The Ayrshire Cattle Society of Great Britain and Ireland are delighted to announce their judge for the 2017 National Ayrshire Show to be held at UK Dairy Day on Wednesday 13th September at The International Centre in Telford.

Edmund Els from South Africa, is a world renowned and respected Ayrshire breeder, and we look forward to welcoming him to the United Kingdom later this year to officiate at our National Show.  Edmund is from the Western Cape of South Africa and is owner of The Ridge Ayrshire herd of 200 pedigree Ayrshires.He is a passionate breeder who has bred and owned several champions through the years, and most currently at the National Show in Bredasdorp he received awards for the National Senior and Reserve senior cow, Reserve Junior animal, Champion heifer and Reserve National Grand Champion.

Edmund was Breed director for the South African Ayrshire Society from 2005 – 2012, and has also served on the Ayrshire board for many years. He is also one of the South African representatives at the World Ayrshire Federation and was part of the committee for hosting the South Africa Ayrshire World Conference in 2012. 

Edmund has judged several shows in South Africa, namely Mega (Western Cape Championships), Riversdale, Uniondale, Bloemfontein show and the Royal show, and has also judged the De Heus National on Farm Challenge. Internationally Edmund judged the World photo competition, Australia's National photo competition and the All-American photo competition.  He was also the first non-Northern American judge to officiate as judge at the Southern National Championships in Louisville, Kentucky USA in 2012. Edmund also judged the Livestock Breeders show 2016 in Kenya.

In 2012 he started working for TAG (ST Genetics) and created “Ayr Genetics” which is a local semen company that identifies top Ayrshire genetics in South Africa. Edmund has been selected as the president for the Ayrshire Society in 2014 and still serves as president to this day.