As we now move in to April, the warmer weather is expected to hit many parts of the UK as we are set to experience a heatwave across the course of the next 3 months. The warm air from Africa is set to travel across the oceans, causing temperatures in April to soar to as high as 26 degrees. We’ve been very busy here at the Society as we prepare for the upcoming Worcester Spring Show and Sale and with our CEO Barrie Turner along with other representatives being present at the World Angus Secretariat across in Uruguay. Take a look at what’s been happening in and around the Society over the last 14 days!

News Roundup
A great success at Kilkenny as the first of three bull sales of 2019 began with a very brisk trade for Aberdeen-Angus bulls in the sales ring. Average price and clearance rate were both up from the 2018 sale with an average of just under €2700 and a 72% clearance rate. The sale topper, Coolrain Pajero exhibited by Nigel Peavoy, Coolrain, Portlaoise, Co Laois sold for €4000.

The Northern Ireland Aberdeen-Angus Club held its AGM recently in Dungannon. Chairman Alan Morrison welcomed everyone and introduced guest speaker, Dr Cahir McAuley, BVMS, MRCVS, from the Firmount Veterinary Clinic in Antrim. Highlights of the year were discussed along with awards being distributed – check out the full report in the news and features section.

Our new YDP National and Regional Co-ordinators have been appointed and we look forward to sharing you our latest plans and details of the new representatives in due course. We are looking to drive our Youth Development Programme forward from the excellent foundations it currently sits on, so this is an exciting time to get involved in YDP!

We look forward to sharing with you our spring newsletter which will be distributed to all members. This should be with you in the first couple of weeks in April and we will have all the latest news from the Council meetings including updates from each individual committee.

We are still looking for volunteers to help pull together an excel sheet representative of all the Aberdeen-Angus herd books to date. Angus Smith is very kindly leading the project and is looking for people to assist in completing the job – make sure to get in touch if you can help!

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

• Thanks to all the team at Pedigree House for keeping things sorted out while I have been away it’s great to know that you are there and working hard to keep the ship afloat!
• The newsletter should be with you in the next few days with some updates from council and an interesting article from Meurig James on condition scoring beef breeds. Something that you might consider.
• I look forward to sharing with you all my experiences over in Uruguay at the World Angus Secretariat – it’s been an interesting and insightful trip which I look forward to updating you all.
• It has been constantly on the go since arriving in Uruguay and it has been a credit to the hosts of the World Angus Secretariat.
  It’s been a tough trip with early starts and late finishes, I will be bringing reports on the visits to the Estancias that we visited.
• We also had an interesting visit to one of the 5 research stations in Uruguay to see the work they are doing on beef production.
• At $3.00 per kilo carcass return the industry here is based on quality with the biggest portion of production being for export.
  Small carcass size suits most of the export markets that they send to 220–250 kg.
• Small cows geared to the most economic beef production methods with the resources available mainly natural pasture.
• A bit like the wine they produce here they do not have the quantity, but as a country they focus on quality.
• Massive emphasis on eating quality with marbling being a key factor in this.
• I have had 28 steaks here during my stay and there was not a bad one reflecting their choice of breed Aberdeen-Angus and Hereford which are split 50/50 with Aberdeen-Angus in the ascendancy.
• Bit of an industrial Barbeque scene for you where between 500 – 600 people attended each of the farms that we visited, and everyone got feed!

• I also found a horse that would be genetically able to carry me if I was to become a Goucho!

• Updates from the world secretariat technical meetings and some of the points discussed there will follow on next week
• Main bullets of note, they produce quality not quantity, they produce beef in a very sustainable and inexpensive way. They tailor the stock they keep to the resource they have available, they have a profitable industry at $3 per kilo.
• They do all this and place a huge amount of their success to using the Native British Breeds with the use of pure Aberdeen-Angus cattle soaring in popularity.
• Can we take anything away from their industry? Yes! A huge message of how to produce top quality beef without subsidy using Aberdeen-Angus!
• Time on the plane to complete all the reports and we will post them on the web site next week. You can find the first one in the news section on our website!

Notes and actions from Laura Stewart

• I continue to deal with the follow-up actions required after the Council and Committee meetings along with the usual ongoing office administration which I am responsible for.

News and Notices from the Pedigree Cattle Services Team

• Please make sure your cattle for the May sales have been weighed and scanned to have their EBVs published in the catalogues – last date for data entry for the April Group run is Monday 8th April.
• Stirling – Monday 6th May (Entries closed)
• Carlisle – Friday 24th May (Entries close 12th April)

News and Notices from Angela Cumming in the Finance Department

• Month end is upon us again! Statements are issued every second month to try and save on postage costs, so you won’t receive a statement this month. If you do have any outstanding invoices, prompt payment would be very much appreciated. You can pay by cheque, internet banking or credit card.

News and Notices from the Registrations Department

• As you may be aware the Society has a new initiative of DNA testing all MALE calves registered born in 2019 at no additional cost to the breeder. We have now implemented the necessary changes which means for members using the online registration facility there is an additional field to complete called DNA TEST TYPE. This is a drop-down box which allows members to choose which type of DNA test they require.
• 200 snps (including Myostatin) test will automatically be done on all Male Registrations born 1st January 2019 onwards. However, if you wish to have these animals tested on the 54k SNPS chip (including Myostatin), simply opt for this option at point of registration. You will be charged a subsidised cost of £15 +VAT for these tests.
• You may also wish to test your females. Again, you can opt for which test you require. 200 snps (Profile/MYO) at £15 +VAT or 54K (Profile/Myo) at £25 +VAT.
• To enable a smooth transition into getting results back quicker we advise that tissue samples be forwarded to IDENTIGEN as soon as possible.
• We are working as hard as we can to get this new initiative up and running, if you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact Caroline, Fiona or Yvonne. We are here to help.

Shows, Sales and Events
Key upcoming events are shown below:
World Angus Secretariat Uruguay 2019: 18th – 29th March – Punte del Este, Uruguay
Worcester Show and Sale: Saturday 6th April – Worcester Livestock Market
Dungannon Show and Sale: 23rd April – Dungannon Farmers Mart, 90 Granville Rd, Dungannon BT70 1NJ

Merchandise
As the warmer weather approaches, why not enjoying a nice ice-cold drink in the sun in one of our Aberdeen-Angus branded Crystal Glasses for only £15!

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: http://www.aberdeen-angus.co.uk/assets/2018/Merchandise-poster-2018-web.pdf

From all at the Society, have a great weekend!