Here is the first bi-weekly update of March, spring is on its way! We look forward to welcoming a warmer Spring and to get rid of this wet miserable weather as we now move into March. We have been busy over the last 14 days here within the society preparing for shows & sales, council meetings and upcoming events.

News Roundup

Get your white coats and summer hats looked out The Aberdeen-Angus Summer National 2020 is on its way and this year will be held at The Royal Norfolk Show on the 1st & 2nd July 2020!

To access the entry forms, schedule and bio-security form please click here.

We are pleased to announce that the shows qualifying shows for the WALKERS SHORTBREAD SHOW HERD OF THE YEAR 2020 competition have now been announced, please click here to see this year qualifying shows.

The North East Scotland Aberdeen-Angus Club will be holding their AGM on Wednesday 18th March at The Collection Centre, Alford Transport Museum, Montgarrie Road, Alford, AB33 8AE preceded by an open meeting commencing at 7.30pm. There will be a report from Council on Society activities. Speaker for the evening is Eoin Cumming who works for AJR Farms, Ellon. In 2017 he won the senior section of the Youth Development Final and set off on his travels in Australia, New Zealand and Oklahoma. This will be followed with refreshments.

For more information including the AGM invite & AGM agenda then please click here.

The second of five Spring sales at Carrick-On-Shannon, Co Leitrim recorded a 75% clearance rate over the weekend with just a handful of bulls remaining unsold at the close of business. The very satisfactory clearance was on par with last year, with the average price jumping up by almost €100 since 12 months ago too. With the start of the breeding season inching ever closer, buyers were becoming more plentiful on the ground with plenty of interest in the choice lots on the day. For the full report and pictures from the show and sale please click here.

We’re delighted to announce that our 2020 Open Day will be held at JC Lister Farms at Little Givendale, Ripon on Wednesday 10^th June from 10am until 4pm.

The day at JC Lister Farms will be an excellent opportunity to learn about the Aberdeen-Angus breed and see it thriving in its working environment. Starting at 10.30am, there will be a valuable programme with a variety of demonstrations, a stockjudging competition and trade stands to visit throughout the day. Additionally, an informative and insightful tour of the 220-strong Ellenthorpe Herd will take place for your opportunity to see the Aberdeen-Angus, and in fact the whole supply chain, which is completed with the farm’s renowned Lister Farm Shop – well worth the journey in itself!

Speaking about the upcoming Open Day, the Aberdeen-Angus Cattle Society’s Chief Executive, Barrie Turner, had the following to say:

‘’The Open Day is becoming an important and eagerly anticipated event on the calendar for us all at the Aberdeen-Angus Cattle Society. We feel it is important to provide breeders and members with an opportunity to visit an excellently-functioning herd and see the positive characteristics of our breed in a great light – that is what they will get at JC Lister Farms. We are extremely thankful to them for hosting our Open Day, and look forward to seeing many of you there on the day.’’

Our thanks must go to David and Richard Lister and their farm manager Peter Orton for opening up their commercial suckler and finishing enterprise for the day. The operation at JC Lister Farms will showcase the Aberdeen-Angus as the all-rounder that it is, fulfilling the requirements of the whole supply chain from conception to retail.

If you’d like to attend what will be an excellent day, you can sign up to the event by clicking here. Registration is possible right up until the day of the event, but we would appreciate it if those interested could register as soon as possible. If you could like any further information, please do not hesitate to get in touch with the Society.

Newark Sale – 21st March 2020

Unfortunately, due to circumstances out of our control, this sale has been cancelled. This is due to an ongoing issue between the mart and the local Council.

For more information, please contact H&H on 01228 406200.

We would like to congratulate David & Penny Evans of Tree Bridge Aberdeen-Angus had a fantastic night at the Northern Farmer Awards, where David & Penny won Beef Farmer Of The Year! Well done David & Penny!

The Stirling May Bull Sales online entry form is now OPEN!
Sunday 3rd & Monday 4th May 2020 (closing date 20th March)

Please Click Here to access the online entry form.

The Danish Angus Aberdeen Association Invites you to a seminar, the general assembly, the 50th anniversary and herd visits:

Friday, March 20, 2020, at 10.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. at Axelborg.
Celebration dinner at 7.00 p.m. and overnight stay at Hotel Scandic Sluseholmen in Copenhagen.
Saturday, March 21, 2020, departure from the hotel at 8.30 a.m. for Møn and Falster to visit two herds.

For all the information for this please click here https://www.aberdeen-angus.co.uk/news-and-features/danish-aberdeen-angus-association-50th-anniversary/

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:

Latest News & Features

https://www.aberdeen-angus.co.uk/news-events/latest-news-and-features/

Shows & Sales News

https://www.aberdeen-angus.co.uk/news-events/show-and-sales-news/

 News & Notices from the CEO

• We have all staff back in office except for Angela in accounts who we wish well in her endeavours with her family.
• The past two weeks have flown by with the build-up and preparation for the March Committee meetings and Council meeting held this week. There was a great deal of information to gather for technical matters ahead of the Council meeting.
• To all of the Council members – a big thank you from me for the input that you all had into the Council and committee meetings that we had at Pedigree House this week, a lot done and taken forward in the last two days.
• A massive thank you to all the staff for their efforts before, during and after ensuring that we were fully prepared for as many of the eventualities that we would meet requiring input.
• Big thanks again to Bob Anderson for hunting down some photographs so that they could be scanned and sent to Argentina for inclusion in the 100^th Anniversary article.
• Willie McLaren continues his efforts with the PowerPoint on the breed development, hoping that this will be completed soon and be available to buy in digital form.
• Great work going in on the open day preparation and fingers crossed we will be able to go ahead by June 10^th. Thanks to Natalie Cormack for her efforts with this.
• Good to welcome Geordie Soutar MBE to Pedigree House along with some German breeders, keen to get their cattle registered in the herd book.
• Clubs – we have ordered a set of pull up banners for each club as a start for the show season, these should be at Pedigree house within the next 10 days and we will get them to you all as soon as we can.
• Committees – the initiative under President Alan Cheney this year is to prioritise on the projects that will bring most value to the Society focusing on the number one and delivering in between meetings.
• YDP – Great roundup on the activities of the YDP and reports on the ongoing activities of the YDP under the auspices of the chair Will Chrystal, he has and can fill the chair well!
• Technical –  under the chairmanship of Andrew Hodge is a big topic with lots on focus to improve and deliver a more robust DNA testing programme that will simplify the process increase effectiveness.
• Finance – Paul Jeenes at the helm on this committee delivered what we could on the finances without Angela Cumming but nothing untoward is looming that we are not expecting
• Breed Promotions – under the focused and watch full eye of Alan Morrison who has immersed himself in the role since his appointment and is bringing a new enhanced enthusiasm to the role lots of things to do to add value to the breed and the brand going forward.
• Health – JVP Angus Stovold has relinquished his seat to be taken by Dallas Allen with a couple of initiatives on IBR, Pen Card inspections and an new reported health issue Mycoplasma where we are hearing not good reports of its effects – more to follow on that pending further investigations
• The council members are all there for you as members to communicate through and enable you to get your views, news and ideas on anything that will take the Society forward. Please don’t hesitate to contact them and they can ensure that if the issue can be dealt with swiftly by the relevant committees that this will speed communications.
• And before we know it its Friday and that is the end of this fortnights round up, compilation of the newsletter next week as well as making a start on the immediate tidy up of tasks from Council again by priority going forward.
• Communications meeting with the staff to ensure that we are all on the same page after council as well as the HR committee day on the 23^rd. Looking forward to a short break from the office on the 18^th before a Corona Virus pending meeting up with the Members of the NE Scotland club at the AGM and collecting my new Society vehicle.
• We are excited to show you all the new and updated club banners which have been created – make sure to keep an eye out for them at upcoming shows and sales over the coming months!

News & Notices from the Office Manager Laura Stewart

• The past two weeks have mainly been taken up by the significant amount of preparation required for the six committee meetings and Council meeting which took place this week.

News & Notices from the registrations department

• From the 1st November 2019, the registration process is changing with regards to any late fees payable. The current procedures within the office come with a great deal of manual inputting of information when completing late registration fees. There is a cost related to dealing with the late registrations, which is reflected in the fees that have been agreed as part of our Articles of Association and Bye-laws for a number of years. This cost is in place to encourage the registration of animals or upgrading to fully registered in a timely manner. You can find out more here.

News & Notices from Pedigree Cattle Services

National Beef Evaluations – helping you breed the traits you get paid for:

• Using the AHDB National Beef Evaluations when you make breeding decisions will help you breed efficient cattle that meet the needs of your target market.
• Using the right animal genetics can help the beef industry become more efficient and profitable.
• The AHDB bull selection manual gives more information on using EBV’s to choose bulls for breeding, click here to view the bull selection manual.
• To produce these EBVs, AHDB have worked with Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), using data from processors, breed societies and the British Cattle Movement Service (BCMS)

The AHDB National Beef Evaluations are a set of Estimated Breeding Values based on commercial data sources including BCMS and UK abattoir data. EBVs are now available for the following traits:

• Age at slaughter (days)
• Carcase weight (kg)
• Carcase fat class (EUROP)
• Carcase conformation (EUROP)
• Average daily carcase gain (kg/day)

To breed animals that best suit your farming system, these EBVs should be considered in conjunction with EBVs from the relevant performance recording organisation (ABRI Breedplan/Signet/Taurus) for your breed of interest.

Click here to search for an animal.

Here is an example of what the page will look like when your search for an animal.

News & Notices from YDP

• We are pleased to confirm that YDP will be holding a second Senior Conference later in the year.  It will be based around Netherton Herd, so put the date in your diary  20th -22nd November 2020. More details to follow.  Why not sign up to YDP event page to follow the programme as it develops.

WAF21 Selection

• We are pleased to announce that all 22 applicants who applied for the World Angus Forum 2021 Youth Competition have been invited to attend the WAF21 Selection Weekend on 23rd and 24th May hosted by Will and Sophie Chrystal at Wingate Herd, Durham.

Workshops

• First workshop of the year is on Saturday 28th March at Morpheus Herd Manor Farm, Cuddington, Cheshire CW8 2TE, please contact Jess Musk on [email protected] to book your place.  List of all workshops and venues can be found on society website or in the Review.

From us all at the society we hope you have a great weekend!