The UK is set for another heatwave, with temperatures set to soar to 33 degrees this weekend – a great time for making hay while the sun shines, as many of you are! With reports of low first cut silage and hay being described as ‘moderate’ yield-wise, many parts of the country are desperately in need of rain. World cup fever is on at the moment with the group stages coming to a close, the tournament is well under way and England are looking good so far, is it coming home? Well we will see where we are next time round!
It’s been pretty action filled this last couple of weeks with the show season in full swing, Royal Highland Show received great representation from council and members alike over the four days. The Society have also been busy planning the upcoming Aberdeen-Angus Cattle Society Open Day, we bring you the latest details of this below. We bring you the latest news from in and around the Society over the last 14 days.
We hope that you received your E-copy of “The Cud” and managed to chew it over we have hard copies that we can send out should you need one.
Society Open Day at Longford Farms
Come along to Longford Farms on Wednesday the 4th of July as the Society hold their Open Day! Visitors have the amazing opportunity to come and see the versatility, practicality and commercial nature of the breed first hand and the event is open to all, not only Aberdeen-Angus Society members, so please spread the word! Regular updates and reminders will be coming out over all our social media channels, so like and share as much as you can bring a car load and don’t forget all your commercial bull customers. This should be a really great opportunity to reinforce that Aberdeen-Angus is the only choice to make.
The day consists of interesting and insightful sessions and demonstrations including a tour of the very successful Longford farm, stock judging and much more for everyone to enjoy on what will be a great day. There will also be presentations on herd health from Keith Cutler of Endell Vet Group and the UK Beef Industry post Brexit ‘Challenges & Opportunities’ from NFU President Minette Batters.
Again, we would like to encourage members to come along to enjoy what will be an informative and enjoyable day – please spread the word with your network of contacts and breeding enthusiasts to make sure we get a great turnout for our first Open Day in a few years. Please get in touch if you Click on the link below to find out further information of the day and please get in touch with the Society directly to register and for catering purposes if you would like to attend.
www.aberdeen-angus.co.uk/news/society-open-day-come-see-aberdeen-angus-at-work-at-longford-farms/
DNA profiling for the Sire Verification programme
We have got there! Over the next few days we will be sending out the lists of Bulls that are attached to your membership, we have made the process as simple as possible and we just need to track down all the active registered bulls out there and then we need to have the DNA profiles done on these as a start point to the sire verification scheme that is paramount to us protecting our British Aberdeen-Angus brand.
It is key that we need to act quickly and return the information to us so that we can gather the samples and have them profiled accordingly. The instructions will be coming out if you could please read carefully and return the sheet to the email address on the instructions.
DNA does not stand for “Dae Nothing Atall”, please complete the task so that we can safeguard the market, give our customers the reassurance that they can sell the Aberdeen-Angus brand with confidence, and preserve the premium that we all enjoy for our cattle. We need to maintain the point of difference that makes our breed work commercially.
Royal Highland Show 2018
The Royal Highland Show 2018 took place from Thursday 21st June – Sunday 24th June over the course of what was a busy, fun-filled, sunny four days in Ingliston, Edinburgh. The weather certainly attracted a large crowd to the show ring with Aberdeen-Angus cattle on show from 2pm on Thursday 21st of June under the auspices of Judge Hamish Sclater from the North East of Scotland. The overall breed champion from the Royal Highland Show was Stephanie Dick’s Crew Lady Jasmine S247 and the overall reserve champion was Mr and Mrs R&C Rettie’s Water End Payton N108.
The CEO would wish to thank all the breeders showing for the warmth of the welcome received on his daily visits to the cattle lines and it was great to join in some of the traditional activities after the showing day was done! Good to meet you all and look forward to continuing to support your efforts that make the Agricultural shows the great spectacle they are, your attendance and the time and effort and expense that you put in to is very much appreciated by the society
To find out the full results from the Royal Highland Show then click on the link below:
http://aberdeen-angus.co.uk/news/show-news/royal-highland-show-full-summary-of-results/
You can also view the photographs of class winners and Champions from the Show by visiting our website at:
http://aberdeen-angus.co.uk/news/show-news/photography-from-the-2018-royal-highland-show/
House of Schivas Open Day
Make sure to get down to Schivas Castle Family Open Day & Teas on Sunday the 31st of June and join them for light refreshments and the opportunity to visit the castle gardens. Funds are going to a great cause and they are raising awareness of their plans for ‘re-nutherapy’ which will be a dedicated rehabilitation centre based near Banff. Make sure to get yourself along this weekend and if you would like to find out more about this event then click on the link below:
https://www.facebook.com/events/256609388232031/
Royal Three Counties Show
The 2018 Royal Three Counties Show took place from Friday the 15th of June to Sunday 17th of June, and the Aberdeen-Angus breed champion at the event was Angus Neish’s heifer Rodmead Pribaby T815 (b. 24.01.17). It was Aberdeen-Angus who also won the supreme champion interbreed group of three at the event. You can see all results from the show be clicking the link below:
http://aberdeen-angus.co.uk/news/show-news/results-from-the-2018-royal-three-counties-show/
The European Angus Forum 2018
The European Angus Forum 2018 was hosted in Estonia this year as a number of Aberdeen-Angus breeders and enthusiasts from all over the world came together. From the Society, both Angela McGregor and Barrie Turner were in attendance along with a number of UK delegates. The final day of business included reports from each of the delegation from the countries present with facts and figures presented showing that it is not just in the UK where the numbers of Aberdeen Angus are on the increase and continuing to prosper on an international scale. The secretariat moved forward with formalising the group with motions being proposed which were passed unanimously to form The European Aberdeen Angus Secretariat and establish it as a recognised body. There are many ideas that we all have individually and many of the thought processes for taking the breed and the brand forward are being investigated. A pool of our resources will give us a louder lobbying voice and in particular the EUROP grading system which does not recognise the taste texture and consistency that the Aberdeen Angus can deliver and be rewarded for that. That was just one of the points that were discussed. What did come through was that all Aberdeen Angus breeding countries have ideas to take the breed forward, collectively we can move quicker rather than a fragmented approach with a small voice.
To find out more about Barrie and Angela’s experience at the forum then click the link below:
http://aberdeen-angus.co.uk/news/the-european-angus-forum-2018-in-estonia/
Looking Forward to Uruguay
The next secretariat is arranged for 2019 in Uruguay, have a look at the link below and make a note of the dates and come and see what Aberdeen-Angus breeders do with the cattle in what we are sure will be a very different environment to the UK and Ireland. It’s a great opportunity to meet like minded people and share ideas that can take the Aberdeen-Angus breed and brand to a new level.
We will be looking at options for travel but if you think you might like to go, lodge your interest with numbers in your party with Laura at Pedigree house on [email protected].
http://angusuruguay.com/world-angus-secretariat-uruguay-2019/en/secretariado-mundial/
Card payments have arrived!
Following repeated requests from the membership we have now got the ability to take payments by card, we take all the main credit and debit cards and even American Express. We are introducing this method of payment to make trading with the society easier for you and also hope that it may enable faster payments which again we are hopeful will help fund the small added cost to the society. We will be reviewing the costs and the level of activity that we see over the next three months with a view that we may not have to adjust pricing or implement a small charge for card payments. The more we use it the cheaper it becomes and we are confident that this will make us more up to date with the way that we conduct our business.
YDP workshops
On Saturday 30th June, Ben Marsden will be very kindly giving use of his facilities for the latest workshop where our youngsters will get to try their hand at a range of activities and learn from some of the best trainers in the business. You can find out about where the workshop takes place and more about YDP by visiting: http://aberdeen-angus.co.uk/news/this-weekends-ydp-workshop-facilitated-by-ben-marsden-at-liley-angus/
Clean sweep for Aberdeen-Angus at the Royal Highland Show!
It was a clean sweep for the breed in the Royal Highland Show steak competitions, coming out on top in both the ASDA and Tesco/McIntosh Donald steak competitions – a great achievement for all winners. Congratulations go out to Alan and Lesley Meston who were winners in the Tesco/McIntoch Donald competition and AM Hamilton and Son who won the ASDA competition. You can read more about this if you missed it the first time at: http://aberdeen-angus.co.uk/news/aberdeen-angus-to-the-fore-at-the-royal-highland-show-in-steak-competitions/
Merchandise:
With the summer heat coming our way, why not purchase one of our Aberdeen-Angus Aprons perfect for that warm summer BBQ, make sure not to miss out! Please find a link to our merchandise page where we offer many gifts and trinkets ideal for birthday presents and we can send these to your home address.
http://www.aberdeen-angus.co.uk/assets/2018/Merchandise-poster-2018-web.pdf
You can purchase one of these by getting in touch with the Society directly on 01738 622477 and pay for your purchases by card and more easily source that perfect Aberdeen Angus themed gift for all the cattle lovers in your life! Alternatively, we can add merchandise items to your account to save you the hassle of paying on the spot and the cost will simply be added to your next invoice.
Upcoming events:
Great Yorkshire Show
- 10-12th July 2018
Royal Welsh Show
- 23rd-26th July 2018
YDP workshops
- 30th June 2018 (10am): Liley Farm, Liley Lane, Millhouse Green, Penistone, Nr Sheffield. S36 9NG. By kind permission of Ben Marsden
- 1st July 2018 (10am): North Alfordon Farm, Okehampton, Devon, EX20 1RX. By kind permission of Dudley & Stuart Luxton.
Open Day
- 4th July 2018: Aberdeen-Angus Cattle Society Open Day at Longford Farms, Salisbury, further details to follow.
Stock for sale:
We’re continuing to add more stock for sale adverts to the website which you can view at: http://aberdeen-angus.co.uk/news/stock-for-sale/. If you have any stock for sale you’d like to promote, just get in touch with us at [email protected].
Remember, if you have anything you’d like the Society to share or inform other members of through these updates, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us and we are happy to accommodate all useful and newsworthy information.
Have a great weekend!