Dairy Shorthorn Ayrshire Jersey Holstein Dairy Interbreed Dairy Young Handlers Competition

DAIRY CATTLE Entry Fees: RUAS Member £17.00, Non Member £20.00 Stalling Fee [per stall]: RUAS Member £37.00, Non Member £42.00 The Dairy Section will again take place in two judging rings one for the Holsteins and the other for Dairy Shorthorn, Ayrshire and Jersey. METHOD OF ACCEPTING ENTRIES Due to heavy demand for stalling accommodation, exhibitors will be limited to booking a maximum number of 8 stalls for beef cattle. Should exhibitors also have entries in the dairy section, the overall maximum will be 10 stalls (beef/dairy). Exhibitors are not permitted to transfer stalls that they had originally booked, but no longer require, to another exhibitor. Exhibitors must book the number of stalls which they wish to use during the Show and such stall reservations and stalling fee (non-refundable) must be received by Wednesday 20th March. If at this date more stalls are booked than the available capacity, exhibitors will be advised of any necessary reduction in stalls and only in such instances will a refund be made of stalling fees. Immediately following the above closing date, exhibitors should enter the of details of animals online no later than Wednesday, 17 April. At the final closing date exhibitors may enter more animals than the number of stalls allocated but may only bring to the Show the number of animals equivalent to the number of stalls allocated. It is hoped that this method of entry will give maximum flexibility to exhibitors in selecting dairy cattle to be exhibited at the Show. The Society has a right to cut pens if required. MILK RECORDS in respect of production classes must be authenticated by the body or organisation which supervised the recordings and the certificates must accompany your entry. IMPORTANT NOTE: Procedures for movement of cattle are listed in the Show Guidance for exhibitors. A copy can be downloaded from the DAERA website. Please also see rules and regulations at the back of the schedule. Only animals free from disease restrictions, including Tuberculosis, Brucellosis, Bluetongue and Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (herd or individual animal restrictions) may be permitted to move to a Show. Movement to the Show and Testing of Animals: - Only animals free from disease restrictions, including Tuberculosis, Brucellosis, BVD and Bluetongue (herd or individual animal restrictions) may be permitted to the Show. Pre-movement testing for Bovine Brucellosis is no longer required for movement to shows. Testing for Bovine Viral Diarrhoea is required. To minimize the risk of other livestock, exhibitors are encouraged to have Show animals tested for Tuberculosis by their Private Veterinary Practitioner in the 30 days beforehand. To minimise the risk to their own herd, exhibitors are encouraged to quarantine show animals and have them tested for Tuberculosis by their Private Veterinary Practitioner at least 42 days after their last appearance at a show and before re-integration to the main herd. BVD Regulations Following progress in BVD eradication, and the growing awareness of animal health export requirements, RUAS have decided to increase BVD animal health status requirements for Northern Ireland herds for entry into Balmoral Show 2024. The main reasons for this decision are to promote animal health and continue to be an all-inclusive event. (ROI herds have these standards certified on entry through Intra Community Health Certification). To avoid the additional expenses to Northern Ireland exhibitors of formal certification, RUAS have asked DAERA for assistance to assess and screen the Northern Ireland exhibitors for eligibility. To satisfy the requirements of higher BVD health standards, RUAS are requesting that Northern Ireland herd exhibitors can satisfy that their herd meets the standards of a Low Risk BVD herd. This assessment will provide assurance to all exhibitors in respect of disease transmission. The Requirements for herd clearance are as follows. · Within 30 days of the Show all animals within the herd must have a known BVD negative status i.e., a status of BVDN or INDNEG. (Calves under 30 days of age are exempt). BVD inconclusive animals are not permitted. Any animal/s with the status BVDU (unknown) or no recorded status will need to be tested negative prior to the event. Note that imported animals may require testing if their BVD status cannot be validated. · The herd must not have had any BVD positive animals in the 18 months prior to the show. If a BVD animal has been detected the herd cannot achieve low risk status until 18 months after the removal of this animal. As testing can take time, potential exhibitors should review their own herd status as early as possible and to take remedial action as required. Herd keepers who are unsure of the BVD status of animals within their herd can check this by requesting an up-to-date herd list from their local DAERA Direct office with BVD statuses shown. This will allow you to check in advance if you need to have any animals BVD tested. A report produced by DAERA will be provided to the herd keeper, and these will determine If the herd is eligible for entry to the Balmoral Show 2024. If the herd is not eligible it will clearly define the steps necessary to be taken to qualify for entry. In nearly all cases herds will be able to undertake additional testing to secure eligibility, however as this testing can take time, potential exhibitors are recommended to act as soon as possible. When an eligible report is produced within 30 days of the date of the Show, DAERA will date stamp and endorse this report and forward it to the official Vet for Balmoral Show. This will secure entry to the show along with normal criteria - that the herd is OTF, and the animal is not subject to any other restrictions. DAERA will not be able to share the outcome of the report without the express permission of the herd keeper so please remember to complete your GDPR permission at application stage. PLEASE NOTE: An initial report will be run on 15 April 2024, at which point DAERA will communicate out to herd keepers their eligibility or further testing requirements. The final report will be run week commencing 6 May 2024. If you have not had any contact from DAERA by 29 April 2024 please contact the RUAS office and speak to Karen Hughes.