The female average ended up at £4529.00 for 15 sold.

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.

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.

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.

Application forms can easily be downloaded from the website (top right of the YDP page) and must be sent back to the Society office by the 31^st March.

For more information on the workshop dates, venues or the programme itself, contact YDP co-ordinator Gayle Bersey on 07792 777889 or email gayle@bersey.fslife.co.uk.

17^th April – South East England workshop at Rosemead herd (Angus Stovold, Surrey).

15th May – North Scotland at Logie

23^rd May – Central England at Nightingale herd (Willie and Angela Robertson, Worcestershire).

3rd July – Southern Ireland at Luddenmore (Dr Michael and Martin Sheahan, Co Limerick) – trainer Leo McEnroe.

4^th July – South Scotland at Rawburn herd (John Elliot, Roxburgh Mains).

24th July – Central Ireland at Lawsonford, Cootehill (Michael Smith).

1^st August – Central Scotland at Netherton herd (Messrs W and D McLaren, Perthshire).

8^th August – North of England at Tree Bridge herd (David Evans, Cleveland).

14^th August – South West England at Rull herd (Ed and Clare Jones, Devon).

4th September – Northern Ireland at Richhill (Robin Lamb, Co Armagh) – trainer Gordon McWilliam.

Dates for Central Ireland, North Scotland and East Anglia will be announced shortly. Details of the trainers and times will also follow soon.

‘Wow, amazing, trip of a lifetime’ – words I thought I would only use when describing my trip to South Africa following the British Lions earlier last summer.

But the same could be said of my adventures and experiences gained from the World Angus Forum in Canada, touring round some of the top herds in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Montana, USA, as well as making the memorable trip down to the Palermo Show in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Very rarely have I experienced as many greeting hugs and kisses from so many women as in Argentina but that’s another story!

David Gray enjoying some chill time in the Rockies

Much will have been written about the success of the forum. It really was a wonderful event topped off with the presentation of some of the finest cattle in the world. Arriving on the Friday before the forum started gave us some extra days to do our own pre-forum tour conducted by John Elliot, Jun, where we took in the Coldstream, Hamilton, Belvin and Remital herds over the week-end (as well as managing to lose some money in the hotel casino!). In hindsight, I would have been better spending my money on some embryos. But unlike Jim Logan buying Hereford embryos, mine would have been black!

Sunday began with the World Secretariat Meeting where presidents and chief executives from all the leading Aberdeen-Angus countries gave a brief update on the development of the breed in their country. Discussions were also held on the future direction and problems currently facing the breed, followed by a presentation by delegates from Argentina for the 2011 World Secretariat meeting.

Unbeknown to me, I was to make a speech on the Society’s Youth Development Programme in the UK which I managed to talk my way round before heading off to the “World’s Greatest Outdoor Show” – the Calgary Stampede Finals day.

This really was fantastic. The atmosphere and sun, combined with the adrenaline of watching the competitors risking every bone in their body, really made it a fascinating experience. The rest of the week incorporated the showing of Red Angus, Black Angus, the Futurity Show and the Young Guns. What a show it was. The level of stockmanship, presentation and the quality was tremendous.

After the forum, with Niall Lynch and John McEnroe and family, we set off on our own post-forum tour which took in several ranches in Alberta – Adams Hirshe, Willabar, Remington and Ballyheather and Stevensons, VDAR, Leachman, Vermillion, GDAR and Rollin Rock Angus ranches in USA.

We also visited three semen collection centres where we saw some of the top bulls and most influential bulls used in the breed around the world, such as SAV Traveller 004 and SAV Net Worth 4200. By the end of that week, we were back in Canada and in the Saskatchewan area where we were very impressed with the Six Mile red and black herd, Peak Dot and Southland Angus ranches.

Emphasis in North Amercia is on smaller cattle, but with quick 400 day growth rates

Assessing the cattle in both Canada and Montana, it is clear to see the huge importance placed on the maternal side where the drive is for a very fertile feminine cow with tremendous udder. The focus is on smaller cattle that perform with quick growth to 400 days with the emphasis placed on marbling traits and line breeding to bulls with these desirable traits. Although this is now coming up with its own problems, the end product and the quality of the steaks I can assure you is superb. Hence the reason I am still sporting a bit extra flesh myself!

Next stop was Argentina. I flew down with Colton and Quinn Hamilton (Belvin Angus) and Brody Gardner (Diamond T Angus). Arriving in my Canadian summer gear of a vest, shorts and flip-flops, I got a major shock when I stepped off the plane and remembered I was now in the southern hemisphere and it is winter time. Alejandro Salamme, who I had met at the forum, picked us up and we were off to the show grounds.

Entering the huge Palermo stock barns was a wonderful spectacle. On my left was close to 600 black and red Angus and to the right, the rest of the breeds used in the country, the majority of which were Brangus, the popular Angus/Brahman cross. I was introduced to Juan Ezcurra, an advisor to 35 Angus herds throughout Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. He was in charge of 85 animals at the show. Right from the word go, I was asked if I had experience of clipping. I was immediately given a set of clippers, pointed towards an eagerly awaiting bull and told to get on with it.

After passing the test and given a few Argentinean pointers, I was then left with four Angus to prepare. Together with Alejandro’s brother, Javier, who I was staying with, we were responsible for these animals for the remainder of the show. Wednesday was calf show day for both heifers and bulls and although I had none in the classes, I was asked to prepare a couple and even had the opportunity of showing them in the ring.

Heifers and cows were judged on the Thursday and again I was involved in preparing and showing. Each division champion went through to the grand female champion class. It was very exciting with many of the 150,000-plus visitors each day passing through the cattle barns and stopping off at the judging.

From the offset, one thing which was very apparent – the type of Aberdeen-Angus I am used to seeing at the top of the line in the UK is different to the type chosen at this show. Any beast verging on above-average size was far too big for the judges at Palermo. But the cattle were very correct, easy fleshing with beautiful Aberdeen-Angus heads and an abundance of hair.

David Gray showing a first prize winner at the Palermo Show

Friday, July 31, was the show of bulls and the last day of showing. Again the huge crowds packed round the show ring as the bulls were prepared and shown. A bull from EL Cholo that I was looking after – sired by a past Palermo champion – won his class and was third champion in his division. He then went on to be the third top priced bull at the sale, making 18,000 pesos.

Grand parade at the Palermo Show

Another bull brought out by another of Juan’s teams was reserve overall champion. So it was a great day for the team resulting in celebrations going on well into the night – and two of the guys getting their heads shaved with the cattle clippers. Thankfully I managed to keep my hair on!

The Sunday night was another social occasion with all the stockmen getting a free steak plus as much drink as we wanted – all paid for by the exhibitors of the champions and reserve champions of each of the breeds. A good idea for Stirling, perhaps??!!.

The following night was the Aberdeen-Angus dinner, organised by the Association Argentina de Angus, in conjunction with the female sale where the champion sold for 62,000 pesos. I was left to prepare two females for the sale and lead them round the ring.

Next day was the bull sale where I had three bulls to lead round. I took huge pride in bringing out, preparing and leading the El Cholo bull although I had no idea at the time what he had sold for. However, I had figured out it must have been pretty good due to the round of applause it received.

I would like to thank the Aberdeen-Angus Cattle Society for giving me this wonderful opportunity and allowing me to gain experience I might never have had if it wasn’t for the Youth Development Programme. I would urge all young enthusiastic breeders to enrol in the competition and really embrace all it has to offer through friendships, experience, hands-on learning, extra qualifications and the chance to have a trip of a lifetime.

Judge for the day was Bridget Borlase from Wattan at Stone, Hertfordshire. Bridget runs the Sacombe and Perrywood herds of Simmental and Belted Galloway cattle and has been showing cattle from a very young age. She has also been responsible for training the South East Simmental Club young members in showing and stock judging. Commenting on the standard of young handlers Bridget said: “I was incredibly impressed with the handlers in all classes, particularly the intermediate class where it was very hard indeed to split the top five. The competition itself is a credit to the Angus Society and I’d like to wish all the members the best of success in their future – many of those handlers could show stock for me any time!”

Senior winner Jess Denning pictured with Youth Development chairman Mark Pilcher and judge Bridget Borlase

Winning the coveted senior championship and a paid for trip by the society for an Angus study tour of her choice was Jess Denning from Somerset.

Here are the rest of the class results (full report and more pictures to follow soon).

Juniors

1^st Hannah Slowen, Yorkshire

2^nd Mark Wattie, North of Scotland

3^rd Jack Smyth, Northern Ireland

Intermediate

1^st Charlie Mccombie, North of Scotland

2^nd David Goulding, Republic of Ireland

3^rd Melissa Kelly, North of Scotland

Senior

1^st Jess Denning, Somerset

2^nd Graeme Parke, Northern Ireland

3^rd Thomas Slowen, Yorkshire

I’m pleased to report my last Youth Development Programme training workshop for this year was yet another great success. On my recent visit to Northern Ireland I was greeted by enthusiastic and helpful Aberdeen-Angus breeders and some extremely talented young people. At the beginning of the year I didn’t know anyone in Northern Ireland now, after 24 hours there I have a very useful list of helpful contacts!

Victor Wallace had been ‘press ganged’ into hosting the workshop by William McLaren Jnr while they were all out having a lovely time in Canada. Victor and I had agreed that if we held it on the same day as their Club stock judging event, it would benefit all.

Trainer for the day was Gordon McWilliam, yes I can hear you all asking: What? A Scotsman!! Gordon had been working with a mutual friend at the Royal Show when it dawned on me what an ideal man he would be for the job and he didn’t stand a chance of saying no! Gordon originally hails from the North of Scotland, but now farms in Northern Ireland with his wife, Libby Clarke and two daughters.

The only thing to disappoint me about Northern Ireland was the turnout of participants. On paper it looked fantastic with 20 or so entered for the day. Sadly only 9 actually attended and I hope it was because there were other events on that day or the fact that it was the only dry spell we’ve all had this summer! Victor and Stephen Wallace, along with Gordon had gone to a lot of effort to make this a successful event. The Baronagh cattle are not shown, so the heifers we had to work with were specifically halter broken for the workshop.

The day started with a very informative talk about EBV’s from Jim Dennison of AI Services. He used one of the heifers to do a scanning demonstration. Showing visuals on the screen helped everybody interpret the information on the EBV charts.

It was then Gordon’s turn to take centre stage, I had been winding him up all morning as he was a little nervous, and for the first 10 minutes he kept referring to the workshop plan I had sent him!

Gordon had been concerned that the Irish participants would not understand his Scottish phrases and told everyone to ask me if they didn’t understand anything. I thought this was a little like the blind leading the blind with a Cornish girl explaining Scottish phrases to Irish folk, luckily it wasn’t an issue!

Gordon began by explaining how to feed and halter break your cattle and how far in advance they needed to start this. He then explained how to tie cattle up, demonstrating neck ties and the correct quick release knots to use. Everyone then had a turn at tying the knot.

He then took the participants through the washing and grooming of the cattle. It was really great to hear the youngsters asking plenty of questions and lots of discussions took place along the way. Then came the clipping demonstration that everyone always enjoys and it was interesting to hear how a Charolais man clips!

Gordon then showed everyone how to dress the cattle. The heifers had very different coats so he was able to show how to put shine on a summer coat and then he soaped up a heifer with more hair. It was then the turn of the youngsters to have a go and all showed a good deal of skill. Then came the bit that is one of my favourite parts of the day, the ring craft workshop.

What I like is as soon as they take over the halter they become a little more confident and a little more competitive! After this it was time to break for lunch, The Wallace family had made hotdogs for everyone and we all sat in the sun and enjoyed the company. After lunch Gordon showed everyone how to make a halter and again there was not enough rope for me to show my skill, but someone did actually take my advice this time! Gordon also showed everyone how to make neck ropes too.

The afternoon saw the start of the Northern Ireland Club’s stockjudging event. This was run by club chairman Alan Morrison. Many club members joined the YDP participants for this event. Victor had picked out 6 groups of four animals- two year old heifers, senior and junior cows, bulls and yearling heifers. Michael Smith and Jim Jack acted as judges and everyone had a go at putting them in order.

I did incredibly badly and I tried put it down to jet lag! One young man 13 year old Jack Smyth did incredibly well and won the prize for the under 16’s. After the prize giving we were treated to a lovely afternoon tea provided yet again by the Wallace Family and then we were given the opportunity to view the Baronagh Herd which was very enjoyable. Not only were the cattle a fantastic sight to see but I had the opportunity to chat to lots of very friendly Angus breeders. And I do hope that Libby doesn’t have too many photos of me, I’m normally the one with the camera!

Yet again another successful workshop thanks to Victor Wallace and Family, Gordon McWilliam, Jim Dennison and Alan Morrison.

So that was the last workshop of 2009. I now have the job of totting up the scores and letting everyone know whether they are through to the final. I am very grateful that it was not my job to mark these enthusiastic young people, there is an awful lot of talent out there and it is great to think that these stockman skills are being nurtured by the Aberdeen Angus Society.

As it is my first year in the job and I haven’t been involved with the programme before, I have found it quite daunting working in parts of the country that I don’t know and with people that I don’t know all that well either.  I thought that the South of England workshop would be a breeze as I knew everyone involved.

As it was one of the last workshops, the participants had read all reports of previous workshops and all told me how much they were looking forward to it being their turn now. Oh the pressure!! But I need not have worried as everyone pulled it off magnificently.

The workshop was held at Lockerley Hall Farm, Southampton by kind permission of Mr L Van Geest and herd manager David Batch. Workshops have been held here before so they had had some practise, but David did tell me of a few sleepless nights about the whole job!

Head trainer for the day was Colin Hutchings. I’m not sure he needs any introduction as he has won most showing accolades over the years and is a prominent figure on the west country show seen. Colin has not been involved with the YDP before but has been a driving force in many breeds and for all ages, as well as experience of an education programme in the South.

He also taught my Dad quite a few things, especially on a trip to Perth when Dad was in his teens!! Also helping with the training was Rob Bishop, who mght not have been around for as long as Colin but has certainly been very successful in Angus, and of course with Colin comes Jack Ellicott!

10 participants turned up for the day’s training and also a few ‘not quite so young’ turned up with a hope that Colin would let one of the secrets of his success slip for all to use in future!

The day started with a talk on halter breaking and feeding cattle, a very useful and informative part of the day where attendees asked lots of questions. This was followed by the ‘Clipping Clinic’. Colin demonstrated how best to accentuate the good points of an animal and hide the not quite so good points!

All participants were able to have a go including the not so confident ones that ended up doing an excellent job. The clipping is always of interest to the youngsters and it is great when the experts pass on useful tips, and I’m nearly in danger of using my favourite phrase of ‘hands on experience’!!! Jack found his usual usefulness and brought round tea and biscuits mid morning and certainly used his initiative with the tray!

The morning sessions ended with the washing of the cattle. I am always really impressed by the cattle that seem to take no notice of 3 or 4 people scrubbing and hosing them all at once. It is something you can’t prepare them for, as even if they have been to a show I have never found 3 or 4 people to help me wash mine!!

After lunch while the cattle were drying, Colin gave a run through of what you should be looking for in a beef animal, pointing out the cuts of meat, breed characteristics and qualities that are needed for today’s market. This was followed by Rob Bishop talking about EBV’s and using the actual figures for the Lockerley animals that were there. This was a brilliant way of explaining breeding and figures as it was all there in front of you and Rob’s figures backed Colin’s physical analysis.

Colin then showed the attendees how to dress an animal using soap and everyone had the chance to have a go at turning the animals out. I must apologise to any parents that had black hand prints on everything when they came home! Two of the animals had been clipped and one hadn’t, when compared against each other this then reinforced the need for clipping.

After another cup of tea brought to us this time by Tom Beadle of Rosemead Herd, using the same ‘tray’ as before, the youngsters were able to show off their showing skills in a mock show! It is great to see even the quiet ones come into their own when on the end of a halter and all showed with great skill. It did cause great amusement with Jack pushing everything on and Colin telling him to slow up, it reminded me of every show that we go too!

Halter making - note the ages of the fellas please!

The afternoon ended with the bit that most of the older participants had turned up for, halter making! Tom Beadle had put his holiday to Devon on hold to learn this skill. Mrs Batch and I did decide that it probably would be easier to buy one from Mole Valley!! Sadly there was not enough rope for me to make one as I am positive that I can now do it!!!!

Again another really friendly and informative workshop thanks to Lockerley Farms, David Batch, Colin Hutchings, Rob & Rachel Bishop and Jack Ellicott.

Smile please!

We were very pleased to welcome the YDP Committee Chairman, Mark Pilcher to this workshop, although it was his regional one it did take him 4 ½ hours to get there! He emailed me the next day to say he had thoroughly enjoyed the day and said that it had reinforced for him what made the YDP such a success. He pretty much summed it up when he said how great it was for the ‘kids’ to learn from a stockman par excellence in Colin, wise words from Rob who’s just won the Royal and a bit of humour from Jack thrown in for good measure!

Enthusiasm definitely wasn’t lacking and the atmosphere was great, as most of the youngsters show against each other throughout the year, and a little friendly competition never goes a miss. The workshop was held at Tree Bridge Farm, Nunthorpe, Middlesbrough by kind permission of David and Penny Evans. This was the first time they had hosted a workshop themselves, although David had been involved last year, and they did an excellent job! David had secured the services of well known Northern Prime Stock shower, Eileen Wilson and Duncan McLaren, whose name speaks volumes in the world of Angus and now Duncan is making his mark with Charolais.

A warm welcome started the day off nicely with coffee and homemade  brownies and  cookies made by Tor and Hen Evans.  People keep laughing as I always seem to mention food in the workshop reports but it is working a treat as there always seems to be some new goodies waiting for me at the next one! It didn’t go unnoticed by Penny Evans that whenever she saw me I was eating something! I would just like to point out that food is not compulsory for the hosts to provide, the participants are suppose to bring their own lunch.

Halter making with Duncan McLaren

The participants were split into groups on age and the first group made halters with Duncan. He had two wonderful bits of equipment that I hadn’t seen at any of the other demonstrations, a piece of wood and a glove!! These were so that the ends of the halter could be melted and rolled to make the joins very neat. Duncan did say he had found the wood worked better than what his father used to use which was the top of the Rayburn!! Juliet Swires and I watched intently to see if we could pick up the skill, and I’ve nearly got it, yes I know we hear that after every workshop!

The older group were taken by David and Eileen where they were shown how to wash and blow the cattle. The groups swapped around and more cattle were washed and halters made. All stopped for lunch where David and Penny had fired up the BBQ and we were all treated to some wonderful Angus Burgers and Sausages (yeap food again!) We all sat on the lawn in the pleasant sunshine and all matter of things were discussed, those of you that were there will know the hilarity of some of the subjects!!

It's all in the feed........

After lunch, David had obtained some feed samples from Farmway, we were all given a piece of paper to guess what each one was. Big discussions ensued and it turned out to be a really informative exercise in more ways than one.

Keeping an eye on the lines.......

The afternoon practical sessions started with clipping. As some had clipped before, they were given a beast to clip by themselves with Duncan giving some useful advice. Eileen did a demonstration for those that hadn’t any previous clipping experience. With Eileen coming from a commercial background it was really good to see how she clips and I picked up a few tips. She ran through which points of the animal to emphasise and which to hide and then all had a go with heads, tops and tails. David then demonstrated how to prepare an animal for the ring and the participants were able to prepare their own beast.

For the Explaining EBV’s talk, David had printed off the figures for the three show bulls that we had used for the practical sessions. This again sparked a great discussion which everyone took part in and put forward some interesting points.  Being able to see the bulls in the flesh alongside their figures was a great way to explain them.

Let the competition begin!

The afternoon ended with the ring craft session, this was where the friendly rivalry came into play! Three of the four animals used for this had been washed, clipped and ‘turned out’ during the day and the young lady with the fourth, rather dirty looking bull was very worried at how this would look in the pictures! Although I don’t think she needs to worry about the dirty back end as I have a lovely picture of her moving his feet with the end of a golf club!

Yet again another fabulous workshop, thanks to David and Penny Evans and family, Eileen Wilson, Duncan McLaren and Juliet Swires for the entertaining conversations.

It has occurred to me while writing these reports that I always say I’ve learnt a few things and I definitely have.  Over the last few months I have been lucky enough to see the tricks of the trade from some of the country’s top stockmen and women, but I would just like to say that like the halters, it’s all going to take a bit of time to put theory into practise so don’t be expecting too much from me just yet!!