ASSOCIATIONS AND CLUBS | 133
HCBA gets back to normality Hereford Cattle Breeders’ Association ran some successful events in 2021 in a bid to get back to normality. With 2020 being a year we would all very much like to forget, the Hereford Cattle Breeders Association (HCBA) looked forward to 2021 to try and return to some normality. However due to Covid-19 rules and restrictions the association’s AGM had to be held via Zoom, which is believed to be the first in the association’s history. Luckily, the association’s committee managed to conduct this without any hiccups. David Makin, Andrew Whitlow and Jenny Pudge were all re-elected into their positions as chairman, vicechairman and treasurer with Emma Davies enthusiastically taking on the secretary role from Maddy Roberts, who had kindly stepped in previously as honorary secretary. Richard Bradstock once again took up the role as association president.
The Christmas Calf Show organising commitee. L-R Phil Williams, Hazel Timmis, Alison Allman, Melissa Roberts, Becky Davies, Caroline Davies, Emma Davies, Maddy Roberts and Andrew Whitlow Making up for lack of events in the previous year, as soon as it was practical and safe to do so the association held its first social of the year. This was warmly hosted by Scott and Isabel Coates on their farm in Monmouthshire. After viewing the herd of Hereford cattle of which there was an excellent stock bull and quality cows, members got to the business end of the trip – a tour and tasting session of their new sheep’s cheese enterprise. This involved
HCBA held a supper in Shrewbury Auction Centre the evening before the calf show
a look around at the milking parlour and cheese making facility, finishing off with an excellent sampling of the various cheeses they produce. It was great to see so many familiar faces and some new. Many thanks to the Coates for hosting. As we progressed through the year, we saw the return of the area herd competition. This was judged by prominent Limousin breeder Richard Bartle who had the task of judging over 20 herds covering all corners of the HCBA area. The results evening was held at Eldersfield Herefords by Lorraine Hobson, with farm manager Daniel Goodman giving a great insight into the system they run which focusses on utilising grass in a rotational grazing system. This gave everyone on the tour food for thought on how to best manage cattle on a grazing platform and really gain the ‘white face advantage’ which Herefords have when it comes to performing well on grass-based systems. Richard Bartle was very encouraged by what he saw when judging and added some comments on how the
