The sun has finally appeared, and we apparently have a ‘heat wave’ to look forward to across the UK this weekend (we’ll believe it when we see it!). With spring having finally sprung we are receiving lots of good reports on lambing and calving season progress, and the busy season on the livestock front is in full swing. As is testament to driving around the country’s roads, the land has also now in many parts become dry enough to start the seasonal land work so a busy time for all after a long and expensive winter. Just like you, all of us at the Society have been kept on our toes with the show and sale season now being in full swing, and plenty other activity in and around the Society. Here are our latest news snippets from the last 14 days:
GDPR: We want YOU!!
To all of you who have returned your GDPR opt-in form, a huge THANK YOU!
A reminder to all other members, please, please, please return your GDPR forms, your Society needs you too and are very grateful for your support and co-operation with this.
Thank you to one of our members who has suggested that we offer an incentive to all who return the form, and we like that idea! We will be holding a weekly draw using the returned forms for a bag of goodies from our merchandise stash, so to be sure of being included don’t forget to send your forms back, the winners will be announced in the bi-weekly updates.
New Member Spotlight: Douglas Frame from Birks Farm
It always good to know that we welcome newcomers into the society. This week we got the opportunity to catch up with new member Douglas Frame from Birks farm, where we learned about his operation, his current and future plans are for his herd. Having founded his herd recently with two pedigree Aberdeen-Angus cows purchased from Kincardine Castle, Douglas’ Shawgill Herd is now in full flow. Click the link to find out more:
http://www.aberdeen-angus.co.uk/news/new-member-spotlight-meet-douglas-frame-from-birks-farm/
Birches Herd claims prestigious RDS champion of champions title
The Birches Aberdeen-Angus herd picked up yet another award after being crowned the prestigious RDS Champion of Champions award which topped off their already very successful show season. Cheeklaw Emlyn P480 won this prestigious award which is a great achievement by all at Birches! Read the full story at:
Breeder profile: George Coles at Red Oak Farm
The Worcester sale saw the first entry from the Red Angus Herd at Red Oak Farm. Ahead of this, we got the great opportunity to speak to George Coles about the work done at Red Oak where he’s been in charge since 2011. The Aberdeen-Angus breed has a big place in the commercial herd at Red Oak Farm, with its ease of calving and low maintenance both major factors that will see numbers increase as the herd moves towards its goal of 150 commercial cows. For a good insight from George about the interesting work done, head to: http://www.aberdeen-angus.co.uk/news/breeder-profile-george-coles-at-red-oak-farm/
Show and Sale news
The annual Lisduff Aberdeen-Angus herd production sale will take place on Wednesday, April 25th at 12:30pm. The herd is owned by Leo McEnroe of Co.Cavan and their sale of pedigree Aberdeen-Angus breeding bulls will be at Mid Tipperary Mart. Make sure to head along if you’re in the area!
After a very successful year last year, the Gigginstown House annual production sale is back again on the 28th of April at 12 noon. The sale of pedigree Aberdeen-Angus bulls and heifers takes place at Fennor Farm in Co. Westmeath. This event is expected to be a great success again with last year producing a total clearance.
You can see all the society Show and Sale reports Worcester, Carrick-on-Shannon, Dungannon and Kilkenny. You can read the reports from these events along with others coming up in the coming weeks by keeping tabs on our Show and Sales news page on the website at: http://aberdeen-angus.co.uk/news/show-and-sales/
Show and Sale Society Rules
Following some discussion and debate at recent sales, all members are reminded to check the rules and terms and conditions that are sent with the entry forms for Society sales which are available on the website via the checklist link at: http://aberdeen-angus.co.uk/breeders-resources/sales/official-sales-checklist/. We would be really grateful if, when entering stock into the sales, these rules are complied with so to avoid any situations where time and trouble of getting there is a wasted effort and expense. We will be issuing a further update to tighten up the regulations governing what is acceptable at shows and we would ask everyone to comply, and thank you for your co-operation.
Meeting of the North East England A-A Club
Members of the North East England Aberdeen-Angus Club met at the Golden Fleece at Thirsk last week and had a presentation by Neil Wilkinson, the designer and marketeer of the “Farm Matters” software programmes that he demonstrated on the big screen. A number of features of the programme were demonstrated to all and a lively question and answer session followed. A big plus for the system is that it allows you to “do it once” in terms of registering pedigree cattle and logging them on to the BCMS system at the same time. There are a lot more features and applications to be used if you were to embark down this route, and a visit to the website is recommended where there is a free demo to try out to experiment the suitability of the programme. You can access it at: http://www.farm-software.co.uk/pedigreeplus.
This was followed by an update by the CEO to the members about many of the initiatives that the Society has underway at the present time and a little look into the future surrounding current events that might influence where we end up in the future. This included the GDPR questionnaire and the form that was being sent out to the sire verification DNA programme, and its impact on the wholesalers and retailers who we need to give assurances to that when it says ‘’Aberdeen-Angus’’ on the pack, it is “what it says on the tin”. An interesting night was had with lots of questions and debate on where and what we do, and need to do going forward, and a reminder to contact your Council representatives and use your voice to continue to drive our Society forward and constantly improve.
Hayley Bruce’s canape recipes
Hayley Bruce, the winner of the Aberdeen-Angus Scotch Beef award was kind enough to share with us her winning recipes from the competition. Hayley took part in the cookery competition which was held in conjunction with QMS as part of our World Angus Forum. After being revealed as the winner of the competition Hayley won the amazing opportunity to work with Michelin Star chef Tristin Farmer in Sydney. After winning the award we were treated to her amazing recipes at last year’s World Angus Forum Gala Dinner – these are sure to be a winner for anyone hosting a dinner party so make sure to give them a try!
To discover Hayley’s amazing recipes, then click on the link below:
West Mercia Aberdeen-Angus Club AGM
The president and the CEO were invited to attend the West Mercia A-A Club’s AGM, held at the Pear Tree Inn, Worcester. There was a good attendance for the meeting with John James and Terry Ives representing the Council, along with members young and old from the club. The general formalities of the AGM being completed, the CEO was invited to take the floor and offer a few words about where he had come from and where we saw the Society going over the months and years to come. The president then gave an update on the Council and the proceedings and projects that we have got running at the moment, and the meeting was drawn to a close following some lively debate and a question session.
The AGM was held the evening before the Worcester Bull sales which enabled some of the exhibitors from outside the club to join us for dinner, which swelled the numbers and led to a really good evening “chewing the fat” about all things Aberdeen Angus.
The CEO was pulled up on his statement about wanting to cover the country in Aberdeen-Angus Cattle and affectionately terming the breed “Black Magic” and was reminded that there are of course Red Angus out there! Having studied the colour scheme on the box after the meeting, he felt exonerated as there is a red stripe across the black!
Stock for sale
There has continued to be many stock for sale opportunities from the membership, make sure to check out the stock for sale section on the webpage find out about all availability. Likewise, get in touch if you would like help promoting your stock available. This section on the website is located under the News and Features tab on the homepage. Don’t forget to inform us when the stock is sold so that we can take down the posts and keep the “sale yard” tidy!
Merchandise
This week we’re getting topical in terms of what item of merchandise to feature here in our update! Many of you will have seen in the news recently the emphasis on recycling with many coffee chains looking to cut back on the amount of waste that occurs as a result of their takeaway coffee cups. What better way to do your bit to tackle this than buy getting yourself one of the Aberdeen-Angus travel mugs to use instead? You can purchase one for only £8 by getting in touch with the Society directly on 01738 622477. We can add items of merchandise to your account so don’t worry about paying on the spot, it will simply be added to your next invoice.
Don’t forget, if you have any news or stories that you would like to share with us or pictures that you have taken in the rain, hail, sleet, snow (or even the sunshine in the last couple of days!), you can send them to [email protected].
Have a great weekend!