Bi-weekly update: 21st September 2018
In a week where Storm Ali tried his best to cause as much disruption as possible in every walk of life, we’re glad to see that the worst of the weather seems to have passed and we can all go back to some degree of normality, especially in those areas of the country worst-affected. The last couple of weeks have seen some major events on the calendar pass successfully, with more to come in the near future along with YDP final! Here is your bi-weekly round-up of all news from the Society.
Additionally, news just in on Wednesday this week tells us that one of our members and cattle judge Rachel Wyllie from Brailes Livestock is recovering well following an incident in the show ring at The Royal Berkshire Show at Newbury Showground last Sunday, while judging the interbreed Cattle. This has resulted in Rachel having a new hip fitted along with a plate to hold things together and a period of recovery to boot! For a very busy lady that will not come easy, but we wish you a speedy recovery and look forward to keeping up with your progress. We hope that the holiday that you have had to cancel can be reconvened later and become part of your convalescence back to full health.
The Review: January 2019 – advertising
This week, an email was sent to all members on the database informing you that you can now book your advert space in the upcoming January 2019 Review. January might seem like some time away with lots of events and work to be done in between, but the production of the Review is a lengthy and in-depth process, so it will be a great help if you get your bookings in as soon as possible. The process is simple – just follow the instructions on the advert booking form and return it to the address provided and benefit from having your advert placed in our yearly publication that is distributed to so many in the industry – an opportunity not to be missed. If you missed your email, the booking form can be accessed on our website by clicking here.
Autumn newsletter update
In the last bi-weekly update we told you about the member newsletter we’re working on and we’re just in the final stages of pulling this together, with the document going to print this weekend. We look forward to sharing it with you all in the next couple of weeks once produced!
Ribble Herd Dispersal Sale
After a very successful Open Day on the 9th September, the dispersal of the Ribble Aberdeen-Angus Herd will take place at 10.30am on Saturday 22nd September at CCM Skipton with United Auctions. All the cattle will be available for viewing at Skipton Auction Mart on the Friday, the day before the sale. Post-sale arrangements are also in place to transport cattle across the country. If you would like another look at the catalogue prior to the sale, then you can do so by visiting: http://abri.une.edu.au/online/cgi-bin/i4.dll?1=3E37202F&2=2928&3=56&5=2B3C2B3C3A&8=4853&9=50515859&11=50515A
John Biggs – Blackacre Herd Dispersal Sale
On the same day, the Blackacre herd will also be holding a dispersal at Worcester Livestock Market. The Cattle Market, Nunnery Way, Worcester WR4 0SQ The Blackacre dispersal is added on to the Autumn Native breeds sale at Worcester of which there are some further entries from our members, the Aberdeen-Angus section of the sale will commence at 12.30pm You can view the catalogue for this one at: http://aberdeen-angus.co.uk/news/sale-news/blackacre-herd-sale-2/. Council member Terry Ives will be in attendance for the Society should anyone have any questions they need to ask.
Youth Development Programme final is upon us!
Next Saturday 29th September, our Youth Development Programme finalists will take part in a day filled with seminars, tasks and presentations as the 2018 YDP year culminates in Shrewsbury! Months of hard work have been put in by all participants, those who have made the final and those who didn’t, your efforts were not wasted as next year is not far away and it’s the participants who help us keep this great programme running. As we look forward to the final, we must mention all the members who give up their time and farms, trainers and volunteers who make the programme possible. YDP co-ordinator Gayle Bersey who puts in a great amount of time and effort to make the events throughout the year run. We’d like to wish good luck to all the participants in the final and look forward to providing you all with the results from the junior, intermediate and senior sections. Read about the final and what the participants will be partaking in at: http://aberdeen-angus.co.uk/news/youth-to-the-fore-at-the-2019-ydp-final/.
Speaking of YDP, we brought you another couple of reports from participants at workshops that took place during the summer. Firstly, you can read 18 year old Leah Mullen’s take on the Mohill workshop at: http://aberdeen-angus.co.uk/news/ydp-workshop-mohill-leah-mullen-aged-18/. We also brought you a report from the Central Scotland workshop at Mosston Muir from Alexander Crombie and Ruby Simpson aged 12 and 11, which can be read at: http://aberdeen-angus.co.uk/news/hear-from-the-participants-of-the-mosston-muir-ydp-workshop/.
2018 Summer National at Westmorland County Show
We had a great day at Westmorland for this year’s Summer National, bringing you all the results from the ring as they happened on our Facebook page! The evening before the show saw a gathering of exhibitors at the pre-show BBQ where Mary Hamnett and Ken Howie served up a feast! Richard Hassall and Rachel Wylie also treated the gathering to a champagne cocktail on a very convivial evening which was enjoyed by the 50 plus exhibitors. Many thanks to all concerned for coming and to all those who helped out on the evening to make it a roaring success. On the day, judge Andrew Hodge gave his overall Aberdeen-Angus championship to Kilmaluag Eriskay of Donald Rankin. You can now view all the photography and the full results from all Aberdeen-Angus classes on the website at: http://aberdeen-angus.co.uk/news/show-news/2018-summer-national-show-westmorland-county-show/.
The CEO was left “Holding the Baby” at Westmorland and the calf knew that Richard Rettie was not at the helm anymore, and that there was an apprentice in charge! A big change from a bat and board in the pig rings for Mr Turner!
ABP Angus Youth Challenge: Rainey Endowed School, Northern Ireland
We were delighted to hear this week from the people at Rainey Endowed School in Northern Ireland whose pupils were successful in the ABP Angus Youth Challenge! We met the pupils and staff at the Royal Highland Show in June after they became the proud owners of five Aberdeen-Angus calves. The school is in the heart of rural Northern Ireland and many of the pupils have links to farming, and the team had a great time working through the different stages of the competition which included a video submission, interview section and an exhibition of their project investigating the importance of benchmarking and women in agriculture. The team went on to attend the Balmoral show where they were presented with their calves and fielded a number of interviews and questions – it was great to catch up at the Royal Highland Show and hear about this great achievement for all involved!
UK Dairy Day Exhibition – Telford
The CEO and renowned Shropshire breeder Bob Lane of Penguin Herd fame took the helm for a test pilot stand at the UK Dairy Day organised by Holstien UK, and what a great day it was! With 8000 plus supporting the event by attending as visitors, the show is a big one on the dairy farmers calendar. A low-cost dip of a toe in the water provided sufficient interest as the only beef breed to be exhibiting to warrant a slightly higher investment next year to target one of the larger markets for Aberdeen-Angus bulls and semen that we have available to us today. Discussions with the attendees showed that Aberdeen-Angus is frequently part of the mix when it comes to policy on the UK dairy herds, so spreading the word about the benefits that Aberdeen-Angus can deliver to the Dairy sector is a must going forward. Seen below from left to right is; Ian Sanders Weatherby’s, Sarah Crank a well-known Dairy Shorthorn breeder, who has recently acquired a pedigree Angus bull, CEO Barrie Turner, Bob Lane and Marion McNeil again from Weatherby’s.
A first Aberdeen-Angus show for our friends in Portugal
We were delighted to hear of the first national show of Aberdeen-Angus cattle in Portugal recently which took place during the Expomor Fair in Montemor-o-Novo on the 2nd of September. Over 30 cattle lined up before the invited judge, former Aberdeen-Angus Cattle Society President, Alex Sanger. This was a great landmark event for the Aberdeen-Angus Portugal Breeders Association in the 10th year of their herd book and you can read the full story at: http://aberdeen-angus.co.uk/news/success-at-the-first-aberdeen-angus-show-on-mainland-portugal/
Checking out the breed in Czech Republic
Russell Taylor of the Moncur Herd of Aberdeen-Angus was invited to judge Aberdeen-Angus classes at the first International European Aberdeen-Angus Show which took place České Budějovice in the Czech Republic, a 5-day show featuring Limousin and Aberdeen-Angus classes. The night prior to the show beginning, Russell had the chance to speak to a number of breeders about the Society here in the home of the Breed, including information on the structure, way of working and history of the Society. In total there were 75 animals entered to the show, where the championship eventually went to Balmachie Rodger bred here in Scotland, with a Czech cow with calf at foot taking the reserve. Speaking of his time in the Czech Republic, Russell said:
”It was a great event and I was very grateful for the chance to judge the Aberdeen-Angus classes. The night before the show I spoke to the breeders about our breed and Society here in the UK and was impressed with their enthusiasm, with some 2 hours of questions following my talk. The next morning, the judging began in the searing 32 degree heat, where I was asked to comment on every single entry when there was as many as 8-12 entries in some classes – so it was quite a day! The interpreter I worked with was a great help and all-in-all it was a great event.’’
A visitor from Mexico!
This week we welcomed Cesar J Quesada and some of his family to Scotland where President Angela McGregor and head of technical David Ismail were kind enough at short notice to accommodate the party for a herd visit, for which we thank you very much. Cesar is part of a family business in Mexico and his family have grown cattle for many years, where they currently have over 1,200 commercial breeding cows. He has recently started an Angus Pedigree operation as part of the enterprise.
The main business is poultry, and they own a fully integrated company and process 720,000 birds per week – www.nutrypollo.com . Cesar is also acting President of the National Mexican Poultry Association – www.una.org.mx and is acting VP of the National Agricultural Council – www.cna.org.
A very interesting visitor who has his sights set on some genetics from the UK to input into his start up pedigree herd of Aberdeen-Angus and is looking at a number of ways of accessing the genetics that he requires. We look forward to working with him further in the future to meet his requirements!
Further visitors from across the pond!
On Thursday this week we welcomed to Pedigree House the Membership Secretary for Angus USA Jerry Cassidy and his wife Ellen who is Executive Assistant. Whilst here, Jerry and Ellen will get to look around the home of Aberdeen-Angus and take in the landmarks the local area has to offer. They were both very interested in the history we hold at Pedigree House and it was a real treat to hold herd book volume 1, back to the roots as it were. Following their visit to Scotland, they head to Ireland to visit Jerry’s ancestry in Rosscommon before returning to the States. The CEO was particularly interested to learn about the CAAB scheme in the US as it has developed into a huge marketing machine and this year heralds 40 years of its existence, with a landmark convention being held to celebrate in November. We hope that you enjoy your few days in the Home of Aberdeen-Angus and go back stateside with plenty of information and happy memories of new friends in the Aberdeen-Angus world!
Upcoming events
- Ribble Aberdeen-Angus: Herd Dispersal – 22nd September – 10:30am, Craven Cattle Marts Ltd, Skipton North Yorkshire, BD23 1UD
- Blackacre Herd Dispersal – 22nd September – Worcester Market
- YDP finale – 29th September – Shrewsbury
- Carlisle Show and Sale – 5th October – Borderway Mart
Merchandise
This week’s featured merchandise item is the Aberdeen-Angus crystal Whisky Glass – the perfect meaningful gift, or even just as a lovely keepsake for yourself, and a bargain at £15. As always, merchandise orders can be made by simply getting in touch with the office directly and asking for Yvonne and can be paid by card or added to your next invoice. Full range of merchandise available at: http://aberdeen-angus.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/attachments/Merchandise-poster-2018-web.pdf
From all at the Society, we hope you have a great weekend and look forward to seeing some of you over the course of the weekend.