National YMA Workshop Mohill:

The Irish Limousin Young Members Association (YMA) is for young people, aged 12 to 25, interested in the Limousin Breed, Cattle Breeding, Livestock Showing and Judging. It is aimed at promoting and developing stockmanship and cattle showing.

Each of the Limousin Clubs around the country have active YMA members and organise YMA events and demonstrations. Many of today’s well known and respected judges and cattle breeders are former YMA members. Without doubt the friendships and knowledge acquired during their YMA days has stood them well.

In addition to acquiring cattle knowledge and show techniques the YMA is a great way to prepare young people for later life. The travel opportunities, exposure and new acquaintances offered are an added bonus.

The annual YMA National Workshop is a fun day for all the family. It includes competition and demonstration. The main focus is to facilitate participation and fun for all. The day usually starts with a technical demonstration on how to prepare, show and asses an animal. YMA organisers and master judges will be on hand with valuable advice and tips. The competition phase comprises three elements cattle judging, giving reasons to a master judge and showing cattle in the show ring. Marks will be allocated for each of the three categories, with the highest weighting going to reasons. Appearance and safety will also be considered by the judges.

This years YMA National Workshop will be held in Mohill Co. Leitrim on Sunday August 21st It is being hosted by the North East Club who will have a strong representation and will supply suitable cattle. A good spread of members will also travel from the other clubs.

The National Workshop in Mohill will also be used to select members for the International Team. These will get the chance to compete at International level against teams from Northern Ireland, England, Wales, and Scotland. The International Events have become very high profile and prestigious representing an excellent opportunity for any young breeder.

All are welcome. For more information or inquires contact James Wycherly 086 0740427 or Michael Gunn 086 3122897.

July 2011: YMA class at Barryroe once again proves a popular feature

The Cork Limousin club hosted another successful YMA class at Barryroe show on Saturday 9th July. The first of our two annual YMA events, once again proved very popular among the club’s youngest members. This years event was made all the more appealing thanks to generous sponsorship provided by the Irish Limousin Cattle Society and Pedigreecattle.ie. A total of 8 youngsters paraded their cattle under the scrutiny of well known breeder and National YMA coordinator Michael Gunn. Read more >>>

National YMA Competition in Mohill

The Irish Limousin Cattle Society are holding their national YMA finals in Mohill show Co. Leitrim on Sunday August 21^st. This will be a team event with teams competing from the seven regional club areas. The teams will be pre selected and comprise of four members (aged 12-25) one of which must be under sixteen.

The competition will comprise of cattle judging, giving reasons to a master judge and showing cattle in the show ring. Marks will be allocated for each of the three categories, 50 for the reasons section and 25 each for the handling and judging.  Appearance and safety will also be considered by the judges.

The team competition will be decided on the aggregate scores of the top three individuals of each team. Prizes will be awarded for the first two teams. The individual winners of each section will also receive recognition.

The top four individuals will be selected for the Irish team to compete in an international competition to be held in Northern Ireland later in the year. They will compete against teams from Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England.

YMA members or young breeders interested in competing should contact their club YMA coordinators immediately to enter in their club final. There will be an open handling competition in Mohill for competitors who are not on a club team.

North West Club YMA 2011:

The North west Limousin club YMA competition will take place in Ballina show on Sunday July 10th. The Young Members Association (YMA ) is open to everybody between 12 and 25 and tests and improves their knowledge of cattle and showmanship. Further details to follow

Anglo Irish YMA Finals Beef Expo 2010

During Beef Expo The Young Limousin Breeders ran the Anglo Irish Stock Judging Competition. This was a very high profile and prestigious international event involving teams from Northern Ireland, England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. After some fierce competition and excellent displays the prestigious team event was won by Northern Ireland represented by William McElroy, Kim Nicholsan Steele and Gary Hume. The best individual trophy went to Kim Nicholson Steele.Read more >>>

Cork Limousin YMA class proves a popular feature at Barryroe show

The Cork Limousin club hosted yet another successful YMA class at Barryroe show on Saturday July 10th. The first of the club’s two annual YMA events, once again proved very popular among the club’s young members. This year, youngsters as young as 7 participated; with the focus on enjoyment and building confidence. Five budding breeders made their showing debut at Barryroe: Michael and Florence Wycherley, Tara and Evan Buckley and Niamh O’Mahony. The youngsters were put through their paces by master judge Tom Hickey, himself a past notable performer on the YMA stage. Read more >>>

National YMA Finals Bridgetown Show 2010:

The South East Clare Show located in picturesque Bridgetown in Co. Clare was the venue for the 2010 National  Irish Limousin  Young Members workshop hosted by the Clare Limousin Club.

In addition to the usual competitions, this time there was also a team event which consisted of teams of four representing the different club areas, teams consisted of four YMA members with one member having to be under 16 years of age. Read more >>>

North West Club YMA 2010:

The North west Limousin club held a very successful YMA competition in Ballina show on Sunday July 11th. The Young Members Association (YMA ) is open to everybody between 12 and 25 and tests and improves their knowledge of cattle and showmanship. Read more >>>

Anglo Irish YMA Finals:

The ILCS are staging the Anglo Irish YMA finals in conjunction with Beef Expo at Kilkenny mart on Sunday 10th October.  The YMA final has developed into a major event and for the first time will involve five teams from Ireland, Northern Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales.

We would encourage as many young members as possible to participate in their YMA club, apart from the competition the YMA events are very informative and a help to any young breeder.

There will also be an open competition for all young breeders between the age of 12 and 16 years of age at Beef Expo.

YMA Club Events 2010:

Donegal Club - Inishowen Show (Carndonagh ) Saturday 17th July
Clare Club – Corofin Show Saturday 24th July
South West Club – Castleisland Mart Saturday 31st July
South East Club- Tinahely Show Monday 2nd August
Cork Club – Bantry Show  Sunday 5th September

YMA - Useful vocab for presenting to the master judge:

Following last years YMA event at Elphin Show, seasoned showman, Richard O’Beirne has kindly provided some useful phrases to widen your vocabulary when giving your presentation to the master judge. Read more >>>

National YMA Finals 2010:

The Irish Limousin Cattle Society are holding their national YMA finals in Bridgetown show Co. Clare on Sunday July 25th. This will be a team event with teams competing from the seven regional club areas. The teams will be pre selected and comprise of four members (aged 12-25) one of which must be under sixteen. Read more >>>

Anglo Irish YMA Finals 2009:

The final of the  Anglo Irish Young Members Stockperson Championship 2009 was staged at Borderway Mart Carlisle on 17th December .The Irish team included Tom Hickey Thurles , Sean Moroney, Corofin, who had both qualified from the YMA Limousin workshop held at the Elphin show and hosted by the North West Limousin Club. Read more >>>

YMA Workshop NPA 2009:

The second YMA event of the year was held at the National Ploughing Championships in Athy. The format for this event was similar to the Elphin workshop with points being allocated to stock judging, handling and an interview at which each competitor had to give the reasons for their placings in the stock judging. Read more >>>

Irish Farmers Journal Heifers Competition 2009:

Last year I entered the Irish Farmers Journal Heifer Competition.There were two methods of entering one was by writing a letter of no more than 600 words on various topic set by the Farmers Journal. The topics were if you were the minister of agriculture what would you do for young farmers, what can the Farmers Journal do for young farmers and why should you win one of the heifers. The second method of entering was to have a blog on the Farmer’s Journal heifer competition website. A blog is online diary for all of you that don’t know what that is; I tried to go on the blog everyday.Read more >>>

YMA Workshop Elphin 2009:

The 2009 YMA workshop was hosted by the North Western Club and staged at Elphin show on Saturday 5th September. The schedule of events for the day consisted of technical session with well known stockman Mr Richard O Beirne followed by a stock judging competition where the young members had to judge the cattle and then give their reasons to master judges Ms Teleri Thomas and Mr Richard O Beirne.Read more >>>