Dairy Shorthorn Newsletter September 2013

Newsletter

Photographic Competition The photographic competition is open to all members and has a class for the best scenic photo so you don’t even have to own any cattle to enter. We would love to have more good scenic photos which we could use in general publicity features. It doesn’t matter what time of year the photos are taken provided they are well composed and taken in good light. An indication of the time of year from the background of the photo is always useful (eg flowers, trees in bud, snow, grass etc.)

Entry forms can be downloaded from the website or contact the office and we will post one out.

Rules for the 2013 Dairy Shorthorn Photographic competition 1.) All animals must be registered with the Shorthorn Society and contain 25% or above Shorthorn blood and be of shorthorn colour.

2.) All photographs must have been taken between October 20th 2012 and October 21st 2013 inclusive.

3.) Photographs can be amateur or professional and may have been taken at shows.

4.) Animals can be presented haltered or un-haltered and in a clipped or unclipped state.

5.) Entries must be in the Shorthorn Office by Friday October 25th. Every entry must be accompanied by a completed entry form. They can be entered as hard copies or by email to claire@shorthorn.co.uk or saved to disc as jpegs.

Late entries will not be accepted.

6.) Entries will only be accepted from paid up members of the Shorthorn Society.

7.) Each entry needs only to be photographed from one angle.

8.) In the event of a limited number of entries the Society reserves the right to amalgamate classes.

9.) Judges to be confirmed.

CLASSES 1.) CALF BORN IN 2013 2.) CALF BORN 01/07/12 TO 31/12/12 3.) CALF BORN 01/01/12 TO 30/06/12 4.) HEIFER IN MILK TO FIRST CALVING 5.) COW BORN IN 2010 HAVING HAD 2 CALVINGS 6.) COW BORN IN 2009 7.) COW BORN IN 2008

September 2013 Council - At the F & A meeting on 17th

July, the Chairman John Hayward decided that due to his mobility problems he could no longer continue to serve as chairman of F & A. He sadly retired therefore from the F & A committee and as treasurer of the Society. John has held this position for 11 years and has given tremendous service to the Society overseeing the finances which are now in a very satisfactory position. In recognition of his input and commitment to the Society, Council agreed unanimously to make John an Honorary Life Vice President of the Society. John was also co-opted on to Council so his invaluable input in to the running of the Society will not be lost.

Journal 2014 - We have already started collecting information for the 2014 journal.

Please send in any judges reports, regional herd visit reports, club herd competition results, articles etc. as soon as possible. If you have the information to hand please send it in now to claire@shorthorn.co.uk rather than waiting for the closing date at end of October. We can format individual pages now so that it doesn’t all have to be done in the last few weeks.

Advertising rates have been held at the very reasonable rate of £125 per page. This journal is circulated all over the world as well as here in the UK and receives very good comments. If you have not advertised before I urge you to consider putting an advert in this year. It is the most effective way of promoting your herd to other interested people and is a service we provide for our members. The cost of the advert barely covers the cost of printing.

Red Cattle Genetics (RCG) RCG have semen collected from a new 100% Dairy Shorthorn bull:

Brooksteads Bomber. The bulls dam has records up to 10,289 Kgs and a high production index of 117. His half sister out of the same dam is classified excellent and gave 10249 Kgs with her 3rd lactation and over 9,000 Kgs with the 4th and 5th lactations. His sire is Hooton Fair Resolve. Semen from this bull is currently in quarantine at Cogent but will be available very shortly. Semen is priced at £10 per straw plus delivery and can be ordered now from RCG. RCG also have another young bull on offer DRH Jerut, a red and white Holstein bull from Denmark with a very good genomic proof. There is conventional semen available at £17 per straw plus delivery and sexed semen at £30 per straw plus delivery.

Wanted: Mr Prestidge on 07774 878134 is interested in purchasing some straws from: Hinx Hill Grand Beau & Ashperton Lauras Masterpiece If you know of any where he can purchase them from please contact him on the above number.

8 .) COW BORN IN 2007

Events 2013

The Shorthorn Society

9.) COW BORN BEFORE 1st JANUARY 2007

2nd October 2013 Bath and West Dairy Show

4th Street, Stoneleigh Park, Kenilworth,

10.) BEST DAIRY SHORTHORN FEMALE SIRED BY AN RCG BULL

5th/6th

Warwickshire, CV8 2LG

11.) SCENIC PHOTO INCLUDING ONE OR MORE DAIRY SHORTHORN CATTLE There will be an overall Champion, Reserve Champion and Honorable Mention.

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October All Britain All Breeds Calf Show Stoneleigh 21st October 2013 Chelford Sale

T: 02476 696549 E: shorthorn@shorthorn.co.uk

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Shows The National Dairy Shorthorn Show at the Cheshire Show The National Dairy Shorthorn Show at the Cheshire Show was again very well supported and congratulations to Edward Crank winning the Championship with Earlsgift Cactus, a daughter of the RCG bull Drisgol Watzon.

The show of Dairy Shorthorns continues to be the largest entry of cattle of any breed and is a tremendous advertisement for the breed.

The Royal Highland Show - The Royal Highland Show saw history being made when Stephen Girvan won the Championship for the third year in succession with the same cow, Bishopsbrae Royal Kathleen. This is a remarkable achievement and all credit to Stephen and to John Teasdale who looks after the cow for Stephen for turning out the cow freshly calved, in top condition three years running. There was also another very important award won by a Dairy Shorthorn Breeder at the show. John Teasdale was awarded the John Miller trophy given by the Royal Highland Agricultural Society to the Best Herdsman from the Cattle, Sheep and heavy horse sections contributing most to the success of the show. This is a very well deserved award as John worked very hard to re - introduce Dairy Shorthorn classes at the Highland Show and continues to support the show with his own cattle as well as encouraging others to enter as well. John has also been instrumental in putting together a team of helpers at the show who all work together and help to wash and prepare the cattle ready for showing. His team of helpers is the envy of the other breeds. The Society also made changes to the stand this year with a larger marquee at the ringside and catering facilities in the marquee. The stand which is shared with the Beef Shorthorn Society was a

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huge success and provided opportunities for members to obtain food and drink at very reasonable prices, as well as providing a great atmosphere for the after judging party! It was also a very useful facility to meet, greet and offer hospitality to potential members and other people from the industry. The biggest problem was that at peak times the marquee wasn`t big enough so consideration is being given to an even bigger marquee next year and I am very pleased to say that Crystalx have already offered some generous sponsorship towards the cost of the 2014 stand.

The Yorkshire Show - The Yorkshire Show is the biggest show in the North of England and is always very well supported by our members.

Congratulations to a new exhibitor, Jonathon Fisher who won the Championship at the first attempt with his cow Marleycote Barrington Iris 15th.

Live Stock Event- Unfortunately the change of date of the Livestock Event to the first week of July made it impossible for exhibitors to show at the NEC and then at the Yorkshire Show and so the Dairy Shorthorn classes had

to be cancelled. Hopefully next year we will have sufficient entries to re instate the classes. The Society still had a stand at the event which proved to be very busy, particularly on the first day and the show offer of 20% discount off all RCG Dairy Shorthorn semen ordered on the day was a very successful promotion and an opportunity for many members to buy semen at a considerable discount.

Judges List - The Society’s judg-

ing day has run for several years now and has undoubtedly contributed to an improvement in the standard of judging and reason giving at shows. If we are serious about promoting the breed to the public as well as to other farmers then we have to put on a show, and part of that show includes the judge explaining to the spectators around the ring as well as the exhibitors just what he/she is looking for and why he/she has placed the cattle in front of him/her in that particular order. Many people have attended several judging days but there are still members on the judging list who have never attended a judging day. As well as providing an indication of a judge’s capabilities the judging day also provides an opportunity to discuss current issues and how to work towards achieving some consistency in the standards we are looking for. The Judges committee has decided therefore that in order to ensure continued improvement in standards, all judges on the National and Regional lists will be required to attend at least one judging day in three, otherwise they will not be recommended by the Society for any judging appointments.

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