With summer fast approaching, we can look forward to what’s expected to be a very warm and dry summer in the UK. It’s been a busy few weeks here in the office with the the Carlisle Show and Sale taking place and preparation for the Royal Cheshire Show, Royal Highland Show and many more well underway! Take a look at what’s been happening in and around the Society over the last 14 days.
News Roundup
The McKeown family from Templepatrick had a day to remember at the Lurgan Show on the 1st of June. The County Antrim herd’s homebred Ashvale Victoria T204 won the reserve breed championship, and later in the day scooped the interbreed beef honours, followed by the reserve champion of champions award in the cattle section. It was also a great event for the Matchett family as they claimed the Aberdeen-Angus championship at Lurgan Show with Birches Lady Holly T301.
The Midleton Summer Show returned in full force this year in a brand-new venue of Coppingerstown on the outskirts of the town of Midleton in West Cork. This year’s show was well supported on the day and the hardworking show committee deserve huge recognition for bringing the show back for 2019 and ensuring its survival on the show circuit for many years to come. Albert & Jennifer DeCogan, Killamuckey, Castlemartyr, Co Cork secured the overall supreme Aberdeen-Angus breed championship with their homebred senior cow, Mogeely Flora R373.
A top price of 13,000gns was reached at the May 2019 Carlisle Spring Show and Sale held at Borderway Mart on Friday 24th May, a record price for our breed at Carlisle! A total of 66 bulls sold to an average of £4206.86 along with 3 served or maiden heifers selling to an average of £1728.65. The top price was paid by two buyers in partnership, being Messrs Graham of Corrie, Lockerbie, Dumfriesshire and Messrs Clark & Sons of Cumnock, Ayrshire. They purchased a half share each of the 1st prize winner from class 7, junior male champion & reserve supreme champion, Auchincrieve Exodus U285 from C & E McCombie.
Scotland’s Beef Event for 2019 was held in Aberdeenshire at the Farm of Robbie and Barbara Milne and son, James, at North Bethelnie, Oldmeldrum, Inverurie. The North East Scotland Aberdeen-Angus Club took charge of the event and put every effort in to make the presence of the Breed felt by all the visitors, for which the Society is very thankful – a full report from the event can be found in the news section on the website!
The Connaught/Leinster Aberdeen-Angus Club have finalised their schedule of events for the upcoming summer season with several new initiatives confirmed for 2019.
Make sure to get yourself along to Border Aberdeen-Angus Club Open Day on Sunday 9th June 2019 from 11am-4pm on what promises to be a great day! For further information, then click on the news section of our website where you’ll find all you need to know about the event – we look forward to seeing many of you there.
We’d like to thank everybody for the amazing entries in our Spring Photo Competition which was run on our Facebook page. It was brilliant to see so many of you participate with such enthusiasm, and some of the entries weren’t too bad either! We’d like to congratulate our overall winner Marie McFadden, we hope you enjoy your luxury overnight stay for 2 – thanks again to all those that got involved!
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
Where has that two weeks gone!? That’s without doubt the first comment that I need to make – although it must be said that time flying is a good thing. At the time of writing the last report the Beef Expo was happening, and we were really overwhelmed to receive the first place in the Breed Society stand competition. Huge thanks to all who took part and special thanks to Will Chrystal for coming over to support the team, along with Mary Hamnett, who’s presence is always welcome for making the difference with a ‘lady’s touch’ that pushed us to first place!
A board meeting of the Pedigree Cattle Services was held at Carlisle with many forthcoming opportunities identified, including the workload on the department going forward and the Certified Beef Scheme / Sire Verification Programme – discussions on all items were very positive and encouraging.
The Show and Sale at Carlisle was well attended by exhibitors and vendors alike, with good trade for the bulls on show and the reserve champion taking the accolade of a breed record at Carlisle – all in all, a good day for the breed. Thanks to Ben Marsden for taking the time out to judge the show and to all the staff at Broderway Mart for making us so welcome.
A weekend catching up followed with the chance to tidy up the car park at Pedigree House and some exercise for the CEO with a sweeping brush! This also presented the opportunity to catch up on some outstanding tasks in the office.
I have started the process of registering a new mark for the society as part of the revisit to the CAAB scheme. For something that is relatively simple to say, it is quite a complex process, but it will undoubtedly be worth the effort to undertake.
The Scottish beef event was highly successful with some excellent feedback from the visitors who, in the land where big cattle tend to be favoured, discussions on two-year-old calving and smaller cows being cheaper to keep was to the fore. It was interesting to see that the “drip will eventually wear away at the stone”.
We held a long overdue team meeting in the office in preparation for the mid-year appraisals and individual interviews, where we have the opportunity to share views and table thoughts on how things are working in the office. We have scheduled these on 14th and 17th June.
We travelled down to the Royal Cornwall Show to set up the stand and spend a day in the South-West where we greeted members, new breeders and exhibitors to the stand. There was a steady flow through the stand all day on another great day in Cornwall. Congratulations and thanks are extended to Angela McGregor for judging the classes and doing a great job in the ring, whilst also manning the stand after she had finished her task for the show.
Next week sees the CEO in Watford and London for meetings with Costco and M&S for a catch up on progress being made at both sides to develop further our relationship with the retailers.
Preparations for the four-day Royal Highland Show are in the final stages, and it was interesting that some conversations at Cornwall with visitors included them stating that it was quicker to get to the Royal Highland Show than it is to get in and out of the Cornwall show! A plane ticket from local airport and a 5 min walk from the Airport to the showground, then back again! So that’s it – get your flights booked and we’ll see you there. If you have not been to the RHS yet, it’s well worth the visit.
News and Notices from Angela Cumming in the Finance Department
- INTERNET PAYMENTS
- When making payment through the internet banking, please ensure that you quote your MEMBERSHIP NUMBER and SURNAME as a refence. This ensures that your payment is allocated to the correct account.
- RECEIVING SOCIETY INVOICES BY EMAIL
- In order to try and save on postage costs we would like to send our invoices by email. If you have not already done so, can you please provide us with your details? Please click here for full information.
News and Notices from the Registrations Department
- Breeders should be aware that semen sold by Genus from bulls with the ABS prefix is not eligible for pedigree registration. Breeders using this semen on commercial cattle will still get the premium at time of slaughter, but we cannot register any pedigree calves to these bulls.
- For members using the on-line Registration facility, we have a 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. This test is optional, should you not wish calves to be tested, please disregard this section. Once your batch is submitted to us, we are unable to stop the testing process, and this will involve a cost to yourself.
News and Notices from the YDP
- The final workshop in Scotland will be held in the Borders at the Tofts Herd, hosted by the Playfair family on Sunday 4th August.
- A useful day was held at the NBA Beef Event nr Kendal where our National Co-ordinator along with meeting potential new young members, made useful contacts with other breed societies encouraging them to send their young members along to the YDP Workshops and initiate further opportunities for multi breed events for young people. Plus, the YDP was able to source excellent new resources from the AHDB and make a good contact with Sell My Livestock as a promotional platform.
Shows, Sales and Events
Key upcoming events are shown below:
- 6th – 8th June 2019 – Royal Cornwall Show
- 18th – 19th June 2019 – Royal Cheshire Show
- 20th – 23rd June 2019 – Royal Highland Show
- 24th June – Newry Show
- 29th June – Southern Ireland YDP Workshop
- Saturday 6th July – Mid Counties YDP Workshop – Melview Herd
Merchandise
With the summer months fast approaching, our branded crystal glasses are ideal for those weekend drinks, you can purchase one 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: https://www.aberdeen-angus.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Merchandise-poster-2018-web.pdf
From all at the Society, have a great weekend!
