Breed Secretary Report

2022 has been a momentous year for the Shorthorn Breed celebrating the bicentenary of the Coates Herd Book and hosting the World Conference Tour and celebration in July. The uncertainty of COVID knocked back the planning of the World Conference and there was a question mark as to whether it would go ahead right up until the end of February this year, but the organising committee bit the bullet and went for it. The feedback from sponsors, host farms and delegates has been nothing but complimentary, the World Conference Tour & Celebrations certainly exceeded all expectations. A big thank you to all Sponsors who made the event possible, the organising committee and Society members who supported and took the time to join the celebrations, it was very much appreciated. I hope you all enjoy reading the World Conference Article in this Journal. Highlights for me personally was the introduction of the youth participation in the World Conference. The young members were tremendous additions to the Shorthorn family and long may this youth aspect continue for other World Conferences. Secondly and by no means least the attendance of The Princess Royal at the welcome drinks and the Great Yorkshire Show was a privilege. To have our Patrons support and for her to take the time to talk and engage with every single delegate, sponsor and exhibitor was beyond my expectations. The Princess Royal very kindly presented the very first Lifetime Achievement Award to Graham Madeley which was a huge honour. Congratulations to Graham for receiving such recognition. 2022 also saw the return of nearly all the Agricultural Shows. It never ceases to impress me how much hard work, dedication, and passion the exhibitors put into showing their animals. The Society are very aware that the Shows are a great shop window for our breed, so, thank you to all exhibitors for their continued commitment and helping to promote the breed all around the UK. I always get great feedback about our breed at shows that I attend, they certainly catch people eyes. Penrith & Leek continue to hold regular specialised sales of Dairy Shorthorns, 2022 has seen good quality stock coming forward to sell and good trades being achieved. These sales have also led to several new members joining the Society. As I write this article, I am pleased to report registrations are up in comparison to the same point last year, which is very encouraging, both Graham, Claire and Rachael work hard to help and encourage as many breeders to register animals as possible, with sales of sexed semen growing we hope this will led to a steady growth in registrations. Conference Day of the World Conference Tour was very well attended and everyone who was there took something away from it, as a Society it re-enforced the need for the breed to push on with genomics to keep up with other breeds, also some very interesting talks on regenerative farming empathised how the Shorthorn can be very much a big part in the UK’s sustainable farming practices. The take away message from the conference day for me was that “data is the key to farming efficiently”. Thank you to the Moscrop family for hosting the AGM and Judging day and to Shaun Dixon and Grace Holliday for taking on the responsibility of Co-Ordinating the Young Members, the Society look forward to building on this success in 2023. As always, I would like to give a big shout out to those the make things happen within the Society; Claire, Graham and Rachael who are a great team to work with and to all the Council and Committee members who give up their time to attend and drive to meetings. Please take the time to find out who your regions council members are, they are there to represent, help and listen to you as members and bring feedback to our Society meetings. Ros Rimmer Breed Secretary