‘It’s all about young people’

The brief that was given to me when I took over the Coordinator of the YDP was to move the programme forward. I looked at several different youth groups, both farming and on a wider scale, and one of the main activities that people enjoyed most was a weekend of fun and education bringing like minded people together. After looking at the 2009 YDP final held at the National Calf Show it became clear to me that the whole thing felt like a bit of an anti climax. I found myself asking the question: “why couldn’t the final be put together with a weekend event for all and further the fun factor of the YDP?”

In 2009 the top 24 participants were invited to Beef Expo at Carlisle where they were given already clipped and dressed calves to show in the ring. While there was plenty for parents to look at at the show, it did seem a bit of a shame for the participants to wait all day for their 20 mins in the ring. In theory they should have learnt lots of skills at the workshops throughout the year to be able to at dress the animals themselves and the older ones should be able to turn them out completely so this is what they will have to do in 2010!

So this brings us onto the new initiative:  The Weekend Event. This will take place at Rugby Market at Stoneleigh Park and will be open to anyone who has attended a workshop. Stoneleigh Park was decided upon as there is everything we need in one area, hotels, function rooms, penning facilities and an activities ground. It also is close to airports etc for ease of travelling. The itinerary will be as follows:

Friday 1^st Oct: Quiz night in Stoneleigh Lodge

Saturday 2^nd Oct morning: Seminars and workshops (UK sires, Photography, Mole Valley Feed Specialists, EBLEX) everything you may need to be an all round good stockman.

Saturday afternoon: Stockjudging competition for everyone and Finalists to prepare their cattle

3.30pm: FINAL (Judge this year will be Ian Campbell of noted Charolais and Limousin fame who is stockman for Danny Swarij)

7pm: Presentation Dinner

Sunday 3^rd Oct morning: Activities including Archery etc

After looking at the Canadian Junior Showdown, I felt that it would be good to introduce some competitions for all participants so we have added photography, poetry and Art so hopefully there will be something to appeal to everyone. This is the first time we have tried this event so the ideas have been simple to start, but we hope that we can use some other ideas that I learnt from Canada in the future events.

So this is the idea: to make this a really fab event that other breeds will be envious of and lots of youngsters would want to get involved in, all good PR for the breed. The first event of any kind is always a daunting venture and I’m sure it will take time for people to get used to change, but I do hope that participants and breeders will support this move. This initiative is already being subsidised by the Aberdeen-Angus Cattle Society as sponsorship for a first time event was hard to find, it is hoped that we can carry out some fundraising activities to help fund next year’s event. It will however need a lot of support from breeders too especially as I need to find 24 calves and lots of equipment. We are also pleased that Farmer Guardian has agreed to send a photographer and reporter so we should get maximum publicity.

I have very fond memories of attending both National and Regional Young Farmers weekends and I hope the youngsters will take home some great memories form this event. The workshops are great fun but it hoped that this will bring fun and friendship on a BIGGER scale.

If you would like some more info or feel you might be able to help out in anyway please contact Gayle on gayle@bersey.fslife.co.uk

The trainers and hosts follow the same workshop plan as everybody else, but I have stopped trying to pin them down to exactly what we are doing when as they have never let me down yet. I guess you could say it is ‘organic’, on paper you cannot tell what the cattle are like or how capable the participants are but we always have a great time and lots of great tips are passed on.

Hosts for the day were John and Kate Tait of the Westellen Herd, near Cork. We are very grateful to John and Kate who offered to host the workshop at short notice due to ill health in the original host’s family. Trainer for the day was Leo McEnroe who had made the long journey down to Cork from Cavan and that was quite a feat considering he had a cold (or was it man flu!!).  Leo is not only a very good stockman but he is fab with the youngsters too. It was also nice to welcome Albert De Cogan, The AA Society’s Senior Vice President along to see what we were doing on the day. It is great when our Council take a keen interest in the programme and then they know what I’m talking about when I’m at Council meetings.

The 10 participants were a mixture of young new comers and a few more experienced ones, but all could be described as enthusiastic. The cattle were the same mixture as the youngsters with some seasoned show animals and raw calves that had been haltered a few times. The day started with Leo showing everyone how to put halters on the right way round and tying the quick release knot. The more experienced three were then given the two well halter broken cattle and were left to prepare them for the show ring.

Leo did pop back every now and again to make sure questions were asked and answered but they got on with their own washing, blowing, clipping and dressing. The younger ones were shown how to halter break and quieten down the un-haltered calves. The calves were brought out and the youngsters took in turns to gently hold the halter while the calves walked round and the others were combing them and scratching them to put the calves at ease. I honestly think if that was all we had done the youngsters would have been happy just leading these calves around the pen. We did however have to admit defeat on one calf that came out of the crush, ran laps around the pen and somersaulted into the corner. To give him his due the young lad holding it didn’t let go!

The youngsters were then shown how to wash the cattle and set about the poor things with buckets of water and bubbles. We stopped for lunch on the lawn of the Tait’s house which has a ha ha around it which I keep insisting on calling a moat! Lots of chatting was done and stories told in the sun while the cattle dried in preparation for the afternoons work.

The afternoon sessions started with Leo taking the participants through the finer points of clipping, telling them why and where they need to clip. The participants then took it in turns and all of them got the chance to clip heads, tails, top lines and tummies. I will point out here that the cattle are very carefully assessed as to whether they are quiet enough to do this seminar and myself and the trainer make the decision, it is always pointed out that at the end of the day they are animals and whatever you are doing with them you should be careful.

It is great to have so many keen participants that are so enthusiastic about getting involved and a trainer that doesn’t tell them they’ve done it wrong, but just asks them what they would do differently next time. After clipping came the dressing and it is amazing how much soap is needed on four cattle.

When all the cattle were dressed they were all tied in a line and Leo ran through the points to look out for in pedigree cattle. It was great to have some ‘show fit’ ones and some just out of the field so the youngsters could see the difference and explain about feeding for different purposes.

Following this was the bit that everyone likes doing, the ring craft. Everyone took it in turns to lead something and they all did incredibly well. We finished the day with halter making. Luckily John Tait had whizzed into town to get some rope as we had forgotten it and everyone had the chance to make their own halter and as per usual everyone couldn’t resist trying them on.

Another fabulous workshop with many thanks to John and Kate Tait, Leo McEnroe and the Munster Club.

I try not to say too much about my personal trips to these workshops but I have received some great hospitality throughout the UK and Ireland. It is good to have some time to discuss the YDP with trainers and host farmers and they have certainly given me some great ideas to think about. I am getting nervous about the final weekend event as it has been a lot of hard work, but I am optimistic about the future of the YDP and with all the great plans I will have to start working on 2011 straight after the final.

The South West of England was home territory for me and as it’s mostly people I know it is always a bit of pressure, but this workshop couldn’t have been in more capable hands. Held at the home of the Rull herd of Ed and Claire Jones at Cullompton, Devon, and we had a master team of stockmen and women to help out too.

Ed and Claire have worked with me in the South West Club for several years and whatever they do they put a tremendous amount of effort in and do it well. We had numerous quiet animals to work with and we were fed and watered well during the day too. The job of chief trainer was the infamous Colin Hutchings who can be seen winning at most of the South West shows. Colin was aided on the day by Andrew Hughes who is well known for Herefords and turns out the Rull cattle for Ed and Claire. Also along for the day was Jack Ellicott who helps Colin out with his show cattle – when I say along for the day, Jack did help with the halter making demonstration but I did have to tell him off at one point for distracting the participants. We also welcomed along the Society’s President, Paul Jeenes and his daughter and I am hoping that Amy has picked up enough tips so she can get their cattle in the show ring, look out Southern Calf Show.

We had a good number of participants forward for the workshop but sadly four of them spent half the day sat on the M5 due to an accident but they managed to complete everything when they did eventually arrive albeit slightly more quickly than the others. The day started with Andrew showing how he would catch and tie the cattle for the first time which was really interesting as it involved sort of lassoing them first. We had a really quiet pen of heifers so everyone had the chance to have a go at putting the halters on including the very wee eight year olds. What they lacked in size they made up for in enthusiasm.

After all the heifers had been caught it was time for washing and everyone got stuck in. I like to see lots of buckets of water and hard work but Colin took pity on them and let them use the pressure washer too. Although all the heifers were quiet and broken there were one or two that weren’t quite so keen on washing and as one of the older attendees said, it is sometimes good to have ones with spirit as the trainers can issue advice on how to deal with it. The cattle were then blown dry and Colin finished the morning with a clipping demo, transforming one half of a heifer with the magic of clipping. It was interesting to see that the heifer that Colin clipped had not been very well behaved when washing but was like a pussy cat when in the hands of the experienced stockman.

After lunch we were treated to a very informative talk on health talk by Dan Leyman of the Vale Veterinary Group, Cullompton. It was great to see the youngsters asking questions as that means they were listening and interested. The vet asked how long the talk should last and I had said when the kids start fidgeting start finishing, funnily enough the first one to start messing around was the 70 year old trainer.

The practical sessions were resumed with the more experienced participants having some clipping experience with Colin and it seemed like they had a lot of fun too. The ones that had been held up in the accident washed some cattle with Ed and the less experienced ones clipped heads in the crush. Taking the head clipping workshop was well known Limousin breeder and prime stock shower, Vicky Maynard. Vicky had brought her daughter along to the workshop and was thrown in at the deep end when I needed an extra pair of hands. More body clipping was done with Andrew while everyone caught up with the ‘hands on experience’

The training continued with dressing cattle for the show ring. Colin showed everyone lots of different products and how they were used and the participants were let loose on the cattle with soap, glue, sprays and all sorts of exciting things and all the heifers came out fluffed and shiny – I only hope their hair didn’t fall out after we left!

We then moved on to the ring craft seminar. Each attendee was able to take out an animal and Colin gave them tips on how to improve their showing skills. Everyone did incredibly well and there was definitely some keen competition. The day ended with the halter making workshop, Jack had been preparing ropes all day and he and Colin showed the youngsters how to do it. This bit always creates some entertainment when people get into such a mess. One young lady must have taken it all in though as I had a face book message the next day to say she’d made a couple of halters when she got home.

Another friendly and fun workshop with many thanks to Ed and Claire Jones and Katherine, Colin Hutchings, Andrew Hughes, Jack Ellicott and Vicky Maynard.

Just two more workshops left in the 2010 programme and I’m off to Ireland this weekend and then Northern Ireland at the beginning of September. Details of the weekend event will be out soon and I hope the participants will support this new initiative. This event which will be open to all that have attended a workshop and will incorporate the final, the aim of this event is a bit if education mixed with a lot of fun with like minded people and to quote a well known supporter of the YDP ‘It’s all about the kids!’

But a smaller number means more attention for those that came along and we had a really great bunch of keen young people there.

The workshop was held at Tree Bridge Farm, near Middlesbrough, by kind permission of David and Penny Evans. They had got some excellent trainers on board and they made sure there was sufficient halter broken cattle. After doing such a good job last year, we welcomed back Eileen Wilson and Duncan McLaren. Eileen is well known for her British Blue and prime stock cattle and Duncan comes from the Netherton dynasty and is now back working with Angus in Yorkshire.

The participants were a mixture of experienced showers and complete novices which can sometimes be difficult but the older ones looked out for the younger ones and helped them throughout the day. We started off with David giving a brief chat about how he halter breaks his cattle; this was to give the newcomers an idea of how to get started in showing. This led onto learning the quick release knot, those that could do it showed those that couldn’t and several different ways were learnt by all.

While we were gathered in the yard we had a really interesting talk about health by Ben Strugnell from the VLA Centre, Thirsk. It is a really complicated subject but Ben managed to hit just the right level for all the participants and the adults present entered into some really good discussions.

The participants then went onto washing the cattle. For those that do it regularly it may seem simple but for the newcomers it is a great way to build their confidence with the cattle, particlarly when using buckets and brushes. As some moaned about having to use hard work and elbow grease it was interesting to hear that Eileen never uses a pressure washer.

The blowing came next and one young lady gave me a few more grey hairs as she blew the heifer right down to its feet. Luckily, Duncan wasn’t fazed by this.

We had lunch on the lawn and were treated to some great entertainment provided by three Jack Russell terriers. It is surprising what lengths dogs will go to to get a hula hoop, especially when aided by young lads!

While everyone was sat on the lawn Duncan gave a demonstration of how to make a halter. I’m not sure this demo helped anyone when it actually came to making one themselves though as it really is complicated. The attendees split into two groups and some made halters and the others were treated to a clipping seminar by Eileen. She was great at explaining the shape of a beef animal and the points to accentuate and those to hide.

The more experience participants got to clip some cattle themselves under the expert eye of Eileen and the not so experienced ones were helped by David to have a go at clipping heads. It was then change around time and one young person turned out to be a complete natural when it came to making halters. Sadly as per usual I didn’t get to make one myself but did manage to get one back through airport security in my hand luggage.

The youngsters then got to dress the cattle for the show ring using various different products found in Eileen and David’s show boxes and they all came out shining and some of them nearly worn away with the amount of enthusiasm put in. Everyone got the chance to take an animal out for the ring craft demo. The heifers did come in varying degrees of difficulty and everyone did really well including the ones that weren’t even big enough to look over the cattle.

The day ended with a bit of a quiz, Farmway Feeds had provided some feed samples and the youngsters had to guess what they were, a great discussion took place as everyone had a sniff and feel of the various raw samples and David and Duncan explained what they fed their own cattle with.

Those that made it to the workshop enjoyed a fabulous day with lots of hands on experience and the YDP is very grateful to David and Penny Evans, Eileen Wilson, Duncan McLaren and Ben Strugnell for all their efforts.

I keep saying that you can always learn something no matter what your age and that goes for me too. I used a tip that I had picked up at Netherton last week when showing my own cattle and I have to say it worked a treat. Next workshop is on home territory for me in Devon, the weather forecast looks good and perhaps this time I might be able to make a halter myself.

William McLaren Junior was last year’s Society President and was a driving force in pushing the Youth Development Programme forward. Both Senior and Junior were on hand to impart some of the wisdom that has made Netherton a household name over the years and their National Show victory the day before was a prime example of their success. Joining the team for the day were Ian Anderson, a veteran stockman with numerous success stories to his name and Stuart Thompson who has been through the YDP system attending the final and coming third in 2008.

As with all the workshops this year, we had numerous well behaved cattle to work with and I did think it was brave to let the youngsters loose on the show team, especially as they are out again this week. We started off splitting into smaller teams with the first group making halters with William Snr and Ian. I did find it very entertaining listening to all their stories from their many years in the showing world and think those kinds of things are priceless.

The other group went with William Jnr and Stuart to start work on the cattle. They washed their calves the good old fashioned way with lots of buckets of water and were shown how to use the blower and the pressure washer and then practised the quick release knot, I think that lesson helped some of the more mature attendees too. The groups swapped round and more halters were made and cattle washed. It never ceases to amaze me that after making a halter at least one person has to try it on themselves.

We stopped briefly for lunch and while we had a captive audience in the farmhouse kitchen, William Jnr gave a little talk on health. I say little, we had laughed beforehand that five minutes would be enough be I think he managed to make it last about 20! But Health is a complicated matter and all the facts do need to be covered. After lunch the weather wasn’t so kind to us. After spending a little time ‘persuading’ a little heifer to go in the clipping crate the heavens opened and we had to move inside, despite me saying ‘it’s only a passing shower!’

It was then Ian Anderson’s turn to do his stuff. We had asked Ian along as he is great at clipping cattle. There is such an art to it that I never tire of watching an expert clip and hopefully the participants will have seen the tremendous difference that it can make to an animal. The heifer Ian tackled had a lovely fluffy coat, so he was able to show the youngsters what to emphasis and what to hide and the heifer came out looking like velvet.

It was then the turn of the participants to have a go and again they were let loose on the show team and thankfully they all did a fine job. Having clipped the heads and tails it was time to do the show preparation seminar, now here’s where I learnt a few tricks. William ran through how he would turn out winter and summer coats and then everyone had a go. William really did let us in on some of his top secrets and that’s what these workshops are all about, you will need to enter the YDP for us to share them with you.

We finished the day with the ring craft seminar where everyone got to take something out and walk it around the yard. Funnily enough everyone always wants to take the Red heifer out and one young lady did such a good job that she has been asked to do it Grantown Show.

It was yet again another great workshop with huge thanks going to all the McLaren Family, Ian Anderson and Stuart Thompson.

As this is my second year in the job I am seeing some of the youngsters coming around for the second time. It is incredible how much they change in a year and how they grow in confidence and ability. To achieve their Certificate in Animal Care and Presentation they have to gain showing experience with an Angus breeder and it is always nice when you help them find someone for one show to see them at the end of the season still helping those people. But that’s what it’s all about and I think young and old gain something form the experience. Off to the North of England workshop this week where yet another member of the McLaren team will be on board.

The workshop was held at Rathkenny, just outside Cootehill by kind permission of Micheal Smith of the Lawsonford herd and the training was in the capable hands of Leo McEnroe who needs no introduction. As I said last year, there is many an Irish Show winner with the McEnroe name involved in it.

The day was also like a who’s who in the Irish Aberdeen Angus Association. We were delighted to have the President, Joe Keville and the secretary, Kathryn Bradshaw, pop along to see what we were up too. We also had the Connaught and Leinster Club Secretary, Dermot Lynch and Chairman, Jim Mulvey who were also involved with the day.

The workshop started with five autumn calves in a pen that had only been haltered twice before. The participants put halters on and Leo took them through the first stages of how he would halter break cattle. The participants held the end of the rope loosely and got to know the calves, scratching their tails and combing them gently. It wasn’t very long before the calves were settled enough to tie up and the fun began.

First off was washing, bearing in mind these calves hadn’t really been tied up a great deal they behaved really well, having just enough ‘personality’ to test the participants skill. Then it was time for blowing, as Leo pointed out this can make a real difference to the coat if it’s done properly. After blowing the coats we did take some photos to be able to do demonstrate the before and after clipping but we forgot to get the after shots!

While the cattle were tied up and finished drying, Leo took the opportunity to discuss with the attendees about what they should be looking for in breeding and show cattle. It was very interesting to hear the young people’s comments and they were soon putting their ideas forward freely. We stopped briefly for lunch and it was great to hear the friendly banter between all the participants. After numerous buns were consumed, Jim Mulvey treated the youngsters to a very informative talk on health, covering lots of issues that can affect your herd.

The afternoon hands on sessions continued with the clipping seminar. Leo clipped one of the calves from top to toe explaining where and why to clip. It was then the turn of the participants to have a go and the electric went off. After numerous people flicking trip switches (it’s amazing how all the attending adults thought that flicking the switches up and down numerous times was going to make it work!), a solution was found in the form of Micheal Smith’s neighbour and all youngsters set about tidying the calves with clippers.

It was great to see these young people setting about clipping with great confidence and Leo was on hand to give then some pointers. Although I’m not sure getting one calf to look like Jedwoods third brother was quite in the plan.

The calves were then prepared for show and with the participants then dressed in their showing attire, the newly broken calves took to the ring. Leo imparted some words of wisdom on how best to get the cattle to do what you want them too and emphasised the point of handling cattle gently as they always remember what is done to them. The day ended with halter making which always causes great amusement. There were the ones that did an excellent job at it on their own, there were the ones that tried really hard and then there was the one that managed to get tangled in a bit of rope.

So another successful workshop under the YDP belt and huge thanks go to Leo McEnroe, Micheal and Josephine Smith and Jim Mulvey.

The workshop at Rathkenny was all that I love about the YDP and my job, there was so much fun and laughter throughout the day and everyone got on so well. When Joe Keville gave a vote of thanks for the day, Micheal Smith answered with a very true statement “the young people you have met today will be your colleagues and contacts for the next 40 years” I think he was absolutely right. While YDP is about education, it is also about having fun and meeting like minded people and there were certainly some good friendship made at every level.

After seven hours of recycled air on a plane I was really looking forward to some fresh air when we landed. I was in for a rude awakening. As I stepped off the plane into 84 degrees, the humidity in Montreal hit me like a brick wall!

I met Jess Denning, last year’s YDP winner and we headed to Saint- Hyacinthe, Quebec the location of the Canadian Junior Associations “Showdown”. I had known that we were going to the French speaking part of Canada but I was a bit naive to the fact that they actually don’t speak much English. I started to wish my GCSE French hadn’t been quite so long ago as we went to a restaurant and it was all in French with no translation. By the end of the showdown we were saying ‘Bonjour’ to everyone.

Showdown was the main reason for my visit. Jess had been invited to compete after she picked Canada as the place for her prize, a study trip abroad and I took the opportunity of tagging along to take a look at what makes their programme so successful. I wanted to know how they get and keep 600 members.

The Canadians run a very different programme to ours and it’s much along the same lines as our Young Farmers Clubs. The juniors are under 21, need to own cattle and they pay to belong to the Junior Association. Just like our Young Farmers Club’s they run both provincially and nationally and both are run by the Juniors themselves, with an adult advisor like we have in the form of YFC club leaders.

Each province then votes for members to go forward to the National Board of Directors that run the national programme. The main event at both levels is the Showdowns, where junior members come together to compete at all manner of character building activities, as well as many cattle competitions. Building great agricultural leaders for the future is the other national initiative that takes the form of a conference style weekend usually held in February.

Showdown was everything I expected it to be, although no adult participation at any level left me somewhat frustrated as I would’ve loved to have got involved. There is no lower age limit so if the “pee wees” or juniors need help then they ask an older participant to help and that is great to watch. The Showdown programme was all about healthy competition and the activities are designed to create confident well rounded individuals.

Some competitions are completed before the Showdown, such as photography, art, literature (essays or poetry) scrap booking and graphic design. Activities that took place during the three days were: team grooming (two people with 10 mins to dress an animal); stockjudging (written reasons, with top from each age group being chosen for team judging); showmanship, public speaking, sales talk (bit like an interview); print marketing (cut and stick a poster) and a cook off (teams of six preparing two steaks, loads of effort with everyone dressing up in their chosen theme).

Then there are the confirmation classes for those who brought their cattle along. As the national Showdown moves location each year, junior members get the chance to bring their own cattle when it’s close to them. There are lots of prizes on offer but the main trophy for each age group is the aggregate award, a fantastic silver buckle. It’s all about buckles in Canada!

Canadian Junior Coordinator, Belinda Wagner and the Board of Directors were great at encouraging Jess to join in and she ended up entering 8 of the 11 competitions and doing pretty well at that! As we had only arrived in Canada the day before, the art was done in the hotel room, the literature was done in the bar and public speaking was done with me timing Jess in the restaurant to check she was within the time scale.

First competition was team grooming where Jess and the American Red Angus Ambassador, Montgomery Dempsey, made up an international team. Neither Canada nor America clip bellies as they want cattle with depth of body and I really wanted to see their faces if Jess did it, but whilst borrowing someone else’s animal it wouldn’t have been the right time to make a point! Jess came away from Showdown with Champion in Print Marketing and Literature and reserve champ in art and public speaking.

I think the biggest thing that struck me about the Junior Association was how well the Canadian Angus Breeders as a whole support this initiative. Each provincial association is responsible for their own fund raising, which usually involves heifer or embryo raffles and silent auctions. The national programme is funded by auctions and even things like golf tournaments. One of their biggest fundraising ideas is a calendar, at the presentation dinner after showdown, breeders paid between $1000 – $1600 to have a page in it! That truly is great support for the future of the breed.

The next part of Jess’ trip took her to Calgary and as the Stampede was on the temptation of Rodeo and cowboys it was more than I could bear so I went too! It also gave me a great opportunity to meet and chat with the Canadian Association employees and I got the chance to find out more about their Ambassador programme from Assistant Manager, Michael Latimar.

The Canadian Association picks an Ambassador each year that represents the Association on a trip abroad. This is run as a separate programme to the Junior Association but the applicants need to be Junior Members. The applicants must send their CV, write an essay, go through an interview, give a speech to the Angus Association Presidents reception and take an agricultural knowledge quiz. All this is to make sure they select someone who will give the best possible impression at international level.

The first home stay for Jess was with the Hamilton family of Belvin Angus and they very kindly put up with me too. Gavin and Mabel Hamilton are driving forces in Canadian agriculture and have both sat on many of the important industry boards and committees. They have obviously passed their enthusiasm onto their children as both Colton and Quinn have already had leading roles in the Junior Associations.

Quinn has just finished as President of the National Junior Association and currently holds the same position in the Alberta Juniors too. I was able to attend the first part of the Alberta Showdown where Jess was again encouraged to take part and we also got to see the 4H show too. That was a real eye opener in terms of the cattle in Canada and how meat grading systems affect the kind of cattle we all keep. From an Angus breeders point of view you have to admire a country where every breed looks like an Angus. The black Simmentals were some of the best I’ve ever seen, especially with those lovely Angus heads and I was almost tempted to bring some home.

I left Jess in the capable hands of the Hamilton’s and I think she’s going to work there for the next few weeks. I was very grateful for the hospitality shown to me at Belvin and I thoroughly enjoyed talking about and looking at cattle for three days. A big thank you to Gavin, Mabel, Colt and Quinn and the Canadian Angus Association who all made my trip really enjoyable, everyone I met was really friendly and I have certainly come home with a few ideas that will move the YDP forward.

Jess Weeks with past president William McLaren

Jess not only completed her workbook, but also took part in countless show activities with Rob and Rachel Bishop of the Warrenho herd on last year’s circuit and will again join the same team for this year’s circuit. She has entered the programme again for this year and hopes to make the final which is to be held in October.

I had not been to Suffolk before as we did not have a workshop in this region last year but 2010 has thrown forward some very enthusiastic participants.

The workshop was held at Bury St Edmunds, home of the Hawstead Lodge Aberdeen Angus herd, by kind permission of Andrew Brown and family and trainer for the day was Kevin Byford both fresh from their success at Suffolk County Show. Kevin had told me on my arrival that he was no teacher but I would strongly disagree as we had a great day and everyone went home having learnt lots including myself.

The day started with a look at the Hawstead Lodge herd show team. Kevin and Andrew ran through their feeding regime and explained how they halter break their cattle. They have a very interesting contraption that fits behind the Merlo that they take several cattle out on when first starting their training.

Kevin ran through some products that would be used to dress the cattle later in the day and everyone had a go at tying the quick release knot. He then demonstrated how to clip an animal, most of the attending participants had shown cattle but not clipped anything before, so Kevin explained where to clip and why we do it.

I only hope when I go to the East of England Show that I am not lynched by the Red Poll Cattle Society if their young Members get carried away and clip the Red Poll heads out. The morning sessions finished with half the attendees having some famous ‘hands on experience’ with clipping and Andrew took the other half to wash some animals. This was the most glorious job in the extreme heat.

Lunch was eaten in the fantastic and most importantly cool, Hawstead Lodge garden. It was great to get out of the sun and Mrs Brown looked after us all fantastically. While sat in the shade it seemed the ideal opportunity to have the talk on Health Schemes. Duncan Hole from Swayne and Partners came to talk to the group. Kevin had been told that Mr Hole was very nervous and when he was a little late we were worried he had done a runner, but all went well.

The afternoon sessions continued with the groups swopping around and more washing and clipping took place and even I got to give a hand with some clipping, it was great in the heat to be covered in little black hairs! Having washed and clipped some animals it was time for the dressing and ring craft session.

The youngsters were let loose with shaving foam, black soap and special ‘shine stuff’! Tails were fluffed and the cattle were tremendously quiet with all the fuss that was being made over them! Each participant had the chance to take a heifer out and show what they could do in the show ring, all of them showed with confidence and Kevin gave them some pointers to help in the future.

Another fantastic and friendly workshop with thanks to Andrew Brown and family and Kevin Byford.

A month now before the next workshops and then it will be the Republic of Ireland and South of Scotland in one weekend. I hope the good weather continues and thankfully I won’t have to go on the M25 to get to them!