North East Club Report

North East Club

Report By Jayne Pick -Secretary

2020, what a strange and unpredictable year. It certainly has been tough, and our thoughts go out to everyone who has been directly affected through loss of family members or friends.

Expectations for the 50th Anniversary Celebrations were soon dashed, along with the usual shows, sales, club activities and just normal life. Hopefully 2021 will see the virus under control and conclude a very difficult and emotional episode in all our lives.

Our only club event to take place this year was the virtual herd competition, kindly organised by Katie Boyes. Thank you and many congratulations to the winners and all entrants. It is not easy to take photographs, it can be very time consuming as well as frustrating! Special thanks to our judge, Mr Simon Key. Photographs of all the entrants can be viewed on the North East Club Facebook page.

Results

Class 1 – Stock bull 1st - Clonagh Joker Poker 2nd - Woodhall Everheart 3rd - Overhill House Groggan 4th - Swaledale Dictator Class 2-Young bull 1st- Midhope Kevin Class 3- Cow 1st - Midhope Heavenly Light 2nd - Tidkin Dion 3rd - Goskins Eliza 4th - Goskins Florence Class 4 – 2020 born bull calf 1st - Tidkin Leon 2nd - Midhope Larry 3rd - Tidkin Legacy 4th - Rainbow Lambert Class 5 – 2020 born heifer calf 1st - Tidkin Liberty 2nd - Midhope Heavenly Light Lovely 3rd - Deerholme Lottie 4th - Goskin Leafy Class 6 – Best group heifers 1st - Midhope Herd 2nd - Deerholme Herd 3rd - Tidkin Herd 4th - Goskin Herd Class 7 – Simmental sired commercial calf born 2020 1st - Deerholme herd 2nd - Goskin herd 3rd - Goskin herd Class 8 - Just for fun 1st - Deerholme herd 2nd - Goskin herd 3rd - Deerholme herd 4th - Deerholme herd 5th - Goskin herd Class 1 Clonagh Joker Poker

Class 2 Midhope Kevin

Class 4 Tidkin Leon

Class 5 Tidkin Liberty

Class 6 Midhope herd Class 8 Deerholme herd

Congratulations also to Andrew & Yvonne Leedham (Grangewood) and Andrew & Ruth Steele (Weeton) for being placed in the ‘Virtual’ 2020 Simmental Society show. It was a tremendous advert for the breed to have so many superb photographs of Simmental cattle online. The Overall Supreme Champion was awarded to Vale Royal Heavenly Girlie owned and bred by Mr James Arnold. Well Done.

Continuing with the online theme, many congratulations to John, Val & Craig Hollingsworth for winning the beef section of the Farmers Guardian online competition with Midhope Heavenly Light.

On a personal note I would like to congratulate my daughter and club member Sarah who was awarded a Nuffield Farming Scholarship in 2019. Sarah recently presented her findings on her chosen subject ‘Heifer replacement strategies: cost reduction in the UK suckler beef herd’.

I will finish my report with the sad news of the passing of Brian Lundy, one of the founder members of the Eastern Simmental Cattle Breeders Club. Brian established the Caistor Herd in the 1990’s and went on to breed numerous show winners and stock bulls. Latterly Brian was influential in not only bringing Danish polled breeding into his herd but encouraging other breeders to use polled genetics. Brian was known the length and breadth of the country for his knowledge and enthusiasm for the breed. Although the herd was dispersed due to Brian’s ill health last year, Caistor bloodlines will continue to be influential within the breed. He will be sadly missed by his many friends and fellow breeders.