It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the 2020 British Cattle Breeders’ Club Conference (BCBC).    Since its inception over 70 years ago, the BCBC conference has become a unique event, renowned for its mix of practical, high quality speakers and it’s drive for innovation. With the future of cattle breeding at its heart, the BCBC conference links a wide spectrum of farmers, scientists, stud...

‘Focusing on succession to build a sustainable future’ is the theme for the 2020 BCBC Conference, taking place on 20-22 January at the Telford Hotel and Golf resort in Shropshire. The conference draws speakers and delegates from across the beef and dairy industries. It is renowned as a forum for debate and discussion between farmers, scientists and the industry, and a platform for the introductio...

The British Cattle Breeders Club are looking forward to visiting Oak House Farm in Yorkshire on Thursday 14th November 2019. The newly built farmstead at Oak House Farm is based at Green Hammerton near York. The visit takes place by kind permission of the Powley family. Oak House Farm is the base for a family partnership that covers 130ha, with 50ha owned and 80ha rented from 5 different landlord...

The British Cattle Breeders Club members enjoyed an insight into two fabulous dairy units in Shropshire in early August.  Our first visit was to Bridge Farm, Edstaston by kind permission of Neale Sadler, a small family dairy farm milking 70 Holstein cows, with 90 heifer replacements and 25 beef stores.  At 85m above sea level with between 760-1000mm annual rainfall, Neale farms over 200 acres, gr...

BCBC Dairy Farm Visits – Tuesday 6th August 2019 The British Cattle Breeders Club will visit two Shropshire dairy farms on Tuesday 6th August 2019.   Everyone is welcome, please register your places with the secretary on 07966 032079 or heidi.bradbury@cattlebreeders.org.uk or Book your ticket here  Please book your place by Tuesday 30th July. Lunch will be provided kindly sponsored by Lely. Bot...

It is a great honour and privilege to have been elected Chairman of the British Cattle Breeders Club and I am excited to be leading the club into a new decade. As Chairman, I will guide and mentor the club through 2019 and on to the prestigious and world-renowned conference in 2020. I should like to begin by thanking and paying tribute to our outgoing Chairperson, Anya Westland. My sincere congra...

With only 23 per cent of sires currently registered on passports, AHDB Beef & Lamb is urging farmers to start recording to improve profitability and boost competitiveness. Launched at this year’s British Cattle Breeders Conference in January, AHDB’s ‘Shout about the sire’ campaign  follows the development of the new AHDB National Beef Evaluations, which deliver Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs) li...

‘Building the Brand to Promote our Uniqueness’ was the theme of the packed 2019 BCBC Conference, held in Telford last week. Over 300 delegates, across two and a half days of the conference, had the opportunity to hear from world class speakers, discuss new research and industry initiatives, and network with other farmers, scientists and industry professionals. “The BCBC Conference has, once again...

Robert Banks, Director of Animal Genetics Breeding Unit, New England University, Australia will be speaking on ‘Strategies for ensuring breeds’ viability in the genomics era – beef breeding as an information business’ at the 2019 BCBC Conference. The focus of Robert’s talk will be on the core principles of genomic selection for beef breeding and he will explore the strategies that breeds can adop...

Max Tweedie, National Beef Genetics Manager, Beef + Lamb New Zealand Genetics, will speak on ‘Data for decisions. Your story to tell?’ At the 2019 BCBC Conference being held in Telford from Jan 21-23. He will give an insight into a project in New Zealand progeny testing five breeds of bulls across 2,200 commercial cows a year, on a range of different systems and terrain.  Max will talk about how...

UK Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO) Christine Middlemiss, will discuss her perspective on UK animal health and welfare at the 2019 BCBC Conference in Telford (Jan 21-23). She will provide an insight into her UK CVO priorities and her international role representing the UK livestock sectors. This session will include a presentation and discussion on: ‘UK animal health and welfare - an evidence-based ...

NFU President Minette Batters will be joining delegates from across the UK and abroad on the Tuesday of the BCBC Conference 2019 (Mon 21 – Weds 23 January) to speak about  some of the key NFU activity within the livestock sector, particularly highlighting the NFU’s role in developing the Livestock Information Service (LIS) and the transformational effect this could have within the industry.   She...

Dr Stephen Miller, Director of Genetic Research, Angus Genetics Inc (American Angus Association) will be speaking on ‘Genetic Advancements in American Angus’ at the BCBC Conference 2019. The American Angus Association (of which AGI is part) has grown to be the world’s largest beef breed association. The key to this success is largely attributed to its breeder’s ability to produce the type of catt...

PhD student Amy Jackson is the latest speaker to be added to the programme at this month’s British Cattle Breeders Club Conference (Jan 21 to 23). Her title ‘Year-round housed dairy cows – what do the public think and does it matter?’ draws on her research and wealth of experience working in PR and communications, advising a wide range of farming organisations on how to manage contentious issues a...

Rob Drysdale veterinary surgeon, Nuffield Farming Scholar in 2014 and beef producer will be speaking at the British Cattle Breeders Club conference on Tuesday 22nd January in the afternoon session. He will be speaking on taking dairy beef from by-product to an ethical and sustainable resource. Britain is only 70% self-sufficient for beef, and more than 55% of what beef we consumed was dairy bred...

January's conference will start with the Beef Workshop on Monday afternoon which will showcase initiatives aimed at improving efficiency in the Beef Industry, tackling both breeding and management approaches.  There will be the opportunity to hear what is happening in a number of GB and International programmes on efficiency, health, exports and showcase the AHDB strategic farms programme. Kim Ma...