First place winners: L–R, back row James McClelland (spring barley), John McLenaghan (UFU deputy president), Reggie Lilburn (winter barley), Niall Montgomery (winter wheat). Front row Paul Russell (oats) and Alan Montgomery (winter wheat).
The Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) along with sponsors of the UFU cereals competition, held their annual awards ceremony in the Dunadry Hotel and Gardens on Tuesday 7 November. It paid recognition to the first-class growers situated here in Northern Ireland (NI).
Winners of the winter wheat, winter barley, spring barley and oats categories joined UFU deputy president John McLenaghan, judges and representatives from the competition sponsors BASF, Bayer CropScience, Clarendon Agri-care, Fane Valley, Origin NI and Syngenta to celebrate the competition’s success.
“I would like to congratulate the winners of the UFU cereals competition, everyone who was placed and all those who entered. It is a privilege to be able to showcase the very best of our NI seeds and cereals industry through this competition and it is always a highlight in the annual agricultural calendar. This year has been a challenging one for our growers with the ongoing wet weather and everyone who entered demonstrated immense expertise, resilience and hard work to produce such quality crops.
“We would like to thank competition sponsors BASF, Bayer CropScience, Clarendon Agri-care, Fane Valley, Origin NI and Syngenta, who for their continued support and promotion of the UFU’s cereals competition and our local growers,” said Mr McLenaghan.
The UFU would also like to acknowledge the dedication and hard work that the UFU seeds and cereals committee put into organising the competition, and also thank the UFU group managers for their continued support in encouraging Union members to participate in the competitions.
The 2023 winners and runners up in the UFU cereal competitions were:
Spring barley (sponsors – Origin NI and BASF)
- 1st place: James McClelland
- 2nd place: Mark McCollum
- 3rd place: Leslie Dunn
Winter barley (sponsors – Fane Valley and Bayer)
- 1st place: Beattie and Reggie Lilburn
- 2nd place: William and Claire Clark
- 3rd place: Joe and Colin McCarragher
Winter wheat (sponsors – Clarendon Agri care and Bayer)
- 1st place: Alan and Niall Montgomery
- 2nd place: Jonathan Kelly
- 3rd place: David Matthews
Oats (sponsor – Syngenta)
- 1st place: Mark and Paul Russell
- 2nd place: Luke Dynes
- 3rd place: Robert Lynn
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Winter barley: L–R back row, Stephen Bell (Fane Valley), Chris Gill (UFU seeds and cereals chair), Michael Maher (Bayer CropScience), Joe McCarragher (3rd place). Front row William Clark (2nd place), Reggie Lilburn (1st place).
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Winter wheat: L–R back row, Clive Coffey (Clarendon Agri Care), John McLenaghan (UFU deputy president), Alan Montgomery (1st place). Front row Michael Maher (Bayer CropScience), Niall Montgomery (1st place), missing from image Jonathan Kelly (2nd place), David Matthews (3rd place).
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Spring barley: L–R Leslie Dunn (3rd place), Mervyn Owens (Origin NI), John McLenaghan (UFU deputy president), Mark McCollum (2nd place), James McClelland (1st place).
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Oats: Luke Dynes (2nd place), Paul Russell (1st place), Chris Gill (UFU seeds and cereals chair) missing from the image Robert Lynn (3rd place).
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First place winners: L–R, back row James McClelland (spring barley), John McLenaghan (UFU deputy president), Reggie Lilburn (winter barley), Niall Montgomery (winter wheat). Front row Paul Russell (oats) and Alan Montgomery (winter wheat).
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Everyone who attended this year’s UFU cereals awards lunch.
