This past couple of weeks have seen the Stirling Bull Sales taking place along with the launch of our all new mobile responsive website – we hope you’ve all managed to have a look and are enjoying our refreshed and updated look to our new website. The new site is developed on a new platform which will make it a much more streamlined and useful Society tool moving forward. Take a look at what’s been happening in and around the Society over the last 14 days!

News Roundup
The Stirling Bull Sales took place at United Auctions in Stirling on the 6th May 2019. Judging the show of Aberdeen-Angus ahead of the sale was Miss Steph Dick of the Stephick herd of Aberdeen-Angus. The Aberdeen-Angus championship went to Idvies Eland T804 by Messrs F J Fraser & Son who sold for 7,000gns. The reserve champion went to Galcantray Blue Magic T057 by D Walker who sold for 6,000gns.

The 2019 Irish Aberdeen-Angus Association Premier Spring sale of pedigree Aberdeen-Angus bulls took place at Nenagh on the 2nd of May with over 40 exhibitor bred bulls catalogued for sale. 80% of the bulls forward were born in the Spring of 2018. The sale went on to produce a 65% clearance overall with average price settling at just over €2200. The sale leader came from Joe Kelly, Glostermin, Gorvagh, Co Leitrim who sold his November 2017 born bull, Glostermin Lord Harrison T021 for €2850.

A great opportunity for any young person looking to develop their career as a stockman or woman through the Godfrey Neal Stockman Annual Bursary – you can find out all details on how to apply in the news section of the website, make sure to get involved!

For those of you that don’t know, we are exited to bring you our new Youth Development Programme team for this year – Tina Russell (National YDP Co-ordinator), Stephanie Dick (Regional YDP Co-ordinator for Scotland), Jess Musk (Regional YDP Co-ordinator for England and Wales North), Ruth Perry (Regional YDP Co-ordinator for England and Wales South) and Niall Lynch (Regional YDP Co-ordinator for Ireland). The new team will be working closely with CEO, Barrie Turner and Youth Development Chair, Andrew Shufflebotham.

The 2019 Youth Development Programme kicked off this year with the East of England workshop taking place on Saturday 4th of May. The programme is a great way to learn new skills whilst getting the opportunity to meet new like-minded people, make sure not to miss out – you can check the full list of workshops on the YDP section of our website! We look forward to bringing you reports from all workshops in the coming weeks.

We’ve received some great entries so far for our Spring Photo Competition run on our Facebook channel! We encourage as many members to get involved, all you have to do is submit your photos in the comment section of the Facebook post or alternatively email Michael.chan@denvirmarketing.com with your photos. We have an amazing luxury overnight stay for 2 up for offer for the best picture so please make sure to enter!

To keep up with all other news from the Society as well as all the latest updates from shows, sales and other events, just head over to the appropriate sections on our website.
News and features
Show and Sales news

News and Notices from the CEO

• My week off flew by and I’m firmly back in harness!! And thanks to everyone in the office for looking after things during my absence, it’s great to have a good team by your side that you can rely on.

• Bedding in of the new YDP team is continuing with lots of great bits and pieces coming forward from the combined brains of the team which is very encouraging!
• Admin of the YDP Facebook page now transferred to Tina and will be updated very regularly instead of the CEO limping it along! Keep visiting, liking and sharing the posts.
• Look out in the press this week for coverage on the relaunched YDP scheme!
• Slight issue with some DNA results being reported to us incorrectly through no fault of anyone other than process, this has been investigated rectified and process put in place to ensure no re-occurrence. My thanks to all those members concerned for their understanding.
• The new web site has launched, the odd comment that it is no different but there are certain parts of it that are essential to have. The BIG change is in the platform that it is hosted on, making it easier for us to edit and make changes in house, this was a big part of the exercise and a saving on cost that will be recouped in two years. The improved functionality is being reflected in the stats that we are getting back in the early stages.
• It has been sale fever in the office for the last month with a huge amount of work and admin to make catalogues health cards etc all available on time. Thanks to both team’s downstairs for their perseverance in making this happen.
• Thanks also to the NE Scotland Club for their efforts in making the Scottish Beef Event work and making sure that it’s a great advert for the Society
• National Beef Association Beef Expo at J36 near Kendall preparation is now complete make sure to call in and see us on the stand pens 124 – 128. Big thank you to Paul Westaway for offering up some Melview cattle to add to the attraction, with spring work being ahead of schedule we expect there to be a big attendance.
• Following of from the Stirling sale we are looking forward to Carlisle sale on the 24th May and seeing as many of you there as possible, and a continuation of the positive results of the sales to date this year.
• Carlisle offers an opportunity to catch up with some of the council and review progress on the tasks that we set in our February meeting and the opportunity to have an interim Pedigree Cattle Services Board meeting.
• The Multibreed Youth event held jointly with the Charolais Youth and the Limousin Youth went very well with a great engagement at Stirling on the Sunday evening a big thank you to all the staff at UA who helped us out with that and all who took part.
• Continue to work through the compliance with the department to ensure that we are compliant with the Zootechnic rules, this has been going on for 3 years now but last hurdles being jumped!
• We have received several amazing enquiries from abroad for very large numbers of Pedigree and commercial Aberdeen-Angus Cross cattle. The demand is out there so please share this with your friends and customers. OUR PRODUCT IS IN SERIOUS DEMAND, we need their help to meet it!
• Glad to see that there are people out there entering the photo competition launched this week keep them coming some good images in already.
• Been working through the Council action list with the team here at Pedigree house to make sure we keep on track with delivering the wishes of Council.
• We have been looking to set up a Photo shoot to add to our library and have got Catherine MacGregor heading to Orkney in June at some point. Thanks to Alistair Foubister and Raymond Flay for opening their gates for us!
• Thanks to John James for offering to attend the BVD Zero conference on behalf of Council and the health committee to make sure that we are completely up to date on behalf of the membership on any actions we can take to control this destructive disease.
• Visit next week over to the Emerald Isle early part of the week in the South, looking forward to seeing you there and along with Katheryn Bradshaw and Yvonne Buchannan finalise ways of streamlining the administration of the IAAA registration process.
• Looking forward to seeing all at Balmoral Show from Wednesday through to Friday. aAailable to membership Wednesday and Thursday Morning then a plan of action with meeting planned with other exhibitors Thursday afternoon and Friday as the opportunity to meet people in the one place cannot be missed!

As a footnote to the bi-weekly report, we are in the process of reviewing the CAAB Scheme into a new format. Having the privilege to be head of the team in the office, I am duty bound to do the best I possibly can and ensure that we meet and surpass the needs of our members.The way that this will work going forward is to protect the marketplace in the UK for our high-quality home-produced Aberdeen-Angus Beef. We need to offer our customers the tools to be able to protect themselves against food fraud and that is what this is all about.
The latest case to hit the headlines is a firm in Birmingham that has been using our name to sell inferior beef purporting to be Aberdeen-Angus and this is one who has been caught.

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/meat-shack-butchers-studley-admits-15227378

We have the tools to offer to protect the market, as without a market there is no point in any of you producing Aberdeen-Angus on your farms. I, as the temporary custodian of the Society, with the backing of Council need to go and deliver the benefits of this scheme which is what I was brought in to do.

I need to create the space in my diary to be able to make multiple visits to our partners in Retail and our Processors to ensure they have the tools they need to protect our marketplace against imports and also from meat that is not derived from Aberdeen-Angus cattle. Preparation for these visits needs careful planning and focus to ensure that given the chance to present, it is not wasted as appointments are not easily come by in the fast-moving world of retail and foodservice, so it has to count.

At this time there is no greater task on my agenda, and the benefits that that will bring to the membership and the Society in the months and years to come, are essential to keep our breed growing at the pace it is, and our UK and Ireland reared Aberdeen-Angus market protected.
Part of the process to help make the space for me to deliver the essential programme, I must reiterate that the way of communication with the Society, firstly we have a great team in the office who have a great deal of experience behind them and can sort most matters out, secondly is through your elected Council members who’s contact details are available on the web site. You may not see me as much as last year at Events and shows over the summer as you did last year but we will be making sure the Society is represented at the key events but I assure you I will be beavering away in the background!

Please help me to help you in the longer term by using your area representative to bring matters to the table on any concerns or ideas that you may have to make things better within the organisation.

Notes and Notices from Laura Stewart

• I have been issuing the renewal certificates for the Society’s Certified Aberdeen-Angus Beef Scheme members for the new scheme year beginning 1st May.
• I have also been in contact with show secretaries at the 80+ regional summer shows and I’m currently in the process of issuing the Society’s breed awards which the shows are delighted to receive and present to the Aberdeen-Angus Champion at their show.
News and Notices from Angela Cumming in the Finance Department
• Statements were posted out at the start of May. If you have any outstanding invoices, prompt payment would be very much appreciated. You can pay by cheque, internet banking or credit card.

News and Notices from the Registrations Department

• We are working flat out at the moment as registrations of Spring calves are coming in fast and furious. Can we ask that anyone contacting the Registration Department has their membership number on the tip of their tongue when they phone. This will help us bring up your details on our screens and answer your query more efficiently. And if you are phoning about a specific animal it really helps us if you know the whole UK tag number of the animal you are calling about. We do our best but I’m afraid we don’t know everyone’s UK number off by heart!
• If you find that you cannot access the online database and you are quite sure of your password it may be that you have been locked out of your account if you have an outstanding debt running over 120 days. A quick call to Angela to pay the balance will sort that out and you will be back online the following day.
• We would remind you that it is possible to save up a few registrations into one online batch – at our end it takes as long to process a batch with one intimation in it as it does to process one with 25 registrations. We do have a backlog at the moment – as we always do at this time of year – but we are working hard to keep on top of registrations.

News and Notices from the YDP
• Most of the new Co-ordinators met up for the first time at the Worcester Sale on 6th April, where we started to put together how the new YDP will be delivered.
• The YDP Co-ordinators have now all done their First Aid Certificates, CRB checks and Health and Safety Training.
• Our first workshop was at Simon Long’s at Overbury Hall Farm in Suffolk. Jess had a good turnout of 15 participants, made up of mostly new attendees, only 2 had previously attended. It was great to see that other stockman turned up to lend a hand, so the participants had a really educational day with so much experience at hand. Thank you to all the workshop leaders including William Haire delivering Stock Judging, Kevin Byford and Dave Kinloch on Clipping and Dressing, plus Robert Clark on Ring Craft.
• Steph Dick helped with the very successful Multi Breed Event in collaboration with the Charolais and Limousin Societies for a great evening at the May Stirling Bull Sales. Along with multi breed stock judging, vet inspection talk, ring craft master class and AHDB presentation on carcase trait EBV’s. It is hoped to hold a similar event at the October Stirling Bull Sales, so we very much look forward to working with the other societies to hold this inter breed event for the young people.
• The Regional Co-ordinators have now had their kit for the workshops, but we would always welcome any donations of products, brushes, combs, blowers, clippers, show sticks etc should any farms find they no longer use their kit or are having a dispersal, then maybe you would like to donate them to the YDP Workshops. Let me know ydp@aberdeen-angus.co.uk
• We have new banners and leaflets with all contact details to be available at shows this year. Our team are working out the rest of the programme for this year and at the same time preparing for next year’s dates and venues, so that next year the full programme will be in the review.
• All dates and venues for forthcoming YDP Workshops can be found on the website.

Shows, Sales and Events
Key upcoming events are shown below:
• 11th May 2019 – North East Scotland YDP Workshop
• 12th May 2019 – South England YDP Workshop
• 15th – 18th May 2019 – Balmoral Show
• 23rd May 2019 – National Beef Association Expo
• 24th May 2019 – Carlisle Show and Sale

Merchandise
Help save the planet by reducing the amount of plastic by purchasing one of our Aberdeen-Angus branded bags for life, perfect for your daily shopping trips! You can purchase one for only £3.

You can purchase by phoning the office directly. Speak to Yvonne who can deal with and dispatch your orders for all our merchandise. You can pay over the phone by card or simply add it to your next invoice. Full range of merchandise available to view online here.

From all at the Society, have a great weekend!