Breeders urged to apply early as RHS limits number of slots for cattle

THIS year's Royal Highland Show may still be more than three months away, but organisers are already having to plan to limit the numbers of cattle coming to the event, writes Andrew Arbuckle.

"For cattle, we have stalling for 960 head," said show manager David Dunsmuir. "In the last few years, we have had far more applications than we could accommodate and in 2007 and 2009 we had to apply a formula to cut back numbers.

"This year we are addressing any potential problems in advance by restricting the number of stalls that can be booked per breed to five per exhibitor, including calves, with the total available for each breed being based on a four-year average."

Dunsmuir added that sheep numbers at about 1,600 head might also present a space problem, but at this stage the organisers had no plans to limit entries.

"In some ways it is a nice problem to have and proves that appearing and possibly winning at the Royal Highland is a priority for pedigree breeders. My advice is to get entries in as quickly as possible."

Dealing with the important issue of animal health, he stated that any cattle exhibitors from outwith Scotland would have to produce evidence of a negative TB result in the previous 60 days to the show for all animals brought to Ingliston.

The show will run from 24 to 27 June at the site near Edinburgh.