Laois cow is cream of crop at Tullamore Show

WHAT makes a top-class dairy animal?

One of the best men to ask is Laois man Kevin Flynn from Clonaslee whose three of his cows in the Tullamore Show were all winners.

Cream of the crop was a sixth-calver Holstein, winner in her Senior Cow In-milk class.

Kevin said she has had a “mixed career” but she was certainly on the ascent on Sunday.

“She was here before and think she was third or fourth. She's one of these cows that has developed and developed and matured into herself, which is the best kind of cow.”

She has all the ingredients for a champion: “She has beautiful dairy character, she's very feminine, she's got a lovely sleek coat. You see there a real shine to that coat.

“Her udder is very good too, the connections, the fore udder and the rear udder are really good.

“And then, for her age, she walks on really good feet and legs... they have to be able to walk to their field and back to their milking parlour and they have to be able to carry their milk.”

She carries a lot of milk. She calved in January and is currently producing 37 litres of milk a day; Kevin is expecting 10,000 litres from her over a 305-day year.

He expanded his herd in 2008 and now has 200 cows, nearly all Holstein, supplying Tirlan.

“We had a great year last year, never been seen before and probably will never be seen again. This year isn't as good and probably the input costs have come back but not at the same level as the milk price has come back. So it's a little tighter but that's business.”

He wouldn't part with his newest champion but if he were to sell her now, she'd be worth between €4,000 and €5,000. “But that's on a day when two men want the same cow.”

Another of his entries, a second calver, was third in her class, having picked up a red rosette last year.

“She hasn't developed the same amount as the others but I think when she gets to fourth calf she could be better.”

A third cow was first in her Heifer In-milk class but Kevin says he has learned not to speculate about how any cow will perform on show day.

“I never expect, I always hope,” he said.

He was one of up to 50,000 people who attended the Offaly show on July 13.