Latest News
Mary Mead awarded Holstein UK's Lifetime Achievement Award 2023
It was with great pleasure that the British Cattle Breeders Club welcomed Holstein UK’s President Andrew Jones to present Mary Mead of the Lakemead Prefix with Holstein UK’s Lifetime Achievement Award during the annual conference dinner in January, at Telford. Mary and her husband Roger started farming in 1961 in the Yeo Valley where they formed the Lakemead herd of British Friesians.  A closed h...
19th March 2024
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Genetic solutions for Net Zero Beef
Brongain Farms are using data to pinpoint areas for improvement in its quest to become carbon neutral by 2030. Father and son Rowan and Greg Pickstock, who are also beef processors, farm 350ha in Llanfechain. They are targeting a daily liveweight gain of 1.1kg to produce net zero beef from grass. Currently, dairy-beef animals are finished at 650kg aged 22.5 months, and are on grass for 270 days...
12th March 2024
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Working towards low carbon cattle farming
To meet the UK’s legislative goals for net zero, as measured using the UK National Inventory, the farming industry needs to urgently move with a great pace on measuring, monitoring, and reducing gross farm emissions, warned a leading agricultural professor. Speaking at the British Cattle Breeder’s Conference on 24 January, Professor Elizabeth Magowan, Director of Sustainable Agri-Food Sciences Di...
6th March 2024
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Fast Breeders Project
Dairy farmer Rory Christie from Dourie Farming Ltd in South-West Scotland has helped create the first crossbreeding index as part of the Fast Breeders Project, led by geneticist Mike Coffey from SRUC. The project involves three other spring calving grazing herds milking a total of 4,250 cows. Mr Christie says during the inception of the project they had the ‘very audacious goal’ to increase inco...
27th February 2024
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Building a profitable suckler enterprise
Aberdeenshire suckler farmer Duncan Morrison said running a simple, low-cost grass-based system has helped him build a ‘lean and mean’ business. Since taking on a 226-acre tenancy in 2016, Mr Morrison and his wife Claire have grown their business to 650 acres and will bull 250 spring-calving cows and heifers this spring – a mix of Aberdeen-Angus and Stabilisers. He advocated for farmers to becom...
23rd February 2024
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Red meat and dairy are vital for human health
Red meat and dairy are vital for human health and more must be done to challenge publications that advocate dramatic reductions or total exclusions of animal-sourced foods from human diets. This was the message from Professor Alice Stanton, from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, who warned that many publications calling for this are not rigorously peer-reviewed or transparently evidence-b...
20th February 2024
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Genetics a 'key part' of a healthy business
Organic dairy farmer Wil Armitage said genetics was a key part of a healthy business alongside good cow and soil health, people, and profit. Wil milks 900 cows across three farms comprising almost 3,000 acres under various agreements. Cow health Moderate-sized Holsteins make up the mainstay of the herds. “We have stuck with the Holstein, and she has delivered,” said Wil. Bulls are selected fo...
14th February 2024
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Sponsors Feature - Hereford Cattle Society
Over 250 years of breeding has made the famous red-coated, white-face Hereford the worlds most recognised beef breed. Capable of adapting to all type of production systems and environmental conditions, the breed can be found from the highlands of Scotland to the prairies of Canada. The breeds many attributes include ease of calving, docile natures, and superior calf survival: however, it is not j...
13th February 2024
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Sponsors Feature - Weatherbys Scientific
Weatherbys is a family business which has been operating successfully since 1770. The core business is rooted in thoroughbred horses and is responsible for Racing Administration in the United Kingdom, as well as registering all thoroughbred horses in Britain and Ireland within The General Stud Book. In Ireland, Weatherbys run an industry-leading laboratory service, Weatherbys Scientific, which ha...
10th February 2024
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Nominations for the prestigious Sir John Hammond Award 2024 - open until 1st March
BCBC continues to support one of the sector's most prestigious awards, the Sir John Hammond Award with BSAS.  Awarded to those working in research, teaching, advisory, farming or affiliated professions who have made a significant contribution and positive impacts in the UK and RoI to animal science. The nominations for the 2024 award close soon, please visit https://www.bsas.org.uk/awards/sir-jo...
9th February 2024
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