ABP has announced a whopping €36,000 prize fund to reward top pedigree bulls across all beef breeds at a new bull calf championships at the 2025 Iverk Show.

It will be ABP's 13th year of supporting Iverk Show, Ireland's oldest agricultural event, which will return to Piltown, Co Kilkenny, on Saturday 23 August.

First held in 1826, the show remains a major event in the farming calendar, drawing over 25,000 visitors annually.

For the past 12 years, ABP, Aldi and the Irish Angus Cattle Society have hosted the Aldi/ABP Irish Angus all-Ireland bull calf championships at the show.

New format

With the Irish Angus Cattle Society and Aldi no longer sponsoring the event, this year's bull calf championships will take a new format.

It will see a significant evolution in the show's cattle programme with the expansion to all beef breeds, under the ‘Beef Bull of the Future Championships’, a new initiative from ABP that aims to recognise and reward excellence in pedigree beef breeding across all breeds.

Under this new format, the show will continue to offer an extended range of bull calf championships and will incorporate five new championships to the three existing Angus bull calf championships.

The new championships are two new Hereford bull calf championships, a Limousin bull calf championship and two new bull calf championships to accommodate all other beef breeds.

The culmination of the day will be a supreme bull calf championship being contested by the champion and reserve champion of each of the eight championships.

A spokesperson for ABP said: "With a €36,000 prize fund, the decision to open the competition to all breeds reflects the diversity of the Irish beef sector and the essential role each breed plays in a profitable and sustainable production system."

Research

"ABP's commitment to better breeding is built on a decade of research and results from its demonstration farm in Co Carlow, which celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2025.

"Findings from the farm show that calves born from genetically superior bulls can yield up to €500 more in carcase value. This evidence-based approach created ABP's Advantage Beef Programme, which sets minimum genetic standards for participating animals."

ABP's agri-sustainability manager Stephen Connolly added: "We are proud to support the Iverk Show again this year. By including all breeds in this year's ‘Beef Bull of the Future Championships’, it signals our recognition of each breed's strengths in Irish beef production. Breeding is central to improving carcase quality and this show is a fantastic platform to highlight that."

All bulls entered in this year's show must meet the minimum genetic merit criteria for carcase weight and conformation within the terminal index or dairy beef index. All bulls will be judged on their visual characteristics and breed traits to ensure the best bulls are crowned winners on the day.

The championships are supported by Certified Irish Angus and Irish Hereford Prime, which will be represented at the show. ABP suppliers will also benefit from a €500 voucher towards the purchase of the top prizewinners in selected Angus and Hereford classes, offering a real opportunity to invest in superior genetics.

"The ABP advantage team will be on hand on the day to provide insights to farmers on more sustainable practices and to support them in understanding the role that breeding can play on their family farms", the spokesperson for ABP concluded.