CHAIRMAN'S REPORT & VICE CHAIRMAN'S REPORT

CHAIRMAN'S REPORT 2020

By Tom Walling

Looking back over my 2 years as Society Chairman, one word I would not use to describe my time would be “uneventful”! This is true whether thinking about changes within the Society, the increase in popularity of the Salers breed, the outlook for livestock farming in general and the trading relationship of the UK with its neighbours. Now, of course, there is the pandemic which is affecting lives and livelihoods in every country of the world. Politically, the direction of travel did at least become more certain after the election in 2019 but here we are, a year on, and we still don’t know what effect Brexit will have on trade and the future of UK livestock production. The pandemic has dominated this past year. Agriculture may not have been affected as much as other industries – but boy have we missed the Shows and other events where we can meet, look at other breeders’ stock and promote our breed. This, of course, has also been Sian’s first year as Secretary of the Society. She has settled into the job exceptionally well but how disappointing for her and us that she has not had the opportunity of meeting everyone at shows and putting into operation her promotional skills. I know that this is an area tremendous day with top-priced female at 7,000 gns and top-

she has had a lot of experience in and was the part of the job production of high quality, low-carbon meat from grass – well-

that she was looking forward to. Hopefully things will begin to get back to normal next summer. I do want to thank Sian for the way she has kept things going and adapted to these tricky circumstances and for all the help she has given me. The one sale that did go ahead before Covid-19 took hold was at Stirling in February. This was a tremendous success with the average up a whopping £1,301 on February 2019. The quality of bulls was very good and a great advertisement for the breed. The market was buoyant with lots of new faces buying Salers for the first time. More recently a successful sale was held at Welshpool, which was good to see after all a good selection of commercial and pedigree females finding new homes. There were a limited number of bulls forward with a top price of 4,000 gns for a Rigel bull. It was also really pleasing to see an upbeat premier sale at Castle Douglas, considering the unpredictability brought about by ongoing restrictions. Pedigree females were in high demand, with 100% clearance and an increased average of £1,189. There were a high quality selection of bulls on offer with an average up £268 TOM WALLING from the previous year. Patrick Boyd 2020 Chair, President 2021 of Drumaglea Salers, Tiree, had a & Council Member Area 2a priced male at 10,000 gns – our congratulations to Patrick. The commercial females were again in high demand with A. R. Lee of Lumbylaw topping the in-calf females and Colin McClymont of Cuil topping the bulling heifers – all in all a good day for my last Castle Douglas sale as Chairman. Can I also thank Sian again for her tremendous work for the sales. In an open letter to the Society, Wallets Marts referred to our new secretary working tirelessly, creating a fantastic catalogue and brilliant promotion of the breed – well done Sian. Even through this difficult year and constrained selling conditions the popularity of the breed continues and demand for pedigree and commercial Salers has been good. I make no apology for repeating myself in saying that for the efficient

the restrictions and the quiet summer we’ve had. There was look no further than the Salers! Despite my opening observations I have enjoyed my time as Chairman. It has been a great experience. However I must thank the Council and all Members for their support and friendship and I wish the new Chairman all the best for his tenure. If this last year has taught us anything it’s that, just like our cattle, we need company and we need to socialise. The Shows and Sales will be a big miss to a lot of farmers as farms can be a lonely place to work. So let’s all keep in touch and hope for a bit of normality next year.

VICE CHAIRMAN'S REPORT 2020

By Andrew Sleigh

We have had a seamless transition from Liz to Siân who has shown tremendous enthusiasm for the job. Unfortunately, due to the Corona virus she has met very few of the Salers breeders. In the commercial markets the Salers steer calves seem to have gained ground on the main breeds in price per kilo and some of the heifer calves are well above all breeds. The close down of the hospitality industry in France, Belgium and Luxembourg has seriously affected the cull cow trade. The latest figures from the ICBF maternal bull lists make excellent reading from the Salers point of view. The top four bulls are all Salers. Beguin has been overtaken by Ulsan and Knottown Roy (son of Beguin) is one point behind his father. The shorthorn, which is one of our main competitors, was ranked 57th, 100 points below the Salers. The Salers breed has led the maternal bull list for many years now.

ANDREW SLEIGH 2020 Vice-Chair, Chair 2021

As for the future we must never forget we are the easy calving maternal breed which makes us the envy of many breeds. I sincerely hope that by November 2021 we can host a Premier show, sale and dinner where we would once again be able to auction a special cake baked by a wonderful lady from near Newton Stewart.