Balmoral Show 2024: ​This was just the boost our farming and food sector really needed

​Poor prices, even more challenging weather conditions and the uncertainty regarding the role that farming will play to mitigate the impact of climate change have all combined to put all our rural sectors into a genuine tail spin.

As the month of May beckoned, farmers were searching for a boost. And boy, Balmoral Show delivered in spades where the matter is concerned.

Let’s be honest: one event in its own right will not sort out the challenges currently facing most farming businesses across Northern Ireland.

The show was a four-day shop window for the best of NI farming

However, by common consent, Balmoral Show 2024 has helped to significantly lift the gloom that has been engulfing the local economy’s largest sector for quite some time.

Record crowds enjoyed what has to have been the most successful Balmoral Show held in living memory.

The aforementioned statement is not an official comment from the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society. Rather it is a perspective volunteered by so many of the visitors coming to Balmoral Park on the outskirts of Lisburn over recent days.

Obviously, the good weather helped to draw in the crowds.

But Balmoral Show is a lot more than a brisk walk in the fresh air during the month of May.

The event, truly, represents a vital shop window for farming and food in Northern Ireland.

And to give the agricultural and processing sectors full credit, farmers and food companies do their utmost to project their respective industries in the best, possible light.

A case in point was the turnout of cattle. The Inter-Breed Dairy Championship was won by Mostragee Holsteins. The North Antrim-based herd is owned by father and son team: Tom and Mark Henry.

The winning cow – Mostragee Bomber Louise – calved for the fourth time in January. She is currently giving 64 litres of milk per day.

It’s hard to believe that one cow can produce enough milk in one day to fill a dairy shelf in most shops.

It’s estimated that more than 100,000 people attended the show over the four days of the event.

Even more encouraging is the fact that a growing proportion of this number hail from the Republic of Ireland.

Members of the general public, obviously, want to know more about the ways in which their food is produced.

Traditionally, the farming industry has been slow in identifying this opportunity.

Thankfully, this is changing. Agriculture in Northern Ireland has a great tale to tell. Our farmers produce food of the highest quality.

This is a story that has to be told: not just here but around the world.

And Balmoral Show plays a critically important role in making this happen.

Meanwhile, the summer beckons and the 2024 local farming show season will soon get under way.

Events kick-off with Lurgan and Ballymoney Shows: both events take place over the May 31-June 1 weekend.