South Devons November Newsletter 2018

SOUTH DEVON HERD BOOK SOCIETY Westpoint, Clyst St Mary, Exeter, EX5 1DJ. Tel: 01392 447494 Fax: 01392 447495

www.sdhbs.org.uk

info@sdhbs.org.uk

PATRON: HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE OF WALES

NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2018 CONTENTS: Notified animal names Regional meeting Cornwall Agri-Expo report Agri-Fest report Changes to VAT submissions Herd signs competition Skipton Sale

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Midland Herd Competition TB compensation BVD Stamp it Out New Carcase EBVs Cattle for Sale BCBC Conference And Finally

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Dear Member I am sorry to give news of the passing of two people who will be known, along with their families, to many in the South Devon world: Mrs Alger, widow of Bernard from Coombe Farm, near Liskeard; and Mr Arthur Runnalls, father of Roy from Ley Green, St Neot. Our condolences to both families.

Thank you to all those members who have already completed and returned herd inventory forms; a pile has already been processed, and another pile is steadily building.

Many of you will already have accessed the review of the government’s 25year TB strategy, led by Sir Charles Godfray which calls for renewed energy and a fresh focus on a comprehensive programme towards eradication. Of course there has been swift media reporting, some of which is inevitably biased either for or against wildlife controls, but there is some good thinking behind much of the report. No ministerial conclusions are likely to be reached for a while, particularly whilst other weightier matters dominate our political scene. If you would like to read the report for yourself it can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/a-strategy-for-achievingbovine-tuberculosis-free-status-for-england-2018-review.

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We are posting out a copy of an AHDB leaflet that has been produced for the South Devon breed to launch some new EBVs for carcase traits. This work sits alongside the ongoing performance evaluations computed by Breedplan and is based on actual carcase data relating to the breed. More information is inside this newsletter.

Also being posted to you is a copy of our merchandise leaflet, plus a Christmas flyer with some new offers including new baseball caps, so please take a moment to look through and do some Christmas shopping. Orders can be placed with Elizabeth here in the office.

Finally, after a busy summer’s competing in lots of Young Handler Competitions, may we congratulate the Mole Valley Young Handler Series 2018 winner – Miss Bea Hooper, Ada Brookes’ granddaughter (Beckaveans herd)!

My best wishes, Caroline

CHANGES TO NOTIFIED ANIMAL NAMES Earlier this year Council took the decision to bring in some changes to the way that Animal names are published on the Breedplan database on our website.

This was as a result of some confusion and misunderstandings, whereby animals with full names could be assumed to be registered pedigree when they were in fact only birth notified.

To clarify the status therefore, as of 1st January 2019 only registered pedigree animals will have full names, eg BREEDER BEAUTY 1.

Notified animals will have the herd prefix and the last six digits of their tag number, eg BREEDER 123456.

NOTICE OF REGIONAL MEETING Region One – Cornwall A regional committee meeting will be held at the Victoria Inn, Roche, Cornwall on Thursday 6th December beginning at 7.30 pm.

For further detail please tregondalefarm@btconnect.com

contact

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Secretary

Stephanie

Rowe,

AGRI-EXPO 2018 BORDERWAY MART, CARLISLE Agri-Expo at Carlisle is another great opportunity to promote the breed in an area where we are not overly stocked, and it is always brings enquiries with a lot of information taken away by visitors.

This year was no exception, and we are very grateful to Robert Lee from Lumbylaw, Alnwick, Northumberland for loaning all the cattle for the Society stand, comprising: - Lumbylaw Horizon 38, a March 2016 born bull by Lumbylaw Halcyon 8, and unusually a double carrier of the F94L myostatin gene. He is a very wide bull, naturally well-fleshed, and with a characteristically quiet temperament.

- Four September 2017-born Salers x South Devon heifers - Four September/October 2017-born Salers x South Devon steers These crossbreds were exceptionally strong, very well-grown, thickly fleshed, and very quiet; and they attracted much interest as a good commercial cross.

AGRI-FEST 2018 WESTPOINT, EXETER Just a few days after Agri-Expo we had another opportunity to show off the breed and its potential, this time on our doorstep at Westpoint’s Agri-Fest.

The Native Young Bull Competition was won by Tregarrick Hamilton from Liz and Nigel Bunkum, a January 2017-born bull by Langham’s Louis 2. This bull is zero myostatin, is well balanced, well fleshed, and lengthy. Congratulations to the Bunkums for turning out such a good representative of the breed!

In the South Devon pedigree calf, sponsored by the Society, the top honours were again taken by the Bunkums; and both the bull and the heifer class showed good line-ups. The results were: Bulls born in 2018 1st N & E Bunkum TREGARRICK ILLANO nd 2 N & E Bunkum TREGARRICK ISAAC 3rd A B Brookes Z BECKAVEANS BOY GEORGE 4th R J Throssell & J A T Warwick Z BROOMPARK ATHOS 5th A B Brookes Z BECKAVEANS BEACH BOY 3

Heifers born in 2018 1st N & E Bunkum 2nd R K Rundle 3rd N & E Bunkum 4th A B Brookes 5th R J Throssell & J A T Warwick 6th A B Brookes 7th R J Throssell & J A T Warwick

TREGARRICK INDIANNA KESTLE BUTTERCUP 146 TREGARRICK LONA BECKAVEANS BRACKEN 3 Z BROOMPARK AMBER BECKAVEANS BETTY 5 BROOMPARK AMELIA

In the primestock classes, Chloe Quantick achieved second place in a strong class with Bounty, sired by Trewint Magnetto 5 and out of a British Blue crossbred dam.

Finally, the Society was awarded the title of Best Breed Society Stand, with the prize card presented by Neil Parish MP. Photo’s are on Facebook.

CHANGES TO VAT – ‘MAKING TAX DIGITAL’ The last newsletter included information about changes to rules governing VAT submissions for businesses with a turnover in excess of £85,000. These changes will necessitate using specialist accounting software.

I have been told that some banks are offering their customers free software packages to comply so it would be worth asking the question at your branch if appropriate for your circumstances.

HERD SIGNS – COMPETITION! Those members who claimed a free herd sign earlier this year will no doubt be displaying it in a prominent position to advertise their herd and their breed.

We thought it appropriate now to ask for e-mailed submissions of photographs showing where the signs have been placed, and to run a light-hearted competition to find the best positioned one.

Judging criteria will include breed promotion, exposure to passers-by, and practicality!

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ANNUAL SOUTH DEVON SHOW & SALE SKIPTON AUCTION MART, YORKSHIRE A total of nine in-calf and bulling heifers were presented for sale at Skipton on 7th November, to continue the annual presence of the South Devons, and there was a 100% clearance.

Top price was for an in-calf heifer from Alex Welch which sold for 1400 gns.

Best shown heifer was Brafferton Doris 72 from Paul Harrison.

Heifers averaged £1,230.

MIDLAND CLUB HERD COMPETITION Congratulations to the winner of this year’s Midland Club Herd Competition which was judged by Richard & Annabel Ford, and to all other winners as follows: Overall winner – Society Cup R Linnell Best bull – Tully Trophy R Linnell Best herd – Edmeston Trophy R Linnell Best youngstock – Trevassack Shield R Linnell Progeny group – Harding Trophy R G Elliott & Son Best cow – Stretchford Trophy R V Hartshorn Three related females – Betton Trophy M & S Kettlewell Best polled animals – Pensham Trophy R V Hartshorn Best small herd – Kinwarton Shield R V Hartshorn

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COMPENSATION FOR BOVINE TB Payable during November 2018 NON PEDIGREE BOVINE Male Age Up to 3 months Over 3 months up to 6 months Over 6 months up to 9 months Over 9 months up to 12 months Over 12 months up to 16 months Over 16 months up to 20 months 20 months and over, non breeding bulls Breeding bulls 20 months and over

Compensation due 197 509

Female Age Up to 3 months Over 3 months up to 6 months Over 6 months up to 9 months Over 9 months up to 12 months Over 12 months up to 16 months Over 16 months up to 20 months 20 months and over, not calved Over 20 months, calved

660 793 881 963 989 1189

Compensation due 138 439 574 675 768 864 898 741

PEDIGREE BOVINE Male Age Up to 6 months 6 months up to 12 months Over 12 months up to 24 months 24 months and over

Compensation due * *

Female Age Up to 6 months 6 months up to 12 months Over 12 months up to 24 months 24 months and over (not calved) Calved over 24 months and up to 36 months Calved 36 months and over

3,949 2,351

*Compensation to be determined using individual valuation ** Previously ascertained market price 6

Compensation due * * 1,464 1,522 941

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BVD ‘Stamp It Out’ - England Earlier this year Defra announced that it was making available £5.7 million of funding through the RDPE (Rural Development Programme for England) to help target the eradication of BVD, It is intended that veterinary practices and groups of farmers collaborate to manage the disease.

The project is being delivered by SAC Consulting, part of Scotland’s Rural College, under the title of ‘Stamp out BVD’, who will recruit local vets to offer the programme to farmers on the ground. It is larger than any previous BVD project in England in terms of both funding and scope, and offers a comprehensive package to farmers.

Funding is available to provide on farm advice and for Vets to work with “clusters” of cattle keepers, to share best practice and tackle the disease as a group of like-minded individuals who share the goal of eradicating BVD from their cattle herds.

The funding will also cover testing for BVD which takes place as part of the process. The testing to see if BVD is active in a herd must be consistent with the most recent standards as set by BVDFree and carried out in designated laboratories. On a first come basis there is limited funding available for further testing to identify any Persistently Infected animals which might be actively spreading the disease (a PI hunt).

This support is only available to registered keepers in England, and aims to engage at least 50% of the dairy and beef breeding herd in England in BVD control by the end of 2020. It is a great opportunity to make a significant and lasting improvement to cattle productivity.

Please ask your vet if they are participating, or contact SAC Consulting on 01835 823322, e-mail BVD@sac.co.uk

EBVs FOR CARCASE TRAITS Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs) are now available to beef producers for carcase traits derived from data collected from abattoirs, BCMS, breed societies and other third parties. It has also been co-related to Breedplan records; although it must be stressed that these traits are created from a project funded by AHDB and computed by SRUC. 7

Combined across all breeds this data set includes over 7 million carcase records (about 30% of the national slaughter population). If sires were recorded more widely by beef producers and cattle breeders the scope of data would be considerably wider. Across the industry only 40% of all sires are recorded on passport applications.

The calculation of these new EBVs takes into account levels of heritability and genetic correlations; and for carcase traits these are significantly high and so can represent a good estimation of breeding potential. Even 10 progeny will give a bull around 80% accuracy because of the high heritability.

The new traits are for: - Days to slaughter (predicting days to slaughter at a given weight and fat class) - Carcase weight (predicting carcase weight at a given slaughter age) - Carcase conformation (predicting carcase conformation at a given slaughter age, using carcase records based on the EUROP grid) - Fat class (predicting carcase fat class at a given slaughter age, using values based on the EUROP grid) - Average daily carcase gain (predicting lifetime daily carcase gain) Interpretation of these traits: - Days to slaughter (measured in days). A bull with a days to slaughter EBV of -20 will produce progeny that reach slaughter 10 days earlier than a bull with an EBV of 0 - Carcase weight (measured in kg). A bull with a carcase weight EBV of +10kg will produce progeny that have 5kg heavier carcases than a bull with an EBV of 0 - Carcase conformation (converted to a 45 point score). A bull with a carcase conformation EBV of +9 will produce progeny that have conformation half a grade higher than a bull with an EBV of 0 - Fat class (converted to a 45 point score). A bull with a fat class EBV of 6 will produce progeny that are half a grade lower (leaner) than a bull with an EBV of 0 - Average daily carcase gain (measured in kg). A bull with an average daily carcase gain EBV of +0.2kg will produce progeny that have a daily carcase gain of 0.1kg greater than a bull with an EBV of 0 These new EBVs, therefore, should be easy to interpret by the commercial producer who can use them to source bulls with favourable carcase traits.

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Where to find these new EBVs on line: The new EBVs can be found on the website by searching an individual animal.

From our website (www.sdhbs.org.uk) select the ‘DATABASE’ button from the top of the page which takes you to ‘South Devon Animal Enquiry’. Here you type in either the ‘Name’ or the ‘Identity No’ of the animal you wish to look up, then click on ‘Search’.

The next page is called ‘South Devon Animal Listing’, and should show the animal name which will be underlined. Click on this.

The next page that comes up is South Devon Animal Details, and you will see on the left side of the page ‘EBVs from AHDB National Beef Evaluations’.

Beside it click on ‘View’, and this will take you a page headed ‘The Carcase Traits Project’ and the details of the animal you have selected. An example of what this page looks like is published in the leaflet posted to you entitled “Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs) for carcase traits”.

If you find any teething problems please would you let us know. Otherwise I hope you find the new information of use for breeding selection.

CATTLE FOR SALE Please let us know when these animals are sold so that the list is maintained up to date BULLS Ewefields Dazzler 5 UK202600 100404 Born 28/02/2012 Tregondale Hector 9 UK383061 601077 Born 10/03/2013 Z Arncliffe Kadesh UK122824 400896 Born 23/03/2013 Waddeton Homer 10 UK364027 101195 Born 14/03/2014 Goffe Cave Armando 2 UK200202 501205 Born 31/03/2016

R J & P N Hunt Devon – Region 2 Myostatin ‘0’ Lady K A Wills Hampshire – Region 4 Myostatin ‘1’ F94L D Chadwick Derbyshire – Region 7 Myostatin ‘1’ nt821, HP A L Pascoe Cornwall – Region 1 Myostatin ‘1’ nt821 Mr R A Ford Leicestershire – Region 5 Myostatin ‘1’ nt821 9

01626 872882

01256 892153

01335 345980

01736 850708

01858 545227

Goffe Cave Armando 4 Mr R A Ford UK200202 401246 Leicestershire – Region 5 Born 12/07/2016 Myostatin ‘0’ Z Glebe Inquest 2 Mr J Virgin UK340654 500478 Dorset – Region 3 Born 16/02/2017 Myostatin ‘0’; PP Z Beckaveans Baloo Mrs A Brookes UK382190 400627 Cornwall – Region 1 Born 10/03/2017 Myostatin ‘0’, HP Whiddon Arthur S J Topliss UK377473 100003 Devon – Region 2 Born 13/03/2017 Myostatin ‘0’ Whiddon Agamemnon S J Topliss UK377473 700009 Devon – Region 2 Born 13/03/2017 Myostatin ‘0’ Tregondale Mervyn Lady K A Wills UK383061 401396 Hampshire – Region 4 Born 15/03/2017 Myostatin ‘0’ Whiddon Abraham S J Topliss UK377473 200011 Devon – Region 2 Born 16/03/2017 Myostatin ‘0’ Whiddon Andrew S J Topliss UK377473 300012 Devon – Region 2 Born 17/03/2017 Myostatin ‘0’ Whiddon Antonio S J Topliss UK377473 200018 Devon – Region 2 Born 24/03/2017 Myostatin ‘1’ nt821 Whiddon Austin S J Topliss UK377473 300019 Devon – Region 2 Born 06/04/2017 Myostatin ‘0’ Z Beckaveans Bandar Mrs A Brookes UK382190 100638 Cornwall – Region 1 Born 20/04/2017 Myostatin ‘0’, HP Z Billington Poll King George 2 Mr M Garrett UK371751 201111 Devon – Region 2 Born 26/04/2017 Myostatin ‘0’, HP 10

01858 545227

01258 817171

01840 230749

07734 113859

07734 113859

01256 892153

07734 113859

07734 113859

07734 113859

07734 113859

01840 230749

01837 54348

FEMALES 15 bulling heifers Bulling & yearling heifers Cows & calves 20 bulling heifers 20 bulling heifers

Mr M Garrett Devon – Region 2 Mr W H D Scott Gloucestershire – Region 3 Mr A L Pascoe Cornwall – Region 1 P S & A P Rowe Cornwall – Region 1 R A Ford Leicestershire – Region 5

01837 54348 01608 651464 01736 850708 07772 563967 01858 555219

BRITISH CATTLE BREEDERS CLUB 2019 CONFERENCE, 21st-23rd January TELFORD, SHROPSHIRE The theme of next year’s Conference is “Building the Brand to Promote our Uniqueness”, and in light of the huge challenges facing us this seems an appropriate focus of attention.

Sessions include: Monday 21st pm

Beef Workship, which will showcase initiatives aimed at improving efficiencies both in breeding and management approaches

Tuesday 22nd am Minette Batters, NFU President, “Challenges Opportunities to Promote the UK Livestock Sector”

and

Dr Robert Banks, AGBU (Australia), “Strategies for ensuring breeds’ viability in the genomics era – beef breeding as an information business” Max Tweedie, NZ B & L Genetics, “Data for decisions”, looking at a progeny testing beef unit in NZ Matthew Murphy, Suckler Demonstration Farm “Successfully using AI in a 100-cow suckler herd”

(NI),

Alex Brown, AHDB, “Take our industry higher; Shout about the sire” 11

Tuesday 22nd pm Dr Jude Capper, Livestock Sustainability Consultant, “Going green – How do we communicate our industry’s environmental advantages?”

Jonathan Eckley, AHDB, “Growing exports, can it be done?”

Prof Eileen incorporating programmes”

Wall, SRUC, “The Efficiency Frontier: feeding efficiency in beef improvement

To book a place, and for more information please contact BCBC, Heidi Bradbury, 07966 032079, e-mail Heidi.bradbury@cattlebreeders.org.uk

AND FINALLY …

John went to visit his 90 year old grandfather in a very secluded, rural area of Saskatchewan. After spending a great evening chatting the night away, the next morning John's grandfather prepared breakfast of bacon, eggs and toast.

However, John noticed a film like substance on his plate, and questioned his grandfather asking, 'Are these plates clean?' His grandfather replied, ‘They're as clean as cold water can get ‘em. Just you go ahead and finish your meal, Sonny!'

For lunch the old man made hamburgers. Again, John was concerned about the plates, as his appeared to have tiny specks around the edge that looked like dried egg and asked, 'Are you sure these plates are clean?'

Without looking up the old man said, ‘I told you before, Sonny, those dishes are as clean as cold water can get them. Now don't you fret, I don't want to hear another word about it!’

Later that afternoon, John was on his way out and as he was leaving, his grandfather's dog started to growl, and wouldn't let him pass. John yelled and said, 'Grandfather, your dog won't let me get to my car'. Without diverting his attention from the football game he was watching on TV, the old man shouted: 'Coldwater, go lay down now, yah hear me!'

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