United Kingdom or Spain?!
With the United Kingdom officially hotter than Spain the last two weeks we hope that you have all made the most of the summer heat here and the next thing we know we will be looking for rain if this carries on! However for those of you in the South West Quarter you will have had your fill of Rain and Thunder storms with some 30,000 lightning strikes we hope that no one incurred any damage. Should you need the steps for a Cherokee rain dance these can be found at,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsD59v-c1OU
Pretty jam packed agendas over the last two weeks for all at Pedigree House and beyond with the Carlisle bull show and sale taking place amongst several other events, including the National Beef Expo down in Shrewsbury. Youth Development workshops have continued to run up and down the country with the first Scottish YDP workshop taking place in Nairn which we look forward to telling you all about.
GDPR
To all that have sent back the GDPR forms a big thank you and we are running slightly behind time with everything else that is going on at the moment with uploading the some 2000+ that we have now had back which is a pretty manual and laborious task. Thanks go to Laura for taking this head on and working with our IT consultant to get it right.
As we work through the pile we will be getting to the point where we will be assembling a list to take off the records of those who we have not received an answer from as per the new legislation on this. If you have not yet sent the form back please do so as it will be a little while before the updating gets completed.
We are also now working as quickly as we can on a solution for the clubs and will communicate this out to you when we have this sorted to give us a quick and economic fix.
Visit to the Royal Garden Party
As part of the massive list of celebrations for Prince Charles 70th Birthday a party for the Society was invited to the Garden Party held in celebration of his Patronages and societies that the Prince represents. It was a chance for the Ladies to get on some Finery with Barbara Webster, Angela Cumming, Caroline Ford, Gayle Bersey and the President to look out their best Frocks and go to London for the day. A super day on the lawns behind Buckingham Palace where you had the opportunity to realise how active Prince Charles is and how involved he is with so many different organisations with some 6500 people in attendance. The ladies were joined by Alex Sanger, Paul Jeenes, Alan Cheney Brandon Brocket, YDP story and the CEO. A beautiful sunny day in Central London made the day just that bit more special and a great experience for all. Six of the party were selected to meet Prince Charles on behalf of the society.
Visit to Federal Association of German Angus Keepers (BDAH)
The CEO and Ben Marsden, one of our council members, visited the National Federation of Angus breeders in Germany. An action packed tour which involved arriving Friday evening after a 300km drive on the Autobahn a brief tour of the facility where the show was being held the evening before with the president , Dietz Kagelman and the Managing Director Dr Sabine Schmidt where we viewed some 150 cattle assembled for the German National Angus Breeders show.
A very different show format followed with some 8 hours of judging resulting in the Supreme Champion and the reserve champions of the breed in Germany having Rawburn and Moncur breeding in the parentage.
There were various types of Aberdeen Angus on show and as with every country the various types fit different terrains. Also interesting for us was to look at mixed red and black Angus being judged in roughly equal quantities.
Both Ben and the CEO would like to extend our thanks to the German Society for providing us with Jost Grunhaupt our very able interpreter for the day and also for trying to arrange a farm visit on our way back to Frankfurt which I’m afraid we had to forgo owing to the prevailing traffic conditions that left Ben chewing the steering wheel in frustration! When we did hit the open road Ben took full advantage of the lack of speed limit restrictions and leaving the CEO very happy that he had packed some extra smalls.
Carlisle Spring Show and Sale
The Carlisle spring show and sale took place on the 25th of May 2018. This year’s sale saw 56 bulls sold at an average of £4,331.25 which was around £180 more than at the event last year. Aberdeen-Angus trade was very strong achieving a 92% clearance rate, with Male and Supreme Champion Tonley Ernie from the Wattie family achieving the highest price of 10,000gns. Much thanks go to council member Dallas Allen for being at the inspection, and keeping the CEO right, stewarding the show and also Amy Johnstone who took her place for the first time on her own in the Weighing box
To find out more and to see the full show sale and report including pictures of the cattle and people at the show then click on the link below:
Planning for the Open Day at Longford Farms, Salisbury
A really top class agenda is being pulled together for the Open day with speakers demonstrations and a farm tour that will demonstrate to all the power and commerciality of Aberdeen Angus. The date for your diary is the 4th of July there will be further information in the very near future so keep a lookout but save the date in readiness for your attendance.
Norfolk YDP Workshop
The third workshop of the year took place in Norfolk on the 5th of May which was kindly hosted by the Jeary family. Much thanks go to them for opening the doors of the Briston herd of Aberdeen Angus and taking the time out at a busy time of year to host the day. This week we managed to speak to Hannah Haistead aged 15 as she gave us her account at her first ever YDP workshop. To find out more and see some pictures of the trainers and attendees going about their tasks, and Hannah’s first experience of a workshop then click on the link below:
First Scottish YDP Workshop of the year
The first Scottish YDP workshop of the year was held at Galcantry farm in Nairn. David Walker who operates the Galcantry herd kindly held the workshop at his farm on the 12th of May. This week we caught up with Katie Meston, aged 16 as she attended her first ever YDP workshop. If you would like to find out more then click on the link below:
National Beef Expo 2018
Friday the 25th May saw the staging of the National Beef Expo held at Shrewsbury Auction Market this year, an unfortunate clash with the Bull sale at Carlisle but the Society supported both events and everything worked out well. A strong presence of interest in Aberdeen Angus was demonstrated at the Expo from all aspects of the beef industry in attendance. For a full report please visit:
http://aberdeen-angus.co.uk/news/national-beef-expo-2018/
Aberdeen-Angus overseas: Bora Farm, Hungary
It’s always nice to hear about breed development overseas and this week we have been in contact with Uwe and Nora from Bora Farm in Hungary which they run as a family farm. They are situated 175km East of Budapest in terrain and climate that particularly suits the Aberdeen-Angus breed. When speaking on the phone with them they are very interested in keeping the Aberdeen-Angus and not “Angus” cattle! To find out more about Nora’s beef enterprise in Hungary then click the link below:
http://aberdeen-angus.co.uk/news/aberdeen-angus-overseas-bora-farm-hungary/
CEO Visit to the Moncur Herd
The CEO took time out to go for some fresh air and visit Russell Taylors Moncur herd and catch up with all things Moncur, have a chat over society matters and have a look at the stock that will be included in the October dispersal sale. The set up at Moncur is enviable with everything geared up to handle stock with whatever tasks you have in mind the grass paddock system to maximise grass utilisation is well and carefully thought out and all in all a great place to see. The CEO was then treated to a cup of tea and hot homemade scones and Jam prepared by Nancy, Russell’s wife, while on tour. These were of course very enjoyable and well received, thank you!
Just when I was leaving Andrew and James Reid came into the yard and it was good to meet them and also David Stubbs from Logie, we had a discussion about Aberdeen-Angus types and the place for figures and an invitation was extended to visit the cattle lines at the Highland Show, something which I am very much looking forward to!
Connaught/Leinster Aberdeen-Angus Club Tour
The Connaught/Leinster Aberdeen-Angus Club are planning a three-day tour this summer. The three-day tour is in the planning stages at present, but the intention is to visit the Munster region during the last week of July (provisionally around the weekend of 27th – 29th). The tour would include stops at some of the best-known pedigree Aberdeen-Angus herds in the area, with the aim being to visit 7 herds in total alongside wonderful opportunities to take in the sights and scenery of the picturesque Munster province. If you would like to get involved and this is something you may be interested in, then click on the link below to find our more information:
http://aberdeen-angus.co.uk/news/connaughtleinster-aberdeen-angus-club-tour/
The CEO had a visit over to the Emerald Isle this week and caught up on where the Genomics project that is much developed in the South of Ireland with much more engagement with the beef farmers than we have on the mainland. With so much technology and information out in the field, and requirements of each farm business being different and unique not one tool fits all. As a society we can identify the tools that may help make good choices, Breedplan, Genomics, look shape and feel of Aberdeen Angus as a breed but to focus on one aspect and put all the eggs in one basket is a risk and a balanced use of all the tools available could be a good compromise.
My thanks to Louis Byrne, John McEnroe, Mack Crowe and Katheryn Bradshaw for giving up the time for the meeting which was highly enlightening and productive. The CEO has now been in Ireland for 4 days and not seen a drop of rain – Amazing and unprecedented!!
Export opportunity
Elias Giorgalli is a member of the supplier team for CH Cyprus Farm Ltd and is interested to hear from anyone who may be able to help in his search for around 10-20 black Aberdeen-Angus bulls aged 4-6 months. If you might be able to help, please get in touch with Elias directly on [email protected] or by calling +35796519137.
Other Activities
The new show collateral has now arrived at the office following a long process of development the first airing will be at the Royal Cornwall show where we will be able to use some of the display equipment but the full set up will be there for all to see at the Highland.
DNA sire verification system is in the final throws of development prior to launch which we should be in a position to do by the time the next bi weekly update is published.
We are compiling a newsletter which will be available later this month with interesting and topical articles compiled to make up 20 pages of information which we hope will entice you into reading it from cover to cover.
We are working hard to deliver a solution to the many members who have requested and keep requesting to have the ability to pay by card over the phone. The system identified should enable anyone at the office to take payments and we hope that this facility will make it easier for members to pay for merchandise and services quickly and when it’s in the mind and bring us up to date. We will let you know when this facility is up and running.
Merchandise
With the warm weather over the last few weeks what better way to pack your picnic blankets, sandwiches and beach towels for your summers day out than with one of our lovely “Jute bags”’ for only £5 – make sure not to miss out!
You can purchase one of these by getting in touch with the Society directly on 01738 622477. 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.
Check out our merchandise section on the website to have a look at our full range of items. This can be accessed at: https://www.aberdeen-angus.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/attachments/Merchandise-poster-2018-web.pdf
A reminder that if you have any news, stories, stock for sale or images that you would like to share with us, then feel free to contact us at [email protected]. If anybody has any good photography of cattle for publicity material, then get in touch and your animal could be the new ‘face’ of the society.
Regional Clubs
Don’t forget to send us the local show results from your areas and we can keep track of any successes at a local level and pictures of stands and any activities open days farm walks visits games night barbeques or whatever let us know and we can post the results and the events on web and Facebook to give these events a lift.
Upcoming events
With the season in full swing there is plenty going on in the coming weeks and we look forward to seeing many of you at the following upcoming events:
Events:
Royal Cornwall Show
- 7th – 10th June 2018
European Secretariat
- 11-15th June 2018: Don’t forget the European Secretariat is coming up soon – a great opportunity to go see and hear of the developments and plans for Aberdeen-Angus in Europe. If you would like to find out more then click the link below:
http://www.aberdeen-angus.co.uk/news/european-secretariat-2018-estonia/
Royal Three Counties Show
- 15th – 17th June 2018
Royal Highland Show
- 21st – 24th June 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
We hope you all have a great weekend!