Cattle return to Northern Ireland's main dairy show after bluetongue ban
The Royal Ulster Winter Fair will take place on 10 December 2026, with livestock returning after the 2025 competitions were cancelled over bluetongue restrictions. Danske Bank says dairy farmers are only just breaking even.
The Royal Ulster Winter Fair, regarded as the most important annual dairy exhibition on the island of Ireland, will be held on 10 December at the Eikon Centre in Northern Ireland. The event marks its 40th anniversary. In 2025 all livestock competitions were cancelled because of restrictions linked to bluetongue, a viral disease affecting cattle and sheep, but this year animals will be back.
David Cunningham, president of the organiser, the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society (RUAS), said at the 2026 launch that everything is back to normal and a large turnout of stock is expected. Leading dairy breeders compete for awards and prize money at the show, and members of the Irish Holstein Friesian Breeders Association (IHFA) have been particularly successful there.
Replacement competition
Because of the 2025 restrictions, RUAS and Danske Bank jointly held an On-Farm Challenge in January this year. Judge Alan Timbrell from Gloucestershire travelled about 1,200 miles to find the best dairy cows that had originally been entered for the 2025 fair.
The Inter-Breed Championship went to the Holstein cow Hilltara Lambda Doreen, owned by Sam and John McCormick, who farm on the outskirts of Bangor in Co Down. The reserve title went to the Fleming family's Jersey cow Potterswalls Casino Lady, from Seaforde, also in Co Down.
Economics of milk production
At the launch, Rodney Brown, head of agriculture at Danske Bank, said the dairy sector remains a driving force across farming, with dairy farmers generally the first to adopt new technologies, such as GPS fertiliser spreading systems. This is raising efficiency, and the trend is gathering momentum.
On current economics, he said farmers are just about breaking even. He cited the challenging state of world dairy markets and calf prices that remain buoyant. With all input costs counted, the sector can pay its bills but no more, and as a result investment in the milk industry has slowed somewhat in recent months.
