Here is our first Bi-Weekly update for April 2020, we have welcomed warmer weather as we entered April lets hope it continues for all the new arrivals at this time of the year. With the on going pandemic in the world we seem to have entered a “new normal” we hope you are all well and staying safe, with all the staff now working from home we are all keeping very busy and working hard. Here are the updates from the last 14 days within the society.

News Roundup
Aberdeen-Angus Cattle Society – COVID-19 UPDATE:
On behalf of all at the Aberdeen-Angus Cattle Society our hearts go out to all who are so personally affected by the COVID-19 virus. The last couple of months have been filled with uncertainty, concern and anxiety for many. It is important that staff members have the safety and security of their families, loved ones and community as their priority. The Council are very supportive of that and changing of normal practices to keep everyone safe has been a consequence. To read the full update click here

Angus Angels – HELP IS AT HAND – In the light of the recent outbreak of COVID-19 and its anticipated spread we believe the colleges are closed for an elongated break and rather than waste the talent that may well be out there we as a Society are looking to set up a national network of Stock people who could step in to help any farms who find themselves short of labour through self-isolation or family tragedy which it is anticipated there might be some. Click here to find out more and see CV’S/information.

Spring Newsletter – We’re pleased to announce that the Aberdeen-Angus Cattle Society Spring Newsletter for 2020 is now available to read online and download. Please click here to see our Spring Newsletter.

Office Closure & Staff Contact Information – The office is now closed till further notice, we will keep all the membership up to date as much as we can with this situation. All members of staff are now set up and working from home.

The staff in Pedigree House are all committed to making this work as well as we can and also committed to thinking about everything that we do to streamline the transfer of information to the membership which we will keep you updated on as it happens.

In the current circumstances E-mail is by far our favoured method of communication and systems of electronic transfer of information to you will also be the most favoured route so please embrace this change and let’s make it work and the whole business work smarter going forward.

We are committed to delivering the best level of service that we can to you given the current circumstances that prevail; there are bound to be occasions where for reasons beyond our control we can’t. Please bear with us in our quest to take very seriously the Government’s instructions to “Stay Home” and we hope that everyone stays as safe and well as possible until we get through these difficult and trying times.

To be able to contact the staff, please see email addresses below. By emailing us this is our most favoured method of communication:

Barrie Turner, CEO – barrie@aberdeen-angus.co.uk
Laura Stewart, Office Manager – laura@aberdeen-angus.co.uk
Caroline Ford, Registrations – caroline@aberdeen-angus.co.uk
Fiona Flood, Registrations – fiona@aberdeen-angus.co.uk
Yvonne Buchanan, Registrations – yvonne@aberdeen-angus.co.uk
Amy Johnstone, Pedigree Cattle Services, Stock For Sale, Stock Wanted, Website & Social Media Updates – amy@breedplan.co.uk
Barbara Webster, Pedigree Cattle Services – barbara@breedplan.co.uk
Helena Stewart, Aberdeen-Angus Accounts & Pedigree Cattle Services – helena@breedplan.co.uk

UK Sire Services – UK Sire Services are very much open for business and at the moment are concentrating on export orders for Australia & New Zealand in particular.

If any members have semen from their bulls that qualifies for export to these countries and is held at UK Sire Services and you would like it to “Hitch a Lift” with consolidated shipments that UK Sires are preparing then please let them know. It will save considerable expense by sharing transport cost with many others.

Exports into Europe have been incredibly busy but are starting to slow down as the breeding season approaches.

Please contact Rob Wills –
Tel: 01364 661775
Mobile: 07980 894660
Email: rob.wills@uksireservices.com

We are deeply saddened to inform you that the long-standing Chairman for the German Angus Association Mr. Dietz Kagelmann succumbed to his severe cancer and died on 30th March 2020.
Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this sad time. Click here to view the obituary from the German Angus Association

Official Society Shows & Sales –

• Dungannon – 21st April – CANCELLED
• Stirling – 3rd & 4th May – Despite trying to establish what is happening we still have no official clarity to communicate to the membership – for any more information please contact United Auctions.
• Carlisle – 8th & 9th May – H&H are planning an online timed auction for the forthcoming May Sale and have published a preliminary guide for buyers and sellers as to how this might work. To find out more please click here For anymore information please contact H&H.

Cancelled/Postponed Events –

Over the last few weeks, we have seen our summer shows come to an end before they have even started! To view all cancelled and postponed events please click here
If you hear of any events which are cancelled/postponed over the country then please let us know by contacting Amy – amy@breedplan.co.uk

⭐️STOCK FOR SALE & STOCK WANTED ⭐️

With our spring society sales being affected by outbreak of COVID-19, we would like to remind members of our stock for sale & stock wanted sections on our website.

If you would like to advertise stock for sale & stock wanted on our website then please send all the relevant information, contact information along with pictures/videos to Amy: amy@breedplan.co.uk
Potential buyers can contact members directly.

(Stock for sale is for Aberdeen-Angus members to advertise only. We only publish adverts for pedigree Aberdeen-Angus stock).

News & Notices from Ireland:
BULL SALES:

The annual multi-breed bull sales in Kilkenny produced a 60% clearance in the Aberdeen-Angus ring, with bulls selling to a top price of €3100. This sale was hit by concerns relating to the Covid-19 outbreak with strict admission procedures and health safety policies in operation on the day. Full details from the sale can be viewed by clicking here 

The catalogue for the Gigginstown House Aberdeen-Angus sale is now online 

The Irish Aberdeen-Angus Association has compiled a list of breeders who have pedigree Aberdeen-Angus bulls for sale this Spring. The full list has already appeared in the Irish farming press and the full list can also be viewed here

Please note that the remaining bull sales for the Spring season have all been cancelled.

ONLINE BULL SALE

In light of the cancellations of the remaining bull sales this Spring, the Irish Aberdeen-Angus Association has taken the decision to hold its first ever online sale of pedigree Aberdeen-Angus bulls on Friday, April 24th. The sale will be conducted by auctioneer, Denis Barrett with the entries for the sale now closed since Thursday, April 9th. We hope to showcase photos and videos of the bulls online and in the farming press closer to the sale date so please keep an eye out for all of that.

For all the relevant information please see below and click here to see more along with the entry form:

The following is required for entering bulls:
1. A 30 second video.
2. A number of good photos.
3. A photo of the bull on a scales showing his weight.
4. A picture of his ICBF figures.
5. A picture of his pedigree certificate.

Click here to see Denis Barrett’s website of a template for 2 complete bull entries:

There is also no requirement for bulls to be halter trained.

News & Notices From Kathryn In The Irish Office:

Kathryn is working hard to compile the sale catalogue for the first Irish Aberdeen-Angus online sale (as well as dealing with the normal upsurge in calf registrations at this time of year), so please don’t delay in sending in additional video/photo/details etc of your bull entries for the online sale as your co-operation is essential to ensure that all particulars can be processed by the office in a timely manner.

News & Notices from the CEO Barrie Turner:

• I must report that Angela Cumming our Finance Manager’s father lost his battle last weekend, after a period of illness and sadly passed away. Our thoughts are with Angela and her mum at this sad time made worse by the prevailing conditions of restricted movements for all.
• What a strange period we are living through currently with disruptions to our everyday lives that very few have experienced in their lifetimes.
• The freedom to choose what we do has been curtailed from both a private perspective and a work perspective.
• Things will get back to normal and we are using this time carefully within the office team to ensure that we revisit everything we do.
• Look at opportunities that the situation presents to make our systems and practices and questioning. Do we really need to print that? Or is there another way.
• On discussion with one member this week he did say he was aghast at the number of envelopes that he gets through his door monthly from the Society and fully supported a reduction to this.
• The opportunity to do this reflection is now and we will come out the other side of this better equipped with better practices and systems for us to be more efficient in what we do.
• The Spring Newsletter is now up online, we have not printed and posted a hard copy of this edition but have published it on the web site, you can see it here.
• Sales are proving to be difficult and very time consuming to manage owing to COVID-19 we are working and hope to find some ways forward for members to market stock and keep cashflow going.
• Important changes to our DNA programme continue to be further developed and the intricacies of the implementation to ensure that we get the most out of this from a Breed perspective is key. Online meetings on this have been held this week as well as identifying software and hardware solutions to enable us to progress on so many fronts.
• Show cancellations continue to mount up and the season has been decimated, it takes as long to undo what we have spent time preparing for the show season and is a key activity at the moment ensuring we don’t incur unnecessary expense.
• Breed promotions in general is going through some changes because of the show season disruptions as we look for different ways to promote the breed and the brand in the absence of the shop window.
• Taken delivery of my new vehicle which is incredibly cost efficient for the Society being a commercial vehicle, I also need to add a very comfortable drive. Lime green or black? I took the black!! If you are looking for a pick-up, I strongly recommend you have a look at the Amarok from VW.

• Most of all this week I must thank the Staff at Pedigree house for their adaptions to their working lives that prevail at the moment. Everyone is working away from the office base without too much discomfort I thank you all for your cooperation and commitment in helping the Society carry on as near to normal as we can.
• I also need to thank all of you out there for your continued support over this period of disruption that is affecting us all.

News & Notices from the Office Manager Laura Stewart:

A lot of my time since the last update has been spent helping to sort issues that have arisen from an IT and administrative point of view to allow staff to continue working remotely. This is new way of working for us and I continue to monitor this daily and deal with any teething problems as they arise to ensure we can all continue to work from home as best we can. This has meant that I have been working in isolation from the office for a few days so that software and hardware can be sorted when there are inevitable glitches which can happen, but I’m pleased to say that it is very much business as usual for us all.
We are all able to access remotely our desktop workstations from home via laptops and we have had to replace some equipment that has failed and continue to monitor what is necessary to improve working remotely, sourcing for example some larger screens for the laptops, printers, cabling etc to enhance and streamline what we can do.

In between times, I’ve also been working on minutes and actions resulting from the Council and committee meetings. The Members Newsletter is available online  which contains a full report on the March Council and Committee meetings and is worth reading if you haven’t already done so.
As mentioned in the last update, e-mails are the preferred method of communication but should you be unable to email the telephones at Pedigree House are on divert to personal Mobile phones and these will be answered during the normal working hours of each member of the team.

News & Notices from the Registrations Department:

• Yes, business is mostly as usual, with online registrations being kept up to date, Farmplan, Farm Matters registrations are also all processed currently.
• We are posting out most Certificates of Pedigree when invoiced and when the DNA sample is on file.
• Where possible we are emailing everyone their invoices, please check your junk folder in case it lands there by accident.
• All ROI registrations are being processed as normal and posted out when possible.

News & Notices from Pedigree Cattle Services:

With the outbreak of COVID-19 we are all working from home but continuing to process all your weightings etc. If you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to contact any of us.

Please see important information below regarding our accredited scanners:

Due to the Coronavirus restrictions in place the scanners are not operating until further notice.
To have at least growth EBVs in place, can breeders please weigh their cattle before turn out. As scan data can be accepted up to 30 months of age hopefully the scanners can catch up with the backlog later in the year if the situation allows.

We are up to date with weights at the moment but with communications being a bit hampered if you would like your weights to be included in the next ABRI run (Friday 8th May) please send them in with plenty of time available pre the close off date. The April run was picked up today (9th April).

Email is a must on this so please send to Barbara directly: barbara@breedplan.co.uk

News & Notices from Tina Russell National Co-Ordinator YDP:

Everything still on hold, keep safe people, there will be lots of catching up to do once the world gets back to normal. Why not check out The Greatest Online Agricultural Show on Facebook, there are cattle classes to enter.

From us all at the Society STAY SAFE & STAY AT HOME