high stress levels currently impacting on farm families across Northern Ireland.