The sun has been shining and we can finally start looking forward to what will hopefully be an enjoyable and fruitful summer for many!
We have been very busy here at the Society since the last bi-weekly update, with the May Stirling Show and Sale taking place and Youth Development workshops continuing to run up and down the country. We have also attended the Balmoral Show in Ireland and have been preparing for the upcoming Beef Expo and Carlisle Show and Sale. Here’s the latest from in and around the Society over the last 14 days.
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.
Police Investigation
As many of you are aware the Society is under a police investigation at the moment, it has been widely reported in the press and we have been unable to bring this to a conclusion at this point owing to pressures on the investigating officers having to deal with incidents that take priority. As soon as we have a conclusion to this matter we will inform the membership accordingly with the outcome and any further action that needs to be taken.
GDPR
We’d like to thank everyone for their co-operation throughout the process and a reminder for those that have not yet returned their forms to PLEASE DO SO AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. As mentioned previously, if you do not return the form, your details will be legally required to be removed from the Society database.
We are currently running at about 1800 returns for the GDRP that means of the 3400 we have sent out we still have to hold back the history of some 1600 herds. This database is a great tool used by many current and prospective breeders when looking for stock, so we appeal to you to send these in as soon as possible.
Please send your forms back as a matter of extreme urgency as the database will be seriously compromised without your participation.
The form is available just in case you have misplaced it at –
https://www.aberdeen-angus.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/attachments/A-ACS-GDPR-form2018.pdf
Please send this back to Pedigree House, 6 Kings place, Perth, Scotland PH2 8AD
A reminder that if you return your form this week, you will be entered in to our weekly draw where you will win a bag of Aberdeen-Angus Cattle Society merchandise, a nice little incentive!
The lucky winners from the past couple of weeks were:
– R.S Mann = Membership No 7379
– Messrs. Will Scott & Son = Membership No 6784
We would like to congratulate both entry winners and would like to thank them both for returning their forms, your Aberdeen-Angus goodies shall be sent to you soon.
If you have not yet got around to sending back the form, please give this matter your most urgent attention – many thanks in advance.
DNA Profiling
As reported in the last update M&S have launched their sire verification programme to the Nation and has had much press coverage and positive feedback from consumers and farmers alike. We have a huge amount of information that is already available in terms of DNA profiles for sire lines of the Aberdeen-Angus breed, and having more will make our guarantees even stronger. We are finalising the way forward with our own Angus Sire Verified program and should be able to communicate the next steps of this really important development to protect the breed and the brand going forward in the near future.
We hope to give you all the reasons why this step is such an important part of our future, a step by step guide for testing and encourage you to embrace this project and see it as a great step forward in protecting the market and premium we have enjoyed from our customers to date.
We need to continue to protect our home market and would urge you all to use the full title of our breed, Aberdeen-Angus, as this will help us differentiate our home market from the imported Angus beef that we are seeing.
Show and Sale news
The Stirling Show and Sale of Aberdeen-Angus of this year took place on Sunday the 6th and Monday the 7th of May at the Stirling Agricultural Centre. Aberdeen-Angus bulls received an 81% clearance rate with 30 bulls sold in total and an average sale of £4,452. The champion this year was announced as Tonley Ernie S352 of the Wattie family at Mains of Tonley in Alford. Reserve Champion went to a bull from the Blelack Herd in Blelack Proteus, later becoming one of five to sell for 6,000gns.
To see the full sale report from Stirling then click the link below:
We were able to bring you the show results from the Balmoral Show on Wednesday from all the individual Aberdeen-Angus classes. On the day, the Champion selected by judge Lisa Davey went to Taugh Blane Blackbird Special S376, a 2 year old heifer from Iain Colville bred by William T Wallace, while the Junior Champion was Coolermoney Frances T703 bred by Adrian & Graeme Parke.
A very sunny and hot day for show goers and exhibitors alike with the President, Junior Vice President and the CEO were in attendance on the stand. An outstanding opportunity to meet our Northern Irish members and be in a position to listen to their views on all matters Aberdeen-Angus within their region. Many positives came out of this and much more work to be done going forward. Thanks go to you all for the warmth of your welcome and the hospitality offered at the Balmoral.
(If we do well on the interbreed show we will let you know)
Congratulations from all for putting the stock forward and you can read our full report with images on our website.
You can view Champions and reserves at: http://aberdeen-angus.co.uk/news/show-news/balmoral-show-results-champion-results/, with individual class posts available on our Show and Sale news section of the website at: http://aberdeen-angus.co.uk/news/show-and-sales/
YDP Workshop – South East of England Report
This week Richard Mortimore, down in West Sussex who operates the Pottage Aberdeen -ngus herd hosted his first ever YDP workshop and was kind enough to give us some feedback on that. All at the Society thank you for your support with this event Richard as support by breeders is both welcome and essential to the continued success of our YDP programme.
Lizzie Harding who is 16, and now becoming a seasoned campaigner at YDP workshops also contributed to the update. The regional workshop was held on the 21st of April 2018.
To hear more from both Richard and Lizzie’s experiences at the second YDP workshop of the year then click on the link below:
A huge thank you as well to David and Bev Walker of Galcantry for hosting the North of Scotland workshop on 12th May. It was a great day with many new faces from the Highland area in attendance which was great to see.
Thank you again to all the trainers that put in so much time to these events.
Gemma Wark returns from New Zealand
Young and well-known farmer, Gemma Wark has recently returned from New Zealand. Gemma had the amazing opportunity to work in New Zealand for 7 months and we were able to get an insight in to her experience of working with the breed overseas. Gemma is a great inspiration for youngsters, and her recent experience highlights how the breed can take you all over the world with the stature and presence across the globe.
Gemma’s own Aberdeen-Angus herd is about to hit the ground too and we look forward to keeping you up to date with the progress trials and tribulations as that progresses.
To find out more about Gemma’s experience in New Zealand, click on the link below:
http://aberdeen-angus.co.uk/news/an-insight-into-gemma-warks-time-working-in-new-zealand/
Godfrey Neal Young Stockman Annual Bursary
Amazing opportunity if you would like to develop your career as a stockman through the Godfrey Neal Young Stockman Annual Bursary. For more information on the bursary and how you can apply then click on the link below:
http://aberdeen-angus.co.uk/news/godfrey-neal-young-stockman-annual-bursary/
Central Scotland Aberdeen-Angus Club Herd Visits 2018
The Central Scotland Aberdeen-Angus Club will be visiting the North East of Scotland area this year. Click the link below to find out more. Having not yet met the members of the Central Scotland club, the CEO, diary permitting would very much like to join them on this visit and will be following the link below to find out more details and be in touch with the secretary to book his place
http://aberdeen-angus.co.uk/news/central-scotland-aberdeen-angus-club-herd-visits-for-2018/
A week of birthday celebrations in the office.
We have had a big Birthday in the office this week (As well as two others not quite so big who would rather we didn’t mention it!) when Amy Johnston reached the ripe old age of 21 years on Tuesday this week and received the key of the door. This was celebrated in style with a decorated desk, birthday cake with candles that set off the fire alarm, a quick birthday lunch and some gifts from us all at the office to mark the occasion. Amy has taken a day or two off to travel up to see the family and friends and continue the celebrations but will be back in harness in the Breedplan office next week we will have some paracetamol ready for you Monday.
We are sure you all wish her well for the future.
Show stand marketing materials are being finalised
We are in the final throws of putting the finishing touches to the new show materials that will be available to the clubs for this year. For those who have asked to have some new materials we apologise that this has not been available to date but we are getting there.
We would ask all clubs who need some resources for the local shows to get in touch with the office so that we can get anything you need to you in good time.
Stock for sale
Please feel free to contact us if you have any stock for sale available and we will upload it to our website. This is a great opportunity to reach out to potential buyers and is definitely something you should get involved with.
Please click on the link below to find out the latest stock for sale opportunities:
http://www.aberdeen-angus.co.uk/news/stock-for-sale/
Merchandise
With the summer on the way and the weather finally starting to pick up, why not pick up one of our “Crystal Glass” for only £15. Fill up your crystal glass with your favourite drink and sit back and relax in the sun this summer – 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] . We are always on the look out for good images of cattle for publicity material, so if you have a picture you think we could use your animal could be the new ‘face’ of the Society!
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:
- 25th May 2018: Carlisle Show and Sales
Beef Expo 2018
- 25th May 2018: Beef Expo 2018 – Make sure not to miss the UK’s biggest technical beef event in Shropshire.
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/
We hope you all have a great weekend!