Dairy Shorthorn Newsletter April 2013

Red Cattle Genetics Cogent have recently made changes to their requirements when taking bulls on to their EU approved collection centre. They will not now take old bulls because of the risk of disease so only bulls aged 6 to 12 months will be able to go on centre and they will be held in quarantine for a longer period on a holding unit before entering the collection centre. This means that bulls will have to be selected at a much younger age to be considered for AI. RCG checks the registered bulls to see if there are any suitable for consideration so it is imperative that any bulls which may be considered suitable for semen collection are registered as early as possible.

World Conference New Zealand 2013 The 14th World Shorthorn Conference and tour took place in March and was superbly organized by the New Zealand Shorthorn Association with Bill and Judy Austin at the forefront of the organization. We covered the whole of New Zealand from Invercargill at the bottom of the South Island to the Bay of Islands at the top of the North Island. The tour included beef and dairy Shorthorn herds as well as visiting and learning about the albeit short but very interesting history of New Zealand. The tour was completed by a very interesting conference in the Bay of Islands. It was a wonderful experience and joining a World Conference tour party certainly takes you far beyond the normal tourist trail you would normally encounter when travelling abroad. The hospitality of the host farmers has to be experienced to be appreciated and we tasted some of the finest beef imaginable. We visited 6 Dairy Shorthorn farms along the way and saw a few cattle by UK bred sires. There is no doubt that their dairy production is based on a completely different system to here in the UK and they are looking for slightly different types of cattle but fertility, longevity and mobility are still paramount. A full report of the tour will be in the next journal .

A daughter of Wenvoe Briars Man in Ian & Robyn Dibbles herd.

Some of the 500 Dairy Shorthorn milkers at Mark & Jenny Macdonalds herd

APRIL 2013 DAIRY NEWSLETTER Livestock Event 2013 The Livestock Event at the NEC on July 3rd/4th is very keen to attract as many cattle entries as possible and has made several amendments to try and attract entries. Firstly the stall booking fee will be refunded to all animals which are forward at the event which in effect means there is no entry fee. The livestock judging ring has been re located in the main exhibition hall so the judging will now take place in the heart of the event. Breed Societies have been offered stand space free of charge, and the RABDF has teamed up with livestock markets throughout the country to offer free coach travel to the event. More information on this can be found on the RABDF website at

Gold Cup

Gold cup entries close at the end of May. We have included an entry form with the newsletter. Any animal which qualifies for a diploma will be automatically entered for the gold cup and all diploma winners will be listed in the journal as well as receiving a star for the http://www.livestockevent.co.uk/book-tickets/coach-tickets star brood cow list. The winner will be presented We would like to see as many Dairy Shorthorn entries as possible with the gold cup at the at this prestigious event. If you would like to enter but feel you National Dairy Shorthorn can’t afford the time away from home, please let us know as we Show presentations at the can arrange for someone to help look after your animals at the Cheshire Show. Diplomas st show. Entry’s close on 31 May. If you haven’t received a schedule are awarded for consistent and entry form you can download these from our website or milking and regular breedcontact the office and we will send you one. The RABDF have ing and many of you will shown their commitment to the competitive dairy classes so let’s appreciate how difficult it is try and put on a good show of Dairy Shorthorns. to achieve the required standards, so if you have animals which qualify it is a Membership very commendable achievest Subscriptions were due on 1 January 2013, please forward ment which deserves to be payment if your membership still remains outstanding. Should published. membership not be paid in full you may not receive future mailings and it will delay any registrations submitted .

Events 2013

Journal 2014

3rd June 2013 Chelford Sale

Christmas seems a long way off but we are already compiling reports for the journal. If you have any regional events or competitions please let us have reports and photos as soon as possible after the event. As the show season approaches please send in any results, judges reports, photos etc straight away. We can then begin formatting parts of the journal throughout the summer rather than having it all to do in the last three weeks.

8th June 2013 AGM and Judging day 18th/19th June 2013 National Show at Cheshire Show

BCMS app for the Iphone

20/23rd June 2013 Royal Highland Show

Farming Online has recently launched a BCMS app for the Iphone enabling users to record births, deaths, movements etc directly from your phone. The app is free and can be downloaded from the app store by searching for cattle movements app.

3rd/4th July 2013 Livestock Event NEC 2nd October 2013 Bath and West Dairy Show 21st October 2013 Chelford Sale

Showing Guidelines The judges committee have asked that the showing rules be circulated so that everyone is aware of the rules, so below is a copy of the Shorthorn Society showing rules.

l. All Cows and Heifers are required to be entered in or eligible for entry in the Coates’s Herd Book main or supplementary sections with a minimum of 25% Dairy Shorthorn blood and be red white or roan in colour.

2. Foundation and Grade A animals are not eligible to be shown.

3. An animal jointly owned by more than one member must be exhibited under the jointly owned names and if one of the joint owners bred the animal it is eligible to be shown in any exhibitor bred class.

4. No animal shall have its teats sealed nor the udder in any way 'faked'.

No substance, or physical manipulation, shall be used to enhance the body features or character of any animal. Any infringement of this rule shall entail disqualification of the animal concerned and the exhibitor shall be reported to the Council of the Shorthorn Society. If the Shorthorn Society is notified by the Show Society of any infringement or disqualification due to “faking” then the President and Secretary of the Shorthorn Society shall convene a meeting of the disciplinary committee whose decision on any appropriate punishment will be final.

5. It is also a condition of the prize offers that the Judges be supplied with the following; information of any animal, if requested by them, (a) The exact date of birth (b) If calved, the last date of calving.

6. Shorthorn Society show uniform of blue trousers, white shirt and Society tie to be worn by all handlers in all classes .

7. Particulars of each animal, must be printed in the Catalogue.

8. Show Societies accepting Rosettes are required to provide a marked catalogue indicating Awards immediately after the Show.

9. A statement to the effect that the Shorthorn Society's Regulations apply to the Show shall he printed in the Prize Schedule and the Catalogue.

10.

Judges shall be selected from the Shorthorn Society 's list of Approved Judges.

11. Animals should not he shown if they are bred by the Judge as advertised in the Show Schedule.

Nordic Star doubles contribution to Society Through contributions donated from sales of its tags, Nordic Star has doubled its donation to the Shorthorn Society. Nordic Star contributes 5% of the value of all orders placed by Shorthorn Society members. The contribution in 2012 was double that made in 2011 thanks to customer support for Nordic Tags.

“Nordic Star is pleased to be affiliated with the Shorthorn Society and it is fantastic news that the orders have increased over the past year,” says Nordic Star product manager Rachael Ellis.

“We are a key player in the animal identification market, offering Defra approved tags. Our ear tags have a reputation of being high quality, easy-to-use and tamper proof with a retention rate of 98.4%. In addition, we offer a fast and efficient ordering and delivery service.

“Many members are reaping the benefits of Nordic Star tags and we hope to increase use among the Society this year which in turn will increase our contribution to the Society.”

AGM and Judging Day

Photo comp – classes

The AGM will be held on Saturday June 8th 2013 at Mr D Winnington’s, Moor End Farm, Gnosall , Staffordshire ST0 0JB at 11.00am followed by the Society’s judging day and herd visit. This is a great opportunity for all members to learn more about judging cattle and to practice reason giving. We would urge all young members who are interested in cattle judging to come along and have a go. The society does not require judges to attend the judging day in order to remain on the judging panel but the judges committee are very keen to encourage all existing judges to attend and brush up their judging skills.

The photographic competition gets better every year and our entries perform very well in the International photo competition. So don’t forget to get good photographs of your best cows throughout the summer. Professional photographs are accepted and there is a class for scenic photographs so get snapping now don’t leave it until the entry closing date is looming. Entry forms and class details can be downloaded from the website or you can request one from the office.

Herd Books We have recently cleared out the loft in the office and sorted out a considerable number of old herdbooks.

If anyone is interested in any of them they can have them free of charge. Either contact the office and make an appointment to come and view them or if there are specific ones you are looking for let us know and we will tell you if we have them. We also have some duplicate grading register books.

Support Mr P Morgan would like to offer his services at shows or on peoples farms during the showing season.

Mr P Morgan lives in Pembrokshire and his contact number is: 01348 891334

In-House Printing The office has a very good modern printer capable of high quality printing.

If anyone has any printing requirements we would be very happy to quote for your requirements.