Bi-Weekly Update – Friday 31st January 2020

And just like that its February tomorrow, we can get rid of those January blues! We have all been very busy here at the Society for the Stirling Bull Sales this weekend and we look forward to seeing many of you there! Take a look at what’s been happening in and around the Society over the past 14 days!

News Roundup

Review omission: Northern Ireland Ringside Results:

It has come to our attention that the Ringside results from Northern Ireland have been unintentionally omitted from the latest edition of the Aberdeen-Angus Review. We apologise for this mistake – in order to rectify, the results will be added into the electronic version of the document which is now live on the website.

The AGM of the Munster Aberdeen-Angus Club took place last week with a very large crowd flocking to the Firgrove Hotel, Mitchelstown, Co Cork for its annual meeting. Three changes to the top table of the club were ratified on the night with Shane Healy of the Branner Aberdeen-Angus Herd from Bengour West, Newcestown, Bandon, Co Cork taking on the top job of chairperson for the coming term. Speaking to the club membership after his appointment, Shane thanked the club for putting their faith in him for the next two years and said that he wished to build on the club’s recent successes and grow and develop the club’s activities over his chairmanship. Shane also paid tribute to outgoing chairperson, Billy Fitzgerald for completing such a tremendously successful term in office and wished all of the Aberdeen-Angus breeders in Munster the very, very best for the year ahead.

As regards the other newly elected club officers, Billy Fitzgerald retained a seat at the top table, moving to the position of treasurer – taking over this job from Albert DeCogan whilst the reigning 2019 YDP Senior Winner, Bryan O’ Halloran was elected as vice-chairperson and will take on chair duties once the current terms have concluded. Lastly, Edward Dudley agreed to take on another term as secretary (his 4th consecutive term) and will also handle all the PR responsibilities of the club for 2020 too. It is probably the youngest collective group of club officers ever to be appointed at Munster (or possibly at any Aberdeen-Angus club) and the active participation of young breeders in the province has surely been a big factor in the revitalisation of the fortunes of the Munster Club over the last few years, with the club now proudly standing as one of the most active, progressive and dynamic clubs in the country. To read the full story please head over to our News & Features section on the website.

The Connaught/Leinster Aberdeen-Angus Club held its annual dinner dance at the Athlone Springs Hotel, Athlone, Co. Westmeath last weekend.

The event proved to be a very enjoyable occasion for all in attendance with several awards handed out on the night too. Mr. Niall Maguire of Country Crest was on hand to present awards to the winners of the club’s summer calf competition whilst club chairman, Mr. Gerard Lynch bestowed prizes to the winners from the National Aberdeen-Angus Calf Show.

Well done to Tom Reynolds, Barry Smith, John McEnroe, Albert DeCogan, Tom Mulligan, Adrian Parke & Family and Brian Faughnan on their awards.

Louis Byrne, Annamoe, Bray, Co. Wicklow has been named as the winner of the FBD Eurostar €200 Pedigree Herd Competition for 2019 with his Tomriland Aberdeen-Angus Herd. The annual awards were presented by FBD in conjunction with ICBF at the ICBF & Sheep Ireland Genetics Conference, which took place at the Heritage Hotel, Co. Laois last weekend. A total of 5 awards were handed out on the night, all recognising genetic excellence in their respective fields and honoured recipients from pedigree and commercial beef herds, dairy herds and the ovine sectors. The pedigree beef competition was open to all pedigree beef herds in the country with the Tomriland Aberdeen-Angus herd seeing off tremendous competition to come out in pole position. To read the full story please head over to our news & features section on the website.

For the Stirling Bull Sale catalogue for this weekend please click here 

Reminder that our AGM is on Sunday 2nd February @ 03:45pm at United Auctions.

RHET GALA SILENT AUCTION:

The RHET Silent Auction is now open and lots can be viewed online and bids made.
This is a chance to purchase some of the bygone genetics of the Aberdeen Angus Breed. Newhouse Edwin Elector #184282 was bred by R M Adam & Son in 1964 (Sire: Newhouse Edwin Ericson by Newhouse Jewlian Eric and Dam: Newhouse Edwina Eleanor by Ervin of Harviestoun).

In 1967 to Angus Review reported that Edwin Elector was “purchased privately in January 1966 by The Kinermony Herd, for a high figured sum, highly thought of by Mr Adam and has been much admired by all who have seen him.”

T&Cs: Semen is stored at Genus Towcester.
Not suitable for export.
Contact Kay Adam (07932 159 454) to arrange release and shipment.
Shipping within the UK will be provided free of charge by Genus UK.

The RHET Silent Auction is now open and lots can be viewed online and bids made.
The online auction will be open to everyone for bidding until 4pm on 21st February 2020. The leading bid on each lot at that time will be carried over to the auction at the event that evening where the bidding will conclude and will only be available at the venue.

If you are unable to attend the fundraising gala but wish to bid on an item, you can still give yourself the best chance of winning by placing a proxy (maximum) bid on this page. We then will carry your bid over to the main auction on the evening of the event and continue bidding for you up to your maximum. You will be contacted after the fundraising gala if your bid has been successful.

If you are not attending the Gala but wish to bid on one of our Live Auction Items featured on this page, then please lodge your maximum bid by emailing [email protected] and we will bid up to this amount on your behalf on the night.

TO PLACE YOUR BIDS PLEASE CLICK HERE

The North East of Scotland are holding their annual Club Dinner and Trophy Presentation on Saturday 8th February at Morris’ Hotel, Oldmeldrum, AB51 0DS. They will take the opportunity to present trophies from the Black Beauty Bonanza alongside the summer show herd trophies.

Tickets are priced at £29 per person for a three-course meal which will be followed by their guest speaker for the evening Gavin Tait MRCVS, AB Europe. Gavin is a well-known IVF and Cattle Veterinary Surgeon.

7pm for 7.30pm start.

Places can be booked by contacting club secretary, Claire Johnstone by Saturday 1st Feb at the latest.
Claire –07766409316 [email protected]

102nd Aberdeen-Angus Review: FOR NON-MEMBERS: Should you wish a hard copy posted out please send in a cheque for £7.50 to cover postage + packing costs. Mark “REVIEW” as a reference on the back of the cheque and don’t forget to include your postal address.

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
Shows & Sales News

News & Notices from the CEO

• At time of the last bi-weekly update I was travelling to Orkney to spend the weekend there, previous to giving a breed society presentation to Orkney Agricultural Discussion Society.
• My sincere thanks to all for the warmth of the welcome on the Island and a greater understanding of the challenges faced by 5 miles of water between Orkney and the Mainland.
• To Colin and Pam Davidson a massive thank you for putting me up for the three nights and feeding and watering me wonderfully well during the visit.
• Also, to John Copland MBE for spending his Sunday taking me around the breeders on the Island and sharing with me his in depth knowledge of the Island and the Cattle gained in his 50 years working at Orkney Auction Mart Ltd.
• Thanks to all that I visited for giving up the time to make me welcome to their homes and farms.
• To sum up, wonderful people, wonderful surroundings, wonderful cattle and wonderful hospitality!
• The presentation on the Monday evening was well received and slightly different to a normal breed society presentation in looking at beef from a consumer’s perspective which created a great question and answer session.
• The Review landed with most people and we have made an omission of the information from Northern Ireland, we have steps in place to rectify this and I take this opportunity of apologising again for this slipping through the net.
• In the last fortnight I have had various meetings with some of our suppliers mapping out 2020 and our requirements for the year.
• The build up for the bull sale at Stirling intensifies after Christmas with the race to chase information required for the catalogue and get it to print and distributed. Thanks to Barbara, Helena and Amy for their help with that.
• Thanks also must go to Caroline, Fiona and Yvonne for their resolve to help ensure that the sale conditions are met according to the rules and we have now got all the myostatin results and any sire adjustments closed out.
• Please enter any bulls that you are intending to put through sales as early as possible and we can pull the samples and have them tested. This then allows time for a retest if that should be required it takes about 3 – 4 weeks at a minimum to get results back to total time for retesting if required is 6-8 weeks. That is the challenge.
• I am receiving kind invitations to attend the Club AGM’s if I can attend these events then I will and please don’t be disheartened if I decline if other matters may take priority please ask again next year!
• It was brought to my attention that our society is not included in the breed directory of the NBA magazine. I have not quite got to the bottom of why yet but will be resolved for the next issue.
• I was receiving word that the review had not reached the members in the republic, a delay as they were held up in customs. If this is an issue this year after Brexit, I can only see this getting worse next year.
• I had a couple of meetings in England this week which were very enlightening and thanks to Andrew and Sarah Shufflebotham for their hospitality and putting me up at “Chez Shuffs” for the night. Good to see you in good form.
• This weekend sees an action-packed agenda at the Bull sale that amongst everything else takes a great deal of preparation for. Looking forward to seeing you all over the weekend.
• Bull inspection, Show, Council meeting, pre-AGM, and Post AGM, prize giving then the sale! I will be at Stirling from around 7am Sunday and Monday don’t hesitate to stop me for a chat.
• Well done to Laura Stewart for all her efforts in turning everything around in preparation for this weekend which is no mean feat!
• Next couple of weeks is packed out time wise with Meat the Market seminar at Scotbeef Bridge of Allan organised by QMS.
• One to one meeting with the staff on Wednesday and Thursday afternoon with our HR provider.
• Friday sees me down in Yorkshire with our Show and Sales committee planning the open day at Little Givendale with Pete Orton and David Lister.
• Monday the following week travel to Ireland for Dungannon Sale two CAAB meetings and a trip to the south on Wednesday to catch up with all things Republic before their AGM which I can’t attend this year.
• That should take us through to the next Bi-weekly report, it is not possible to include everything that comes across my desk, but I assure you all there is never a dull moment!

News & Notices from the Office Manager Laura Stewart

Just a reminder that the AGM time is 3.45pm on Sunday 2nd February in the Conference Room at Stirling Agricultural Centre. The next Council meeting will be held this day also – any member wishing to raise any points with Council should do so through their local Council representative in advance of the meeting.

News & Notices from Angela Cumming in Accounts

• 2020 ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP
A kindly reminder that membership for 2020 is due to be paid, if not already done so. You can pay by either cheque, internet banking or credit card. Please don’t forget to quote your membership number when making payments.

• 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

News & Notices from the Registrations Department 

• If you have bulls entered for Newark, Worcester, Carlisle, Dungannon and Stirling Spring Sales please get in touch now so that we can organise the DNA/MYOSTATIN testing. We need as much warning as possible – inevitably some samples will need to be repeated so we need time for the labs to process these results.
• Registrations for 2020 are already coming in – remember to submit them in plenty time or late fees will be charged.
• Caroline and Fiona will be at Stirling on Sunday if you have any registration queries. We are always happy to help.

News & Notices from the Pedigree Cattle Services Department

• With calving time just around the corner, please try to get an accurate birth weight – NO GUESSING! If you don’t have any weighing facilities such as – a lamb weigh crate, weigh bridge etc then you can purchase a weighing calf tape from the Society at a cost of £6.00 INC VAT. Always remember to use the same weighing facility all the time.

Merchandise

You can purchase any of our merchandise 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 here

From all at the society have a great weekend!