The Northern Ireland Limousin club will hold their annual “Red Ladies” show and sale of heifers at Ballymena Mart, Co Antrim on Saturday 24 August. Thirty females have been entered for this year’s show and sale from some of the top Limousin herds in Northern Ireland.

The show will kick off at 10am with the sale commencing at 1pm. All stock are pre inspected on entry to the sale and all animals are elegible for export on the day of the sale.

Bernish Toplad sold for 16,000gns for Kieran McCrory at the last sale of Limousin bulls in Carlisle in May 2024.

The judge for this year’s sale is Stephanie Dick from the Stephick Herd, Stirling, Scotland. Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal Northern Ireland Limousin club chairman Kieran McCrory said “ We are really looking forward to this year’s sale with some exceptional heifers entered into the sale.”

Limousin stock from Northern Ireland have been consistently topping sales across the water in the UK for the last number of years and Northern Ireland genetics are now highly sought after by some of the UK’s top breeders. Well known Derry based breeder James McKay has two heifers entered for this year’s sale.

At the recent May 2024 Carlisle sale, Ampertaine Tornado, the presale-show senior champion sold for 22,000gns at that sale, one of three red ticket winners for the Ampertaine team from James McKay, Maghera, Co Derry. Born July 2022, Tornado is by the herd’s homebred and successful 35,000gns Carlisle supreme champion Ampertiane Majestic and out of Ampertaine Miranda, a daughter of the 45,000gns Ampertaine Jamboree, stock sire to the Ronick herd. Tyrone breeder Kieran McCrory also has two heifers entered for the sale. He also had a good Carlisle outing in May selling the last through the ring at 16,000gns which earlier had been tapped out intermediate and supreme champion.

Bernish Toplad was described by judge Henry Savage as oozing class and a real breeders bull.

The November 2022-born bull, was a further success for sire Foxhillfarm Ourbest and out of the herd’s well known cow Bernish Princessjuli, who was overall champion at the Northern Ireland Rising Stars show in 2022.