Farmers 'lose thousands' as fair classes cancelled due to bluetongue

Farmers, some of who have spent thousands getting their cattle ready to exhibit at this year's Royal Ulster Winter Fair, are "gutted" that all bovine classes at the event have been cancelled.

On Monday, the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society (RUAS) said they were "disappointed" about the decision, which had been taken due to ongoing "risk and uncertainty" over bluetongue virus in Northern Ireland.

Other elements of the show will proceeds as planned in Lisburn's Eikon Exhibition Centre on Thursday.

The Department of Agriculture, Environment Rural Affairs (Daera) said the fact the RUAS had cancelled the fair shows "how seriously the agri-food sector" is treating the need to stop the spread.

'Family thing'

Leanne Paul, who along with her husband Alan owns a dairy farm outside Maghera, has been exhibiting animals at the winter show for the last six years.

She said it is a chance not only to increase the value of your herd's offspring, but a pursuit of passion as well.

"You go to the fair and show your cattle for a few reasons," said Ms Paul.

"One, because it's the shop window and it's good for business, but we also go because we love it."

She said it is a family experience that her children look forward to.

"Every day for the last few weeks when my children have been getting out of school, they've been asking, 'Are we still going to the fair?'.

"I know when they ask today and I have to tell them the truth, there's going to be tears," she said.

'Thousands of pounds'

The Paul family had planned to take 19 cattle to the winter fair later this week,15 of which had already been washed, groomed and prepared for the exhibition.

Ms Paul explained it came at a considerable cost.

"We had to pay for fitters to be on the farm for three days, which included the cost of their flights. Then we lost all our accommodation money, which was for 19 animals and, I think, 12 people. Then there was the price of feed and all of the rest of it.

"I'm absolutely gutted. Everyone is, 99 per-cent of people will probably still go, but anyone who had their cattle ready for showing will be disappointed."

At previous fairs, the Paul family have picked up a number of accolades including, senior heifer in milk, intermediate champion and interbreed champion in 2019.

They also have won Ayrshire champion junior heifer in 2021, red an white champion of show 2024, senior heifer in milk in 2023 and premier breeder and exhibitor 2022, 2023 & 2024.

The number of cattle entered in this year's fair was the "highest we've had in a very long time", said President of Holstein UK and Winter Fair committee member Mark Logan.

"Normally the cattle numbers would sort of get into about 150... but this year we got about 180, which would have really had the buildings just that capacity."

Mr Logan said the event is "the premier dairy event in Northern Ireland, if not the island of Ireland", and "attracts visitors right across Ireland and the UK and even further afield, so it really is the big dairy farming event of the year."

He added: "There will be certainly an amount of work that has gone on that unfortunately now is for nothing."

What is bluetongue virus?

Bluetongue virus affects cattle, goats, sheep, deer and camelids such as llamas and alpacas.

It can cause ulcers or sores around the animal's mouth and face, difficulties swallowing and breathing, fever and lameness, foetal deformities and stillbirths.

It is a notifiable disease so anyone suspecting their animals may have it must report it to a vet, local divisional veterinary office or to Daera directly.

The latest outbreak began in the Netherlands in 2023, where tens of thousands of sheep died, and midges blown over from the continent began infecting livestock in the south-east of England too.

But the impact of BTV-3 seems to vary considerably across different regions, with some animals showing little sign of infection and managing to recover.