Borderway UK DairyHarrison & Hetherington this week announced the appointment of two internationally respected judges to officiate at the inaugural UK Dairy Expo All-Breeds event (Friday 2nd and Saturday 3rd March 2012) hosted at the company's Borderway Exhibition Centre, Carlisle.

Donald Dubois, Princeville, Quebec, is judging the Holstein classes and is recognised as being one of Canada's leading authorities having officiated at a host of top shows within Canada as well as internationally. Mr Dubois judged the 2010 Canadian Royal Winter Fair Red and White Holstein section having previously judged the RWF Ayrshire classes in 2007.

Mr Dubois was appointed an official Holstein Canada judge in 1997 and has officiated at major dairy shows in Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and the Atlantic Provinces as well as judging at Expomig in Brazil. One of his recent major assignments was officiating at the 2011 Quebec Spring Show.

Donald has a strong industry background and is employed as a District Sales Manager for Alta Genetics. He is also involved in a partnership of 12 elite Holstein animals, based in Canada and the US, and over the years has owned or partnered 15 animals nominated for All-Canadian or All-American honors.

"I'm delighted to be judging this major UK show and look forward to the opportunity to view some of the best cattle within the UK and Europe. This is an exciting event and it's a great honour to be invited to judge the inaugural UK Dairy Expo," said Mr Dubois.

Brad Sayles, Ayr, Ontario, will be judging the showmanship classes and brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the event. Mr Sayles has had an illustrious career within the cattle breeding world having been employed as a sire analyst at United Breeders. The company amalgamated with Western Ontario Breeders Incorporated (WOBI) to form Gencor and Mr Sayles later held the post of Gencor Marketing Manager.

Mr Sayles also served as Marketing Manager at Holstein Canada and returned to the AI industry in 2007 with The Semex Alliance as Director of International Sales and Business Development for Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand. In 2009, he was appointed to his current post of Semex Alliance Vice President of Global Marketing.

Brad was raised on one of Canada's most famous dairy farms and the Sayles family have bred numerous top show animals as well as the illustrious Holstein sire, Bridon Astro-Jet. The family also run an elite herd of Jerseys in conjunction with their Holstein enterprise.

"It's a great honour to be invited to the UK and be part of a new and exciting dairy show. Having visited the UK on numerous occasions, I know the quality of animals exhibited, as well as the showmanship standards involved, will be extremely high. I'm look forward to officiating at UK Dairy Expo in March 2012," said Mr Sayles.

A full list of program events will be published in due course. UK Dairy Expo coordinator Glyn Lucas emphasized the show was aimed to appeal to a wide audience of commercial and pedigree breeders and also looked forward to having international competitors and visitors attend the event.

"We're aiming to have strong emphasis on UK youth participation, including showmanship classes also open to competitors from Northern Ireland, Ireland and mainland Europe, in order to help foster future business and marketing relationships with neighboring EU countries. Exhibiting the best available UK animals as well as, hosting a high profile sale of 20 elite heifers immediately after the Championship provides an exciting format for everyone involved.

"Harrison & Hetherington is delighted to announce two internationally renowned judges will be officiating at the inaugural show. UK Dairy Expo has been established as a prestigious national event and having Donald and Brad involved will provide an additional highlight for the exhibitors as well as, huge interest to our show visitors," he stated.