YMA Pedigree All Star Awards

It gives me great pleasure to stand before you tonight to announce the candidate that the Irish Holstein Friesian Association has put forward for the Pedigree All-Star Award.

This year’s nominees are a truly outstanding group of young people who represented us as part of the B Team at the Holstein Young Breeders (HYB) Rally, organised by Holstein UK. Included in the team were Kevin Smith (Cork), Will Jones (Wexford), Hannah Greenan (Monaghan), Sarah Shannon (Cork) & Manus Murphy (Carlow).

For those who may not be familiar, the HYB Rally is one of the most prestigious youth dairy events in the UK calendar. Hosted annually by Holstein UK, it brings together young breeders from across the UK and Ireland to compete in Stock Judging and Field to Photo Competition. The field to photo competition involves the group being given an animal “out of the field” essentially, and from there they must clip, wash, show the animal and then take a professional photograph of it to the very best of their ability. It is a celebration of skill, teamwork, sportsmanship and dedication to the Holstein breed — and it represents the very best of our next generation.

And what a performance our B Team delivered.

Not only did they rise to the challenge — they excelled, proudly bringing home the title of Overall B Team Champions. An incredible achievement and a testament to their preparation, teamwork and determination.

To help them get to their success of the win overall, they secured:

2nd Place – B Team Washing 1st Place – B Team Showmanship 2nd Place – B Team Photography

This resulting in 1st Place B Team Overall.

These results reflect more than just competition placings. They highlight attention to detail, presentation skills, technical ability, creativity and, above all, teamwork. From preparing cattle to perfection, to demonstrating confidence and professionalism in the ring, to capturing the best angle of their animal through photography — they showcased the full range of talent that the Pedigree All-Star Award is designed to recognise.

They represented the Irish Holstein Friesian Association with pride, professionalism and passion. They supported one another, worked hard behind the scenes, and proved that success comes from unity as much as individual ability.

It is therefore with immense pride that we announce this exceptional Team as our nominees for the Pedigree All-Star Award. They have set a standard of excellence and expressed everything that youth development within our breed stands for.