Amelda is new president of Irish Shorthorn Society
Amelda Middleton Leonard from Moate was recently elected the first ever female president of the Irish Shorthorn Society (ISS).
The local woman owns the Ballinlig Shorthorn Herd along with her parents Terry and Colette Middleton and husband Brian in Ballinalig, Moate, close to Moyvoughley. She said that she was “proud” to be the president of the society and that she was “happy” to represent the members and such a great breed.
Amelda, who was previously on the council for the society, added that it was also great to see a woman in the role for the first time. The ISS council currently has twelve members and the council has wished Amelda “every success in her role” this year.
Speaking about the breed, the Moate woman enthused that the Shorthorn cow is such a nice animal to deal with and that her Dad remembers the family having Shorthorn cows when he was a child.
She is excited for the ISS to celebrate its 20th anniversary this year. “I'm looking forward to bringing all the breeders together and (working) on positive ways of pushing the breed forward for everyone. We just hope to mark this year in a positive way for everybody and just to progress the Shorthorn breed in the market.”
The part-time suckler farmer believes that the Shorthorn is such “an easy, docile breed” and is an ideal breed for women to work with as it doesn't require much assistance. Other breeds require more than one farmer to deal with them at a time. “It could be more powerful and not as easily handled,” she explained.
She said that it was nice to see women get more credit in the farming industry for the work they put in and believes that this will encourage more women to pursue a career in farming. “They're starting to get credit for the work they put in, just the same as men.”
Amelda added that women shouldn't be “afraid” to pursue a representative role in farming. “It's good for them to get involved.”
Speaking about her farming background, Amelda said that she grew up being her father's “right hand person”, helping him on the farm. “It always has been just a natural thing in my life to love farming."
She later completed the green cert from Westport College of Further Education and a Bachelor of Business from TUS Limerick, formerly LIT.
Amelda runs a 60-acre farm at Ballinlig, short distance from Moyvoughley in Moate. They have pedigrees, half pedigrees and half commerical cattle on the family farm and they show cattle at agricultural shows during the summer.
Her husband Brian also works on the farm and they have two children, Robbie and Kelsey. While Brian doesn't come from a farming background Amelda said he loves it as much as her now and they work well together. Her father Terry is retired but he still helps them out on the farm sometimes.
Amelda is hopeful that the Irish Shorthorn Society will be in operation for years to come and will remain “as strong as ever” for the benefit of her children and future generations. Her children love attending agricultural shows and enjoy getting the cows and calves ready for shows by washing them.
Looking to the future, she also wants to continue working on the family farm and to “progress it as much as possible”.
Two Irish Shorthorn Society sales of Shorthorn cattle will take place in April. For more information visit irishshorthorn.com.