Stars of the Future Calf Show growing year on year

This year's spectacle will, for the first time, culminate with an inter-breed championship to decide the supreme show animal.

Previously, the finishing line-up has included four animals 鈥� the overall senior and junior champions from both the native and continental categories, but based on exhibitor and spectator feedback, an overall award will now be the focal point of the championships.

Event chairman, Robert Paterson, who farms with his family at Upper Auchenlay, Dunblane, says: "The show has built year on year, gradually incorporating different breeds and the support has continued to grow, which is fantastic. We feel that including an overall award will add a culminative point to the show day for the spectators and will be a further coveted title for the exhibitors to focus on."

The winner of this overall prize will be awarded a silver salver, which the Paterson family are donating in memory of Robert's mum, Maimie, a great supporter of the next generation of stock men and women, who sadly passed away this summer.

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Mr Paterson says: "The show is all about encouraging and identifying future stars and that includes the cattle and those preparing and leading them. The young handler's section, which is held on the Friday evening, has become a huge part of the event and is now very popular. Another section that has grown massively is the commercial cattle, which we only added a few years ago and it is now one of the largest sections, with a strong entry looking likely for this year."

A further development in recent years, based on feedback, is the addition of live streaming, allowing those not able to attend, to watch the judging, also giving exhibitors the chance to view the classes back, afterwards.

"The live streaming has been a great addition and takes the show to a far wider audience," says Mr Paterson. "It is a great showcase for youngstock and also a perfect opportunity for exhibitors to get next summer's show and sales team out at an early stage, acclimatising them to crowds and showing them off to potential future buyers."

This year, Philip Halhead, managing director of Norbreck Genetics in Lancaster, will be tasked with selecting the overall winners of the cattle and young handler sections. He is particularly passionate about encouraging the next generation into agriculture.

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"A vibrant agricultural industry needs keen young people who are prepared to work hard and spend time to excel in whichever path they choose in farming," he says.

"The young handler's competition will be a spectacle of young stockmanship and attention to detail and I will be looking for the young person who has the calf looking on 鈥榩oint' and all the details ticked off and clearly exhibits time spent looking for near perfection.

"The future is really bright for the breeds and breeders who adapt and change to suit the beef market and the opportunities that exist not only in the UK, but hopefully across more export markets as demand increases. To be invited to judge for the first time an overall champion of this elite show of calves has me excited already."

Over more than 30 years running Norbreck Genetics, Mr Halhead has travelled the world buying elite livestock across most breeds and has judged at national and international shows. He says he will be looking objectively at the individual merits of each breed champion and how that represents that particular breed will be a crucial element in the final line-up.

One exhibitor who has graced the Stars of the Future ring for the past 14 years and now encourages his own children to show there, is Garry Patterson, who manages the Delfur Simmental herd at Dundurcas Farm, Rothes. He has enjoyed plenty success at the event and says he has seen the quality of the calves strengthen each year.

"I find it a great show for getting my young calves out to, for a couple of different reasons. Firstly, it is a great education for the calves and sets them up perfectly for future showing, and secondly, it is an excellent window to show off the calves which will be for sale the following year.
"I have done very well at sales with calves that were shown at Stars and then sold at later sales, with purchasers saying that they had first noticed them at the Stars event."

He is another huge supporter of the young handler's section, which he sees as a crucial part of the show.

"The young handler section is always tremendous and gets a big entry 鈥� it is a delight to watch the next generation show off and develop their skills in the ring," he says.

In 2022, the sought-after overall young handler title was won by young Welsh exhibitor Rhianydd Davies, who had travelled up with a Highland heifer owned by family friends, from the Caradog fold in Carmarthenshire.

She says: "I was pitching myself against the finest young handlers from around the nations, so it was a tough competition, but everything went right for me on the night and the judge saw that extra something in me and my heifer.

"I later went on to win the champion of champions young handler title at the Royal Highland Show, and I don't think I would have managed that without the springboard and experience that Stars of the Future gave me. Other doors have opened for me as a result and I've shown Highlands and other breeds in major shows and sales on the back of winning Stars. I'd encourage everyone to give it a go."

Entries close on October 26 and numbers are already up on the year. Chairman Mr Paterson says: "Not only is it a great opportunity to work with your show team at an early stage, it's also good prizemoney, with a prize pot of 拢8,000, and having so many breeds incorporated in the one event makes it an excellent social gathering too."