We hope you are all in the festive spirit with it only being 11 days until Christmas! Keep an eye out on Facebook next week as we will be bringing you our very own #FestiveFarming competition where you will have an opportunity to win a luxury bag of Aberdeen-Angus goodies! As this will be the last Bi-Weekly update until after the Christmas period, we wish you all a very Happy Christmas in advance and we look forward to bringing you more updates in the New Year!

We have been very busy here at the Society with final preparation for the 101^st edition of the Aberdeen-Angus review taking place which we look forward to sharing with you in January – a big thank you to all of those involved! Additionally, the December Council Meetings took place at the start of the month with lots of positive and progressive conversations taking place – news of which we are excited to share with all of our membership. Take a look at what’s been happening in and around the Society over the past 14 days.

News Roundup

The Irish Aberdeen-Angus Association held a social evening and dinner at the Mullingar Park Hotel on the first weekend of December with the presentation of the President’s Medal taking place. The Medal was presented by Irish Aberdeen-Angus President, Mr. Mack Crowe and was awarded to Louis Byrne of the Tomriland Aberdeen-Angus Herd, Annamoe, Bray, Co. Wicklow.

The Society’s Dungannon show and sale took place where price peaked at 3,300gns twice with auctioneer Trevor Wylie confirming that 17 lots were traded in a 73% clearance to average £2,588 per head. Sharing the day’s top bid of 3,300gns were Denamona Jetstream T393 bred by Moses Irwin Jnr from Fintona; and Coolermoney Samson T725 from Adrian and Graeme Parke, Strabane.

The Smithfield Stock Festival also took place on the first weekend in December and was a great success. The Breed Champion was Retties Pam by Richard Rettie and the Reserve Champion was Glenade Elba by Tina Russell – the judge at the show was Andrew Shufflebotham.

We’d like to send our congratulations to the Bishop family on securing the Warren Trophy for their Warrenho Herd of Aberdeen-Angus. The trophy is awarded to the herd receiving the greatest tally of points across all shows with Aberdeen-Angus classes throughout England and Wales, and this marks the second consecutive year that this has been won by the Warrenho Herd – a great achievement!

To keep up with all other news from the Society as well as all the latest updates from shows, sales and other events, just head over to the appropriate sections on our website:

News and features: http://aberdeen-angus.co.uk/news/

Show and Sales news: http://aberdeen-angus.co.uk/news/show-and-sales/

News and notices from the CEO

• Last week saw the December Committee meetings and Council where a pretty full agenda was discussed with facts of the functioning of the Society were brought to the fore. The follow up on all of the action points from the meeting have started.
• One of the really important actions from the meeting was the introduction from January 2019 of low density SNP testing of all male calves at registration to be included in the registration fee. This is a huge step forward in our ability to protect the brand going forward.
• The President and I went to meet IdentiGen this week to discuss the ongoing relationship building process with them as our second partner in DNA testing and to further refine our working practices going forward.
• Following the Council meetings there is always a great deal to follow up on various matters, this has been the focus of my attentions this week.
• As a bid to bring some structure to our investment programme for the benefit of all members, the Committees were asked to put forward proposals for projects that the Society could invest in as a separate entity to the normal activities of each Committee. These were taken forward to full Council for further discussion and approval and are now in the process of being implemented. We will keep you posted of these as they are developed and moved to fruition.
• The review compilation on articles and inclusions is all over for this year, proof reading is underway and the printers have their presses greased and ready to roll to meet the January deadline, we hope that you enjoy it when it arrives.
• Next week sees the final run up to a well-earned Christmas break for everyone at Pedigree house but there is a lot to do in the run up so we will be very busy right up to the closure of the office until 2019.
• We have been a bit stretched in the office of late and looking back it is a bit like that at the end of the year as the staff use up their holidays before the clock ticks over at midnight on the 31^st January and a new year begins.
• We have also been missing Yvonne from the registrations team who is currently not well but we hope that she is back with us and feeling better very soon.
• This will be the last Bi-Weekly update for 2018 so may I take this opportunity to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous new year.
• A couple of nice pictures from our Annual Xmas Lunch is shown below:

Notes and actions from Laura Stewart

• All administrative tasks for 2018.
• The office will be closed From Monday the 24^th December from 12 noon and will reopen again on Thursday the 3^rd of January.
• A full service and all the staff will be back in harness from Monday 7^th January.

News and notices from Angela Cumming in the Finance Department

• Angela would like to thank you all for your help on all matters financial over the year and wishes you a happy festive season.

News and Notices from the Registrations Department

• Caroline, Fiona and Yvonne were all very happy to hear of the decision to include the registration fee with the DNA SNP test. This will simplify the process ongoing and also will relieve the last-minute chase round for results of DNA pre-sales.
• The February Bull Sale entries are now closed with over 140 entered .
• The team in Registrations would just like to wish you all a very happy Christmas and a happy new year we are looking forward to giving members old and new the services that they need in 2019!

News and Notices from Gayle Bersey YDP Co Ordinator

• Sadly we have to announce that Gayle, after some long hard thinking and consideration has decided that after ten years of dedication to the YDP cause to hang up her camera, clippers and blowers and relinquish her post as YDP co-ordinator. Gayle has been a guiding light to many and a highly active and inspirational leader to the cause of the YDP. Her role will be very difficult to replace after her being in post for such a long time. We are sure that there will be many people who will be sad to see Gayle move on and there are several reasons both personal and work related that she has decided to take this step. We do however wish Gayle well and thank her for her commitment to the success of the YDP and being instrumental in getting it to the point to where it stands at the moment. I also feel sure that her “Retirement” from the post may not go unmarked!! 

Shows, Sales and Events

The Smithfield Stock Festival marked the last event of the Aberdeen-Angus Cattle Society calendar year. It’s been a great year with many great events happening up and down the country – we look forward to the upcoming events, shows and sales in 2019!

Merchandise

We are excited to be bringing you a new merchandise range which will be available to order in the coming weeks. Keep your eyes peeled as we will be bringing you a range of new sizes, colours and embroidery options which you can order!

XMAS COUNTDOWN – 11 days

We’ve all been there, leaving your Christmas shopping until the last minute, not knowing what to get your friends or family. Well this year why not purchase one of our Aberdeen-Angus travel mugs for only £8 – perfect for your loved ones and those cold winter days!

You can purchase by phoning the office directly, speak to Yvonne who can deal with and dispatch your orders for all our merchandise. You can pay over the phone by card or simply add it to your next invoice. Full range of merchandise available to view online at: https://www.aberdeen-angus.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/attachments/Merchandise-poster-2018-web.pdf

From all at the Society, have a great weekend!