The 2026 Centenary Breeders Day will be held at Dermot McGeady’s Farm, Derry/Londonderry, NI
TULLYARDEN HERD OPEN DAY – Saturday 19th September.
The following itinerary will be confirmed in due course:
2:00pm – Welcome and Herd Walk Safety briefing, followed by guided walk.
2:45pm – Cattle Judging Discussion
3:00pm – Classification Scoring Linear Scoring Explained
3:15pm – Genomics and ICBF Star Ratings
4:00pm – Condition Scoring & Weight Band Tutorial with Dan Bull
4:30pm – Seated Panel Question and Answer Session
5:30pm – Lo & Slo Barbecue School at Brook Hall Estate & Gardens – Irish Moilie Beef tasting and discussion followed by a tour of Brook Hall Estate Walled David Gilliland on willow growing and alternative farming systems.
9:00pm – Barn Dance and a relaxed social evening
Guests will enjoy hearing from Prof. Gilliland OBE DSc. In 1856 the Brook Hall Estate became the home of the Gilliland Family. Prof. John Gilliland has spent his career developing innovative sustainable land management strategies over the past 30 years which he has developed and implemented at Brook Hall.
For too long beef production has been maligned in the press as being bad for the planet and bad for human health. John Gilliland will share his, and some of his colleagues’ work, on why beef production done well, can deliver both improved human and environmental health, while still driving farm profitability.
John Gilliland and his son David, are willow and livestock farmers, whose farm Brook Hall Estate, is both host for the event, and has been independently verified to be “Beyond” Net Zero, already. He is also the Professor of Practice in Agriculture and Sustainability at Queens University Belfast; Doctor of Science from the University of Ulster; chair of the Sustainable Farm Networks, Harper Adams University; and chair of the innovative, EIP-Agri funded, farmer led, carbon farming project, ARC Zero, www.arczeroni.org.
He has been an award winning farmer in Ireland; President of the Ulster Farmers Union; a Non Executive Director of the Scottish Rural College (SRUC); while at the same time, he has been a policy adviser for Devolved, National and European Governments on Biotechnology, Climate Change, Soil Health and Sustainability.
Alongside this, John chaired the writing of the N. Ireland Sustainable Land Management Strategy which led to the opening four years ago, of N. Ireland’s Soil Nutrient Health and LiDAR Scheme, which is a World first and an investment of £38m to baseline all fields, soil, trees and hedges across N. Ireland. This extraordinary scheme has already secured the applications from 93% of eligible farmers. https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/publications/soil nutrient-health-scheme-frequently-asked-questions.
Currently, John is a special advisor to the Agriculture Horticulture Development Board of the UK, and Quality Meat Scotland, where he is advising on their Environmental Baseline Pilot of 36,000ha across Great Britain. He was also pivotal in securing the Scottish Government’s decision to carry out a LiDAR survey over the whole of Scotland in 2025.
For more information on Brookhall Estate please click the link:https://brookhall.co.uk/?fbclid=IwVERTSAS8XfdleHRuA2FlbQIxMABzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAwzNTA2ODU1MzE3MjgAAR57UDao372FBdrQ3v0NtIQPgc9PuBZu-I0TWk_kagnkaPiUbEQ90Yn3JhSIaA_aem_KucTYstxDb9ExQ8zAgDzxg&sfnsn=scwspwa
For more information on Lo & Slow BBQ School please click the link: https://www.lo-slo.co.uk/?fbclid=IwVERTSAS8XcpleHRuA2FlbQIxMABzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAwzNTA2ODU1MzE3MjgAAR4yWN7cJ9DUkfV5VlEk6R5-3DLc-ywb2hp5KQNb79TPM5Knhlwn-Qdfms2aew_aem_7pPG_julH53HXzvLjtPngA&sfnsn=scwspwa
NOTE: Please feel free to ask questions throughout the day or send us your questions prior to the event!
Biosecurity Notice – Clean footwear required/foot wash supplied.
Thanks to host Dermot McGeady Tullyarden Herd of Irish Moiled Cattle, Professor David Gilliland OBE DSc of Brookhall Estate and Lo & Slo Barbecue School.
BOOKING ESSENTIAL
Finer details to follow.