First Lady Chair for Club
Sandra Cochrane Portadown has set a new precedent as the first ever lady chairperson for the Northern Ireland Charolais Club.
Sandra lives outside Portadown, with her husband Nigel and twin children, Mollie and Mathew, aged four.
They run a 55 suckler cow herd which include 10 pedigree Charolais cows. Charolais is the dominant breed used and cattle are sold as stores or weanlings at local markets. Artificial Insemination is carried out on all cows and this gives the Springlane Herd the opportunity to maximize a variety of different sires to suit individual cows Nigel operates a successful plastering business while Sandra concentrates on the farming side of things.
Sandra takes to the position of NI Charolais Club Chairperson, a wealth of experience of successful breeding and animal husbandry. Having gained a Diploma in Agriculture at Greenmount College, Sandra worked in partnership with her father Wilson McAdam and brother Wallace to run the family beef and dairy farm near Portadown. It was the influence of the family farm which encouraged her to purchase her first pedigree Charolais heifer and started the Bannside Charolais Herd, which she had much success over the years.
The first occasion Sandra showed a home bred bull, Bannside Gladiator was at a NI Charolais Club Sale in Portadown in 1992. This fine bull was awarded Reserve Champion and went on to sell for an impressive 4200gns!` This was the beginning of many success’s over the years in Portadown and Dungannon.
Sandra married Nigel in 1999 and moved to Portadown where she continued her passion for breeding Charolais cattle. She was a founder member of the Northern Ireland Commercial Cattle Exhibitors club in 2003 and currently holds the post of treasurer. Her Charolais cross steer was awarded the commercial champion at Armagh Show in 2006 and promotes the Charolais breed throughout the province. Since joining the Northern Ireland Charolais Club Committee in 2008,
Sandra has strived to raise the Charolais name to new heights and has lost none of her excellent judging skills, when she won the open class at the judging event at Gilbert Crawford’s farm in 2009. Sandra said “I am delighted and honored to be elected to the post of chairperson of the Northern Ireland Charolais Club and I look forward to the challenge of maintaining Charolais as a prominent breed”